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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3B
Photo by Kyle Funderburk
Trey Ransom breaks free for what was a touchdown catch to give Jackson
County a fourth quarter lead over Walnut Grove. However, a penalty negated
the score and the Panthers ultimately lost 16-14.
Panthers continued from IB
position when we do punt
to give our defense a long
field. The key defensively
is to keep getting them to
snap instead of making big
plays.”
However, before Jackson
County (2-2, 0-1 Region
8-AAAAA) can think about
upsetting Clarke Central,
it has to “stop doing things
that hurt Jackson Coun
ty,” as McWhorter put it.
The Panthers have allowed
games to slip away due
to turnovers and penalties
which have put the team be
hind the sticks.
“The thing about our play
ers that I’m always proud of
is their effort, and that was
no different last week,” he
said. ‘‘They brought great
effort, they brought great
energy. It was just mistakes,
and it seems like when we
make mistakes it’s in the
worst time. That’s on both
sides of the ball.
‘‘I think offensively, more
than any phase of the game,
is the side we have to clean
up the most. Our defense
has really played great all
year long. Giving up two
touchdowns and a field goal,
in today’s time of spread of
fenses, isn’t bad. You have
to feel, offensively, that you
have to try to at least score
one touchdown a quarter
somehow.”
McWhorter made note
of recent performances of
receivers Jaden Cofer and
Anthony Finley as evidence
of growth on offense. Cofer
scored both of Jackson
County’s touchdowns last
week. He started the game
with a 12-yard zip into the
end zone, then in the fourth
quarter he caught a long
touchdown pass to cut the
score to 16-14.
Once Jackson County
figures itself out, then it’s
time to focus on perhaps the
most talented football team
Region 8-AAAAA has to
offer. Clarke Central (1-2,
1-0 Region 8-AAAAA), has
grown accustomed to win
ning region titles and mak
ing post-season runs with
championships in 2019 and
2020. The Gladiators ended
2020 in the second round of
the AAAAA State Playoffs,
and finished in the quar
ter-finals in 2019.
Clarke Central is at its
best on defense. The Gladi
ators haven’t allowed more
than 21 points in a game this
season.
They’re a three-man front,
they will bring a lot of pres
sure,” McWhorter said.
“They will play some press
coverage which gives peo
ple some problems. Every
one has had trouble scoring
on them. Their defensive
line is very active... They’ve
got a good football team, a
team that’s able to repeat as
region champions.”
The Gladiators have
struggled on offense, how
ever. They scored their first
touchdowns of the season
last week in a 31-17 win
over Apalachee. They were
limited to a field goal against
Buford, and the defense
scored their only points in a
21-2 loss to Oconee County.
McWhorter is more con
cerned about what Clarke
Central is capable of doing,
more so than what it was
done.
They’re a shotgun spread
team,” he said. “They’re
running more of an option
look than what we saw from
last year’s team. The quar
terback is definitely a du
al-threat guy who can hurt
you either way. The offen
sive line is a big, physical
group. On all three levels on
defense they’re really good,
and on offense.”
That quarterback is Lu
cian Anderson III. He has
188 passing yards and 89
rushing yards this sea
son. although he also has
thrown four interceptions.
He’s dishing the ball to a
plethora of offensive weap
ons. Running back William
Richardson has 186 yards
of offense with one touch
down. Antonio Jewell Jr. has
eight catches for 98 yards
with a score. Jewell also has
17 rushing yards on five car
ries.
Besides them, running
backs Jadayvion Adkins
and Kendrick Curry, and
wide receivers Sean Leahy,
Kendall Dunn and Eli War
rington will be a factor in the
offense.
Dragons continued from IB
I know they had a dis
appointing loss to a really
good Gainesville team,”
Cathcart said. “But every
one starts over when you
start region play. That loss to
Gainesville, and frankly our
wins, really don’t get them
any further or us any closer
to being the No. 1 seed in
the region, that all starts Fri
day night.
“Last year, we played
exceptionally well against
[Flowery Branch], Those
guys and North Oconee
were teams that won playoff
games and did a great job.
We certainly know we have
our work cut out for us this
Friday.”
Flowery Branch (3-1. 0-0
Region 8-AAAA) is led by
a familiar face to Jefferson
fans, head coach Ben Hall.
