BLAIRSVILLE — Brian Allison and the Union County football team are not going to apologize for opening the season with a spotless 3-0 record.
But he also knows that some outsiders, perhaps even a few Panthers fans, may be a little skeptical when they notice the combined records of their first three opponents. Gilmer (new coach) and North Carolina Class A teams Hayesville and Andrews are 0-7 so far to start the 2016 season.
Allison admitted even he is still not quite sure what kind of team he has. They are sporting a new starting quarterback in junior Cole Wright, who has had the tough task of following graduated star Joseph Mancuso, now at the University of Richmond, who set virtually every Union County record over the past three seasons.
“I’m not sure how good we really are,” Allison said. “We’ve played well at times and not so well at times. We’re happy to be 3-0, and we’re not worried about who we’ve played so far. Hayesville and Andrews are smaller schools than we are and may be a little down from years past and Gilmer had a new coach and it was their first game of the season.
“However, you play the schedule you have and try to improve each week. I feel we’ve gotten better each week, but I don’t know that we’ve seen that real big test yet either. I think we’re going to get that this week.”
The Panthers will take on Banks County (1-2) Friday night in Homer, looking to stay unblemished as they prepare for the coming gauntlett of Greater Atlanta Christian, East Hall, Dawson County, and North Hall to open Region 7-AAA play. All four teams advanced to the playoffs in 2015. Homer, however, has been a tough place for the Panthers over the years, where they have dropped four of the last five meetings.
The Panthers offense in 2016 is more centered around senior running back Bo Lynch and a power-oriented offensive line led by seniors Dawson Groves, Blane Brown, and Tyler McConnell.
“Our offense is a little different this year in that we’re more suited for a power running game, and Bo is having a good year so far,” Allison said. “But we’re still going to throw the ball and Cole is still learning the position. He was a wide receiver the past two years and only filled in at quarterback when we needed him so he didn’t play much quarterback until this year.”
Banks County had a bye last week and is coming off an impressive 54-35 win over Johnson two weeks ago. Griffin Goodwin and Clayton Dykehouse offered a devastating 1-2 punch for the Leopards. Goodwin passed for 249 yards and Dykehouse rushed for 245 yards in the victory.
Allison said he is hoping to get a much better understanding of what his Panthers are capable on Friday night.
“Banks beat a bigger school in Johnson handily, and their offense was explosive,” Allison said. “They will offer us several challenges, especially on defense. What we’re looking for is for our offensive line to maintain blocks, see how well our quarterback and receivers connect, and seeing if we can get to the ball and take care of our individual responsibilities on defense.
“Banks has a good offense and I’m not sure we’re as skilled in the secondary as we need to be. These are things that will need to improve once we get into region play.”
Speaking of the region, Allison realizes they will have to be full-on ready when they head to Norcross and take on Class AAA No. 1 GAC next week. Union County will not get another bye week until the smoke has cleared against North Hall on Oct. 14.
“(The GAC game) is still a week away but I know beginning with this week it is probably as tough of a stretch of games as we’ve had here in a while,” he said. “We don’t get any weeks off, and we’re going to have to take them one at a time and prepare the best we can each week.
“But we wanted to play up (in classification) for some closer games, and we knew the competition was going to be tough. It’s important for us to really play well this week (against Banks) and go into the region on a positive note.”
UNION COUNTY at BANKS COUNTY
-- WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
-- WHERE: Leopard Stadium, Homer
-- UNION COUNTY (3-0, 0-0 Region 7-AAA): Defeated Andrews (N.C.) 45-20 last week
-- BANKS COUNTY (1-2, 0-0 Region 8-AA): Bye last week; defeated Johnson 54-35 two weeks ago
-- NOTABLE: Union County leads series 19-18. Banks County won the last meeting in 2011, 16-14. The two teams met every year from 1984 to 2011 with the Panthers holding a 16-12 advantage during that stretch. But, Banks County has won 6 of the last 7 meetings overall. The Leopards also have won 4 of the last 5 in Homer. ... The 54 points for Banks County was the most a Leopards team has scored since a 55-point effort in a win over Riverside Military in 1996. The Leopards, however, also have yielded 99 points (33 ppg) on defense so far. ... Union County is allowing just 14.3 ppg so far.
