Vikings look for first playoff win in 10 years

GAINESVILLE - It's been three years since the East Hall Vikings football team has played a playoff game. It's almost 10 years since they won one.

When the Vikings take the field Friday night against No. 4 LaGrange (9-1) in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs, most of the roster was in elementary school the last time East Hall tasted victory in the playoffs.

East Hall coach Tim Marchman said he knows his team will be the underdog and that the game itself will be a learning process for the program.

"Nobody expects us to go down there and win. But we feel that if we play up to our capabilities we can beat anyone. We played Johnson close until we made some critical mistakes," Marchman said.

He said the two blowout losses to Gainesville and North Hall early in the season are light-years in the past from where they are now.

"We're much better now than we were early on. The defense has really improved and the kids understand the system and what we're trying to teach them," Marchman said. "We were still working on getting to know each other and where we thought certain people needed to be playing."

It showed over the second half of the season as the Vikings (6-4) won three of their last four games to get into the playoffs. The East Hall offense has been putting up big numbers the last half of the season scoring 30 or more points four of the last five games.

But the LaGrange defense has given up just 14 points over the last 4 games.

"It's going to be a tough defense to crack, no doubt," Marchman said. "They're fast, physical and really hit you. But I believe in my players. They've made some big plays in some big situations and if we can get some success early anything is possible."

For East Hall it starts with sophomore quarterback Lee Coleman, who has thrown for just under 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns, with at least one TD toss in every game.

"We are going to have to throw the ball against them to have a chance to win. It's going to put a lot of pressure on Lee but we've asked a lot of Lee this year and he has responded very well. I feel good having him back there running the offense," Marchman said.

Marchman said he also wants his young team to learn how to be successful.

"I want the kids to learn what's it's like to be in the playoffs and what you have to do to get here and win when you get here," he said. "That may be more important in the long run than whether we can pull off a big upset over a team like LaGrange. But that would be outstanding if we could do that."