Here’s a look at five things we learned from Week Zero of the 2015 high school football season...
1. Jefferson’s run game is as good as advertised
All week, all preseason really, Jefferson coach Ben Hall said his team would have to rely on its lines of scrimmage -- especially early this campaign -- as the Dragons blooded new starters at most of the skill positions. So their gameplan in Friday’s season opener came as no surprise to anyone at Rabun County’s Frank Snyder Stadium. The most impressive part was that they pulled it off. Facing an improved Rabun County defense stacking up to stop the run, Jefferson rolled its way to almost 300 yards on the ground thanks to stout line play and an explosive running back. Sophomore Colby Wood ripped off 264 yards rushing and three touchdowns to pace the Dragons to a 19-7 win. Taking handoffs behind an offensive line that includes future collegiate players, among whom four that started every game of last season, certainly gave Wood an upper-hand, yet his vision, explosiveness and strength also gave Jefferson that extra spark to put the contest away. Note that Wood had six rushes of 10 or more yards on the night -- meaning that once he broke the line of scrimmage, he had the speed to out-run tacklers and the power to also break a few along the way. What the NFL calls “big plays” -- gains of over 10 yards rushing and 25 yards passing -- are as crucial to victories as turnovers. As Jefferson’s offensive line and running backs showed on Friday, it’s offense has plenty of big plays in its arsenal. By the way, Wildcats fans can also look forward; Rabun County came oh-so-close to a number of big plays themselves (a few dropped passes proved critical). And you can bet Rabun will clean those miscues up and make huge strides as the season goes on.
2. Buford still finding its feet -- but Wolves have plenty of fight
Buford may be known for its power, talent and success, but the Wolves’ dominance has included plenty of toughness and tenacity to go along with those more tangible traits. That resiliency was on full display on Friday, as Buford extended its win streak to 41 straight games against a talented Eastern Christian Academy team while playing without a few key players. It wasn’t always pretty -- and that’s to be expected from a squad that graduated 25 seniors, including 15 collegiate signees -- but, most hearteningly for Wolves fans, it was, ultimately, effective. As Buford fought and clawed its way to victory despite six fumbles, losing two. There was also plenty of bright spots for the future as sophomore running backs Anthony Grant and Christian Turner filled in for a banged-up Xavier Gantt. There will probably be more lessons to be learned along the way, but -- as it showed on Friday -- Buford will have the guts to fight through any speed bumps. That’s a trait more heartening to coaching staffs than any 40 time or stat package.
3. Johnson is set for a bounce back campaign
The Knights and coach Jason Roquemore felt this could be a big season to get Johnson football back on the map, and it certainly looked like that could be the case on Friday. The Knights defense stonewalled Madison County, allowing just 19 yards rushing in a shutout, 17-0 victory in Oakwood. Meanwhile, Johnson’s offense rolled up 240 yards on the ground, including an impressive debut for rookie quarterback Sam Corbett (team-high 70 yards rushing and a touchdown pass). As anyone who has been around the game longer than a few minutes will tell you, if you can run the ball and stop the run, you’re in for a successful season. Roquemore has worked hard to get excitement and interest in Johnson football back up and running, and things are already looking up this season after last year’s 2-8 rebuilding campaign. Win again this Friday in the “Battle of Oakwood” over arch-rival West Hall and interest in Knights football will reach fever pitch.
4. Lanier’s defense sets the tone
Just about every high school football fan in Georgia knows the name Derrick Brown -- and if you don’t, you haven’t been paying attention -- but the Longhorns showed on Friday they are way more than just one dominant player. Yes, the senior defensive lineman is capable of taking over contests, but the rest of Lanier’s defense is pretty impressive too (see linebackers Devin Miller and Juwuan Jones) -- and they showed that with clarity on Friday. The Longhorns mauled Class AAAAAA playoff team Lambert, allowing the visitors just 82 total yards (unofficially) en route to a 17-7 win (Lambert’s only touchdown coming on a defensive score). And the scary part is that you can expect the Longhorns to only get better. After graduating 36 seniors from last year’s Region 8-AAAAA championship squad, there were several new faces in starting positions -- especially in the secondary. And those players will only get better with more experience.
5. Mill Creek in good position to end playoff roller-coaster
The Hawks may have graduated 92 percent of their offense from 2014, but they didn’t look as if they had missed much of a beat, if any, in Saturday’s 42-7 rout of Brookwood in the Kell Classic. Running back Daniel LeConte showed he can be a suitable replacement for Jonathan Hawkins with several tough runs and flashes of speed, while new starting quarterback Cameron Turley threw for 209 yards and 2 TDs in his first varsity start. And with a defense like Mill Creek’s that’s an encouraging sign of things to come. The Hawks defense registered five sacks and limited Brookwood’s No. 1 offense to minus-8 yards in the first half. The defense also scored a TD on an Aaron Anderson interception return. Combine that with a special teams unit that blocked two kicks, scored a TD on a blocked punt, and set up two solid punt returns, and you’ve got the makings of a very potent squad indeed -- certainly one capable of halting the Hawks’ frustrating trend of never making the state playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES, WEEK ZERO (AUG. 21-22)
Buford 27, Eastern Christian, Md. 20
Colquitt County 45, North Gwinnett 14
Hebron Christian 21, East Jackson 13
Jefferson 19, Rabun County 7
Johnson 17, Madison County 0
Lanier 17, Lambert 7
Mill Creek 42, Brookwood 7
Model 21, Lumpkin County 18
AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE, WEEK 1 (AUG. 28)
Berkmar at Buford
Cherokee at North Forsyth
Chestatee at Flowery Branch
Commerce at Banks County
East Jackson at Lakeview Academy
Fellowship Christian at Riverside Military
Forsyth Central at Dawson County
Franklin County at Stephens County
Gilmer at Fannin County
Grayson at Gainesville
Jackson County at Madison County
Johnson at West Hall
North Gwinnett at North Cobb
Rabun County at Habersham Central
Towns County at Union County
West Forsyth at Mill Creek
Wesleyan at East Hall
Winder-Barrow at Jefferson
White County at Pickens
Woodland, Stockbridge at Apalachee
