Through three weeks of the 2026 high school football season, junior running back Mykheal Smith continuously showed that he was a worthy addition to Burke County after transferring from Richmond Academy in the offseason. He averaged over 100 total yards a night and scored two touchdowns during that span, while also being tasked with playing in the secondary for the Bears at safety.
Heading into a Week 4 matchup versus a Jones County squad that had allowed at least 40 points during the previous three weeks, it seemed like Smith and the Bears were in prime position to put up big numbers en route to a win.
That couldn’t be further from what happened. The Greyhounds dominated the Bears in a 35-0 rout on Friday, Sept. 11. On offense they got whatever
they wanted, particularly when it came to their rushing attack. Defensively, they forced four fumbles that were recovered and led to scores. The turnovers in particular will be a point of emphasis going forward for Burke County.
“It’s one of those things where we just didn’t get it done in terms of taking care of the football,” Bears head coach Franklin Stephens said. “It’s one of those things we’ve been stressing, especially after two weeks ago when we had a bunch of turnovers and fumbles.”
Even beyond the turnover problems, Burke County didn’t have much going when they did have the football. Outside of a near 30-yard punt return for Smith, he was relatively quiet on the night ― as was the rest of the offense.
The Bears will get some breathing room after the blowout with an open week coming up. Stephens and the rest of the staff will go back to the drawing board and try to figure out where to go from here. But if you ask Stephens, the result of the game alone showed him plenty about his squad.
“This is not the way you want to go into an open week, but at the same time, I think it kind of revealed who we are as a football team in a lot of facets,” Stephens said. “Either we can learn from it, or we can continue with false beliefs and these things will continue to happen.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Miscues bury Burke County football in blowout loss to Jones County
