By Justin Fedich | The Selma Times-Journal

Three of Keith’s first four drives ended with a turnover and two blocked punts. The Bears couldn’t recover against a top-tier opponent.

The Keith Bears (4-7) watched their season come to and end Friday in a 34-0 loss to the No. 3 Georgiana Panthers (10-1) in the first round of the class 1A playoffs at Georgiana. Keith head coach Harry Crum said the offense wasn’t able to get into a rhythm all night, but he still walked off the field with a smile.

“It was just one of those nights,” Crum said. “We just dropped passes all over the place and just couldn’t get anything going. It’s been a great year, and these guys have done a good job representing Keith High School and the Orrville community.”

The Bears were without their leading rusher Domonique Jones, who twisted his ankle earlier in the week. The offense sputtered without him.

Keith’s first drive ended quickly with a turnover, and Georgiana capitalized.

Cameron Longmire ran in a 7-yard touchdown and Christian Williams caught a two-point conversion to give the Panthers an 8-0 lead not even three minutes into the game.

“That’s the way we play,” Georgiana head coach Ezell Powell said. “We’ve always said we want to play fast and we want to play physical.”

After Keith’s punt was blocked on its next drive, Georgiana’s Ja’Michael Stallworth ran in a 3-yard score on the ensuing play. Longmire added the two-point conversion to give the Panthers a 16-0 lead at 6:04 in the first quarter.

Longmire pounded in another touchdown before the quarter was through from the half-yard line to give Georgiana a 22-0 lead with three quarters to play.

“He’s been huge for us all season long,” Powell said of Longmire. “He’s our bell cow. He’s the one we go to. He’s been delivering for us all year long.”

Keith forced a turnover on downs on its next two defensive possessions, but a Keith punt that traveled just a couple of yards set the Panthers up on the Keith 7-yard line.

Longmire scored on the next play to give Georgiana a 28-0 lead at the half.

The Bears opened the second half with a fumble recovery on defense, but the offense fumbled away the ball right back to the Panthers.

Georgiana scored the final touchdown of the game with a Stallworth 10-yard touchdown pass to Damarcus Sims with 4:18 left in the third quarter.

“We’re after a state championship,” Powell said.

“We want to prove that we can compete with the best of the best in 1A, and we took a step this week at doing that.”

Keith quarterback Brian Crum, playing in his final game as a Keith Bear, was beaten up by the Georgiana defense all night. He finally had to be carried off the field with an injury on one of the final plays of the game after fighting for four quarters to stay in the game.

Friday marked the last game that Harry was able to coach his son Brian. Harry has enjoyed the opportunity to watch his son mature on the football field and said he will definitely be missed next season.

“It’s fun watching him practice and watching him play because he could really throw that ball, and he’s a good leader and I hate to see him go,” Harry said.

Georgiana will advance to play Billingsley in the next round of the class 1A playoffs.