MT. AIRY — You could almost feel the energy sparking off Habersham Central’s Donovan Curry.
“I’m already ready,” Curry said when asked about his team’s first round state playoff match-up with Douglas County, his facial expression hardening and his eyes focusing into the distance.
And that was on Tuesday.
It is not surprising, however, just how ready the Raiders are for tonight’s first round Class 6A postseason contest. It has been seven years since Habersham played its way into the state bracket, and, after watching a playoff berth tantalizingly snatched from their collective grip during each of the past two seasons, the Raiders are both excited to be back and determined to make the most of their shot.
“It’s all about those guys; it’s all about those guys making their community proud, and this community supports these guys like no place I’ve ever been before, so not only was this important to our players, it was important to our school, our student body and our community because they’ve been hungry to get back to this point, and we’re here now, and lets see what we can do,” said Habersham Central coach Benji Harrison, now in his fourth season with the Raiders.
Essentially in postseason mode over the last two weeks, Habersham enters the playoffs on the strength of back-to-back victories that clinched a No. 3 seed from Region 8-6A when a bracket spot was still undecided as of last Friday. And Harrison believes that mindset will only help his program in its first playoff appearance since 2011.
“We’re not limping into the playoffs; we’re playing pretty good football. I think we can still play better, but I like this team. I like where we’re at,” Harrison said. “For us it’s about continuing to do the things we do and get better at them. And obviously when you’re in the playoffs everything’s amped up a little bit. The level of play is obviously probably better so we’ve got to match that this week.”
Certainly the Raiders (6-4) must be prepped for a fifth-ranked Douglas County team that knows how to play defense.
The Tigers (8-2) are yielding just 12.7 points per game — the fourth-lowest total in Class 6A — and thrive on a disruptive, attacking defense that is downright dangerous for opposing quarterbacks after racking up 43.5 sacks through 10 regular season contests.
“Offensively, we’re going to have to throw the ball, throw it on time. I’m not going to have crazy amounts of time to throw the ball; they’ve got a good defensive end,” Habersham senior quarterback Tre Luttrell said.
Luttrell and his offensive line are certainly aware of the disruptive force Tigers senior defensive end Mataio Soli (72 tackles, 21.5 sacks) brings to the field.
“They like to bring pressures and they like to get up in your face on the edges and play man-to-man,” Harrison said. “We’ve got to execute and be sharp. We’ve got to know our responsibilities on both sides of the ball. And come Friday night we’ve got to go play and play at a good speed and, hopefully, play well enough to give ourselves a chance.”
Habersham’s multi-faceted offense has been a steady force all season, averaging 29.5 points per game behind Luttrell’s 2,698 total yards — 2,014 yards passing, 50 percent completion rate, 23 TDs, 5 INTs; 684 yards rushing, 5 TDs — and running back Tracey Lowery (770 yards rushing, 7 TDs) and a strong group of receivers led by Curry (50 receptions 792 yards, 9 TDs) and Dontarius Bailey (28 receptions, 531 yards, 10 TDs).
Luttrell also has playoff experience under his belt after spending time in both the Buford and Gainesville programs before joining his father Stan Luttrell, who was hired as Habersham’s defensive coordinator in the offseason, in Mt. Airy.
“It is the first round of the playoffs, but when you boil it down it turns into another game that we’ve just got to go out and execute and do the little things the right way,” Luttrell said. “It is a little special since it is the first time in a few years for these guys. So they’re definitely amped up about it; I am too. But it’s a game, and we’ve just got to go out and execute.”
Do that and perhaps Habersham can keep its impressive rebound rolling against a Tigers team coming off a second round playoff berth in 2017.
“We are a three seed, so we do have to go on the road, but threes beat No. 2s all the time, so when we win we aren’t going to be shocked by it,” Luttrell said.
It is an opportunity everyone involved with the Raiders is determined to enjoy.
“Our community hasn’t seen us go to the playoffs in a very long time and all the people here are rooting for us to go deep so we’ve just got to make everybody proud,” Curry said.
