Longhorns 'new' defense trying to live up to the 'old'

SUGAR HILL — It’s a stat most football coaches would love to see: Defense 7, Opponents 3.

The Lanier defense was expected to be good. Featuring high-profile senior defensive lineman Derrick Brown, and talented senior linebackers Devin Miller and Juwuan Jones, how could it not be?

But Brown, Miller, and Jones were the only starters returning to anchor a group that allowed 17.8 ppg in 2014 in an offensive-minded Region 8-AAAAA, and coach Korey Mobbs and his staff still had to replace the entire secondary -- the type of issues that usually incur growing pains.

“We graduated some really good players, and we weren’t proven on the (defensive) line other than Derrick, and having to replace the entire secondary always is a concern,” Mobbs said. “It’s not how you typically want to come into any season.”

But after just two games, the Longhorns are showing they are anything but typical. 

In their opener against Class AAAAAA Lambert, Lanier yielded zero points and allowed just 82 total yards in a 17-7 win. Lambert’s only points came on a defensive score.

Last week in a 37-20 win over Clarke Central, Lanier’s No. 1 unit did not yield a first down to the Gladiators until the fourth quarter and held them to minus-7 yards in the first half. The Longhorns also got a defensive touchdown when junior Michael Allen scooped up a fumble caused by Jones and returned it for a touchdown just 75 seconds into the game.

Clarke Central managed just three points against the No. 1 defense as the reserves took over in the third quarter after the Longhorns built a 37-3 lead. So far, the Brown, Miller, and Jones-led No. 1 defense has outscored two offenses 7-3 on the season.

Who needs an offense, right?

“I don’t know about that. But it does make it a little easier on the offense,” Mobbs said. “Both of those games were just collective efforts to create negative plays.”

With so many changes and new faces, it didn’t seem the Longhorns defense could match the 2014 unit.

“We didn’t come into the season looking to try and be last year’s team,” Mobbs said. “Each team is different and has different strengths and a different personality. But we felt real good about our practices leading up to the Dacula scrimmage.”

That’s when Mobbs said they got a much-needed dose of reality.

“Dacula hit us in the mouth pretty good,” he said. “They really exposed our weaknesses. We kind of needed that to be able to see what we needed to work on. We try to schedule teams like that before the season to help make us better.”

One of the biggest losses from last year’s squad was defensive back Stefan Ball, who snagged 11 interceptions in 2014.

“We had a lot of young, talented players in the secondary but none were really tested and losing guys like Stefan, it’s hard to do,” Mobbs said.

Mobbs and defensive coordinator David Willingham, however, had one senior, Isaiah Dozier, to go with four juniors in the secondary -- C.J. Burress, Ethan Wilson, Morgen Kent, Amari Rouzan -- to try and rebuild the unit.

“They have played well so far,” Mobbs said. “It’s a young group that is still learning, though.”

To complement Brown, Willingham and his staff added Allen (6-foot-5, 230 pounds) and sophomore Peyton Bergman (6-0, 270) to create what has been, at least to this point, a disruptive pass rush.

“A good pass rush can always help a young secondary not have to be perfect. Michael and Peyton have really stepped up so far,” Mobbs said.

But again the question comes up. Can this unit be as dominating as the 2014 squad that helped lead the Longhorns to their first-ever region title?

Mobbs said for that to happen, they will need to see how they respond to big challenges of Flowery Branch, Winder-Barrow, and Gainesville, all road games and crucial if they want to repeat.

The Longhorns travel to Flowery Branch on Friday night. However, the Falcons are banged up and without starting quarterback Nick Lance and are coming off a 35-0 loss to Loganville.

“It doesn’t matter who Flowery Branch has you know they will be talented. Loganville caught them when they were down and trying to figure things out. And Loganville played a tremendous game," Mobbs said. “I’m sure (Flowery Branch) will have things worked out and be ready for us. It will be a huge challenge on the road for us.”

Early success can be a double-edged sword as well. 

“It’s always great to see success, to see your hard work paying off. But having big success this quick can be a danger because you sometimes think you’re better than you really are,” Mobbs said. “But I don’t see that as a problem with this group. They work hard and they really are taking things one game at a time.

“Get back to me at the end of the year and we’ll see where we are and how good they are. I do think the sky’s the limit with this group, though. We have a lot of young players that are talented and hungry to show what they can do. That’s never a bad thing.”

Unless you’re the opposition. Just ask Lambert and Clarke Central.