DASHER, Ga. — There is no where to go but up.

These were the words Georgia Christian head coach Willis Colson gave his team after a 48-0 loss to the Cougars of Lafayette Christian School. It didn’t take long to realize it was going to be a miserable night for the Generals.

The opening moments of the game were methodical. Neither team closed to within field-goal range, let alone a touchdown. The slow start, ultimately, turned into tragedy for the Generals offense.

“It’s the first night with those bright lights,” Colson said. “The players were going to be tight, but they did not give up.”

The players were tight, but the football was not. The Generals offense fumbled the ball five times, three of which were recovered by the Cougars.

“The game is the best teacher and Lafayette did a perfect job of showing us that when you don’t make mistakes, its hard to beat somebody,” Colson said. “We can control us. We don’t have to give them the football. We can be out classed on size, speed and technique, but we will not be outclassed again on giving up the football like that.”

GCS fumbled the first time on its 28-yard line with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, setting Lafayette up in position to put the first points on the board.

In just two plays, the Cougars pushed the ball in the end zone on a 25-yard run from senior running back Mitchell Crandall.

To end the first quarter, Crandall, also playing the safety and cornerback position for the Cougars, intercepted a pass from GCS junior signal-caller Sam Wheeler at their own 15-yard line.

The turnover resulted in a 7-yard rushing touchdown from Crandall to open the second quarter of play, putting the Cougars up 14-0. The General rollercoaster was at its apex.

Everything that could go wrong, went wrong for Georgia Christian. Three minutes before halftime, senior wideout Jordan Anderson coughed up the football.

GCS kept Lafayette from putting more points up when 6-foot-2 defensive end Grant Garrett picked off Cougar quarterback Landon Whitley, but the Generals ultimately failed to capitalize on the turnover.

Little changed after halftime for the Generals, who were trampled drive after drive by Whitley, allowing the quarterback to rush for two scores in the third quarter alone. 

Overall, the Cougars trampled the Generals, scoring seven total touchdowns by taking advantage of GCS’ costly miscues.

“We are going to definitely cut back on the mistakes, for sure,” Colson said.

Friday was Georgia Christian’s first game of the season, after its season opener against Maclay was canceled due to rain. Colson did not make an excuse for how the first game fell.

“This is the first official game of the season for us and we hate to open it up with a region game like that. That is just the way the schedule fail, but we tip our hat to the guys because they came out and did not quit,” Colson said.