TIGER — What makes a great offense? Is it the scheme? The players? A combination of the two?
Rabun County offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jaybo Shaw had an interesting theory, especially concerning his 4-0 Wildcats -- who are second in Class AA in scoring average at 38.2 points per game (153 total points) in 2016. In fact, only Fitzgerald (236, 47.2 ppg in six games) is averaging more than the Wildcats.
“Camaraderie has been a big thing for us,” Shaw said. “Also, caring. All of us care about Rabun County football and making sure it is the best program it can be.”
But he wasn’t necessarily talking about the current roster of players. Shaw felt that a key element for their success has been camaraderie between the coaching staff.
Shaw, along with receivers coach Andy Mahaffey and offensive line coach J.J. White, all played together at Flowery Branch under current Rabun County head coach, and Jaybo’s father, Lee Shaw.
“We all know each other and have a great time together and we all understand how the offense is supposed to work. I think the players see how close we are as coaches and I think they feed off of that,” Shaw said. “I also think one of the reasons Rabun County has gotten to where it is now is because my dad cares so much about the area, the school, the program. The kids and the parents believe it when he talks about it, and that has made a big difference since he came back. I think everyone involved understands the expectations of what it means to play for Rabun County and they are trying to live up to it.”
Of course, Shaw also understands that any coach is only as good as the talent. And over the past four seasons the Wildcats have been blessed with talent-a-plenty, highlighted by the four-year run of All-State player and now-Georgia Bulldog Charlie Woerner.
But Shaw is quick to point out the Wildcats always were more than the Charlie Woerner Show.
“When you have a guy like Charlie you obviously try and take advantage of that kind of talent in as many ways as possible,” he said. “But we had guys like (quarterback) Bailey Fisher, (receiver) Alden Wright, (running back) Eli Gipson, and others that gave us a lot of weapons. It takes more than just one person to make a great team.”
A concern coming into the 2016 season was that after graduating perhaps the most talented senior class in school history, the younger players had not been able to develop as much as the coaches had wanted. But players like receivers Cole Keener, a junior, and sophomore Austin Jones, along with senior running back Cal Drummond (72 rushes, 489 yards, 4 TD) have brushed those worries aside. In fact Drummond has almost equaled his entire rushing totals from 2015 in just four games.
“When you have a class like those seniors, sometimes it can mean that other players may not get as much experience as you would like,” Shaw said. “It was a concern early on. However, I think we may actually be more dangerous this year.”
Fisher broke out last year, passing for 2,936 yards and rushing for 646 yards. And he is on pace to equal those numbers in 2016 with 1,007 yards passing and 269 yards rushing.
Keener (10 rec-282-2 TD) leads a group of receivers that has prospered with Shaw’s design to spread the ball around more. Keener, Jones (11-108), freshman Braxton Hicks (8-176-4), junior Dillyn Nichols (7-95), and senior Kolby Blalock (7-90) offer matchup problems for any defense and are getting multiple targets each game.
“We saw what we had in the summer and we installed a few new things to take advantage of their skills,” he said. “We have a lot of weapons we can use right now. Cole was on the (junior varsity) last year and has really stepped up. Dillyn is the catalyst of the group and a leader out there.
“We wanted to give more guys more touches this year. We’re just trying to build our plans around each of those guys strengths.”
However, Shaw also knows that Rabun is building toward the playoffs. And the defending Region 8-AA champions are now looked upon as favorites to retain the crown -- though they will face perennial power Elbert County, who dropped down from Class AAA. Those two teams are a combined 9-1. The rest of the region -- Banks County, Social Circle, Putnam County, Oglethorpe County, and Monticello -- are 5-23 collectively.
It doesn't hurt that Rabun's offense faces a stellar defense in practice every day -- and that could be the key to a successful postseason. The Wildcats are second in Class AA, allowing just 7.5 ppg, and have supplied eight takeaways (7 fumbles) and 25 tackles for loss in four games.
“I am glad to have Coach (Rob) Stockton is on our side,” Shaw said. “He does a great job with the defense and having them to go against every day has definitely made us better as a offense. It’s a lot of fun watching those two groups go at it.”
Despite all the early success and talk -- outside of the program -- of what could be a relatively easy road to the playoffs, Shaw said they haven’t even looked at when the postseason commences.
Shaw noted the Wildcats' most recent, 46-3 win over Banks County to open Region 8-AA play and knows certain things will need to be at maximum efficiency to make the most of his team's abilities. He also knows playing teams like Putnam County, Rabun's opponent Friday night in Eatonton, for the first time offers unique challenges.
“We’re not even thinking or talking about (the playoffs),” he said. “It’s really week-to-week for us so that we can fix the things we need to work on. For instance, we were 7-for-7 in the red zone (against Banks), which was better than we have been. But we also were just 4-for-12 on third down. We have to be better than that on third down to beat a team like (No. 1) Benedictine or Fitzgerald.
“We’ve never seen Putnam so we don’t really know what to expect. So, that means just being at our best at what we do will be crucial.”
Shaw didn’t want to sound like a fortune-teller but felt the 2016 season offered a chance for the Wildcats to take the next step.
“This group knew they were going to hear things about losing all those seniors,” he said. “They were already hearing things about there was no way they could be better than that group. But way back in the spring you could see they wanted to be good and show people that there was still talent here.
“They came in in the fall ready to build on that, guys like Cole (Keener). They have bought in all the way to what we’re trying to do. They deserve the credit for whatever success they have because they came in from day one ready to work. You can’t ask for more than that as a coach.”