Hall coached the Dragons
from 2013-to-2016, leading
them to region titles in 2014
and 2016. Since 2017, Hall
has smoothly implemented
his balanced offensive at
tack at Flowery Branch.
Leading that attack is
quarterback David Renard.
He’s coming off a season in
which he passed for 2,655
yards, ran for 467 yards and
scored 28 total touchdowns.
As a senior, he’s even more
of a hand full for defens
es. Last week. Renard only
needed 72 passing yards and
a pair of touchdowns to lead
Flowery Branch to a 56-7
win over Hiram. That’s be
cause he’s far from the Fal
cons only star on offense.
Flowery Branch has a
flock of offensive weap
ons. Running backs Malik
Dryden and Myles Ivey are
perhaps the best rushing
duo the Dragons will face
all year. Both soared over
100 rushing yards last week,
while scoring two touch
downs each. Despite losing
it’s four leading receivers.
Flowery Branch is still pro
ductive in the passing game.
Sophomore Seth Larson has
stepped up with several big
plays in the passing game
this year, including a 40-
yard catch against Hiram.
Senior Jaheim Hayes is an
other receiver Jefferson has
to contend with.
“Flowery Branch is well
coached, Ben [Hall] and his
staff do an incredible job,”
Cathcart said. “[David] Re
nard is a returning all-re
gion quarterback and a great
player. They’ve really got
some really physical line
men and they run the foot
ball very well. So, they’re
balanced which makes them
tough to defend... Certainly,
Rabun County in their own
right is an outstanding of
fensive team, but this Flow
ery Branch team is every
bit as high profile and high
scoring as that bunch.”
“It’s not just the ability to
claim you’e balanced, it’s
the ability to do what needs
to be done in that moment.
When they have to throw
the football, they’re able
to. When they have to run
the football, they’re able
to run the football. They’re
most comfortable dictating
which one they do. A sign
of a good team is when
folks know what you have
to try to do and you’re still
able to do it. They’ve moved
the ball, they’re averaging
maybe 37 points per game.
They only give up around 17
points a game.”
Jefferson (4-0,0-0 Region
8-AAAA) is coming off an
off-week which interrupt
ed a streak of three-straight
lopsided victories. The
Dragons’ last outing was a
41-14 win over a pass-hap
py Mountain View squad
from Class AAAAAAA.
They also have a 42-7 win
over Central Gwinnett from
Class AAAAAA under their
belts.
The box scores make it
seem like Jefferson has ev
erything figured out, but
Cathcart still spotted areas
the team needed to clean up
in the off-week.
“The largest room in the
world is the room for im
provement, it’s also the one
the fewest people are willing
to go into,” he said. “We cer
tainly tried to improve this
week on ball security and
cutting down on penalties.
There were plenty of things
to improve on and certainly
we know the challenges this
week holds.
“It’ll be good to be at
home, it’ll be good to play
again. Open weeks are great
for healing up, but when
you’re playing well you
really want to get back out
there and continue to play
and get better each week.
[Off week] was good in a lot
of ways, but we’re excited to
get back on the field.”
Tigers continued from IB
get in a rhythm. It’s hard
to believe we’ve only
played three games at
this point. The time off
has been good, but I think
all of want to start play
ing games. We’re excited
about playing at home,
obviously playing at home
means a lot to us. We hav
en’t played at home since
week one and that seems
like forever ago.”
“[Response to the loss]
has been very positive.
The energy level has been
outstanding, I think our
seniors have brought good
energy. Our young kids
are doing a good job, our
JV team is playing well
right now, they’re 3-0. The
best thing that can happen
to us right now is playing
games. We need games.
That’s how kids grow
and develop. Being able
to play these games in a
row will be good for us.
Our kids know what we
have to work on and we’re
working hard at that.”
The team Commerce (1-
2, 0-0 Region 8-A Public)
hopes to start the rhythm
against is Mount Paran
Christian from Region
7-A Private. The Eagles
are a perennial champi
onship contender and they
won the A-Private State
Championship in 2014.
However, Mount Paran is
seven years removed from
that title and it shows. The
Eagles are coming off the
worst season in school
history, they went 1-7 last
year and that includes a
41-9 loss to Commerce.
