In days of yore (heck, even as recently as the last decade) defense was considered the standard by which football teams at just about any level measured their title credentials.
In this new age of dual-threat players and spread offenses, however, defenses are not measured by quite the same standards.
“Defenses are going to give up points in today’s football. Basically you just want to be the one that gives up the fewest points,” White County coach Tim Cokely said.
“Really, a lot of times now it comes down to which defense can make that one stop. If you can get just one key stop that is all you need sometimes, no matter how many points you give up,” Habersham Central coach Benji Harrison noted.
Cokely’s Warriors will play host to Harrison’s Raiders on Friday night, each hoping that their defenses will make that one key stop in what is expected to be a shootout between the neighbors that feature two of northeast Georgia’s most potent spread attacks.
The Warriors (1-0) are coming off a 40-7 thumping of Lumpkin County in their season-opener, while the Raiders (1-1) held off Madison County 42-35 last week and are averaging 35 points a game on the young season.
Habersham already has seen a pair of spread offenses in Dawson County and Madison County. The Tigers used a power rushing attack out of its spread formations while Madison County also opted to keep things on the ground, rushing 58 times.
The Warriors’ win last week, meanwhile, came against an old-school wishbone attack from the Indians.
Yet both defenses practice against spread attacks every day.
Does that give either team an advantage in its quest to slow the other offense just enough?
“Defensively, I think it helps to probably play against the same kind of offense you see every day in practice,” Harrison said. “It helps with game preparation, but you still have to execute on Friday night. I don’t know if either team will have an advantage one way or another. It really will just come down to who executes what they want to do better.”
Neither Habersham nor White County's defense is particularly large by today’s standards.
The Raiders gave up nearly 50-pounds per man against a huge Dawson County line. Yet the out-sized unit managed to create enough stops to allow its offense to rally for a late lead before running out of gas against the bigger Tigers, who scored with 53 seconds left to nab the win. However, Habersham held off a late charge against Madison County in a goal-line stand at the 2-yard line with 2 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
“We’re not real big on the defensive side, but they fight on every down,” Harrison said. “They made a play (last week) when we needed it and that’s really what it’s all about. You’re going to give up yards. But if you can make that one key stop that may be all you need to win a game.”
Cokely said that what his smaller White County defense lacks in size and experience it counters with quickness and technique. And, while Lumpkin County got its yards last week, the Indians were held out of the end zone until the fourth quarter and facing a 33-point deficit.
“I thought we played good defense for the most part,” Cokely said. “We don’t have the size (up front) we did last year, and we’re younger overall. But we have good foot speed. We don’t worry about (the year of a player). We look at ability. I’ll take ability over experience most every time.”
Last week’s heart-stopping win for the Raiders, who start five sophomores on the defensive side of the ball, was huge. They dropped six of their eight games by just 18 total points in 2017 -- several with last-second scores against the defense -- and the loss to Dawson County (32-28) in the final minute in this year's opener only added to their frustration.
“That was an important win for us,” Harrison said of last week’s victory. “We’re a young team really, and we’re still learning how to win the fourth quarter. Our kids are hungry to build some success, and I think they’re only going to get better. Finding that success last week should help their growth.”
Both coaches were quick to heap praise on the other’s offensive prowess.
“We saw what they can do last year [the Raiders averaged 34.6 points a game in 2017, top 10 in Class 6A], and now they have another great player at quarterback (senior Tre Luttrell) who is talented and hard to stop and brings a different dimension to what they can do,” Cokely said. “We’ll have our hands full just trying to slow them down a little bit.”
Harrison is equally impressed by his foe.
“Last year they had the big running back (the graduated Kaleb Crane), so I’m anticipating they’re going to throw it a little more this year,” Harrison said. “But they have a great young quarterback (sophomore J Ben Haynes) who knows where to put the ball and can make all the plays. We’ll have to try and get some pressure on him, and our secondary will have to play well for us to have a chance.”
But as far as rivalries go, this one is still in the budding stage. Despite being neighbors and separated by just 21 miles, it is only the ninth-ever meeting between the two schools since Habersham began playing in 1970. However, Cokely, who is just in his second year in Cleveland, said he is already noticing a change in how the two programs are approaching the matchup.
“Last year’s game was a lot of fun for the teams and the communities and had a lot of intensity,” Cokely said. “As a coach I like the rivalry games because of the intensity they bring. It helps kids be able to play in pressure moments. I could tell early in the week that there is a lot of excitement for this one already.”
Harrison, now in his fourth season in Mt. Airy and set for his third showdown with White County, agreed.
“It’s been a fun game the last two years but I think with both teams building some success it’s starting to become a little more intense. We’re definitely looking forward to it,” he said.