Hollars, who’s North
Cobb Christian program
played Mount Paran in
2019, noted that the Ea
gles are leaner this year
than what the program is
used to. Mount Paran has
also made changes on both
sides of the ball, adopting
a wing-T like offense and
dropping the 4-3 defense.
“Mount Paran definite
ly has a great tradition,”
Hollars said. “Last year
they had a bit of a tough
year, but they have some
pretty good skill kids. I
think they have three or
four kids who have come
to their school this year
that are difference makers.
They’re a well coached
team, they run what I call a
fast paced wing-T. I don’t
think they quite have the
fast pace their coaching
staff wants yet, it’s their
first year doing it.
“On defense they've
changed recently. They
were a 4-3 team forever,
this year they’ve gone to
the odd stack. Even last
week they made some
changes and were in an
even front, more of a 6-2
look. They’re multiple on
defense. I see the strength
of their team is with their
skill kids. They've got
some pretty good athletes
at running back, receiver
and in their secondary and
linebacker corps. They’ve
got some pretty good ath
letes. They’re probably
a little bit leaner in their
lines of scrimmage than
what they traditionally
are. Traditionally, they’re
pretty stout up front.”
Though you shouldn’t
sell Mount Paran (2-2, 0-0
Region 7-A Private) short.
The Eagles have made
strides, especially with the
new offense. Four running
backs already have at least
118 yards and they have a
wide receiver with 109 re
ceiving yards. The leading
rusher is Nick Germain
with 246 yards on just 15
carries, good enough for
16.4 yards per carry. He
also has a pair of touch
downs. Sam Griffith-Tesch
leads Mount Paran with
34 carries. He’s picked
up 183 rushing yards and
two touchdowns this year.
Jylan Thomas, Micah Lott
and Remington Adams are
also factors in the running
game.
Mount Paran has a pair
of quarterbacks it relies on
in Drew Mackendree and
Daniel Gray. The duo has
combined for 291 yards
on 16-of-38 passing with
two touchdowns. Both
touchdowns were thrown
by Gray. Their leading
receiver is Trey Jackson
with seven catches for 109
yards. Five other targets
have at least two catch
es this season, including
Griffith-Tesch.
“When you’re playing
a wing-T team, you can’t
focus on all of the mis
direction,” Hollars said.
“You have to do your job
and trust your teammates.
If we get undisciplined
and guys start looking in
the backfield and trying to
find the football, we’re go
ing to be in trouble. That’s
the whole idea of the
wing-T, it’s built on mis
direction on every play.
It's built on the ball be
ing distributed to three or
four different people. It’s
a premium this week that
we stay disciplined and do
our jobs.
“The players that are
supposed to have the full
back trap, they have to
trust the guys who have
the bucksweep. They’ll
run what’s called counter
criss-cross, a double hand-
off, you have to read your
keys and you have to trust
your teammates. Playing
good team defense is im
portant. I think one of the
key elements of this week
is being very physical. We
need to establish a physi
cal presence on both sides
of the football.”
JEFFERSON FOUNDATION HONORING 1971 TEAM
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Jefferson’s first Region Championship in
1971. The Jefferson Foundation is honoring the 1971 team ahead of Friday’s
game against Flowery Branch with an Alumni Night. The event includes a
pregame tailgate party at the fieldhouse starting at 6 p.m. The Jefferson
Foundation hopes anyone with a connection to the team attends the event.
Keep Jackson County Beautiful
FALL INTO RECYCLING EVENT
Rain or Shine
E-Waste: computers, monitors, printers, fax, etc Auto Oil and Batteries
Document Shredding: limit 2 boxes Clean Plastic Bags
Paint: 5 gallons free, $2 each additional gallon Household Batteries
Flourescent Light Bulbs: 6 free, $2 each additional Used Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids
Drug Take Back Program: partnership with Aluminum Cans
Jackson County Sheriffs Office; only a deputy Good Used Clothing
will accept drugs. No sharps, no liquids Cardboard
ONLY the items listed above accepted at this event!
Tires: 6 free, $6 per car tire, $10 per truck tire • Take these to: 100 Landfill Drive, Jefferson
Saturday, October 2, 2021
8AM-Noon
Jackson County Ag. Facility
1869 County Farm Road, Jefferson
for more information call (706) 367-5908
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