GAINESVILLE — As the saying goes, “if you have your health, you have almost everything.”
The North Hall football team can certainly attest to that, only not in a positive way. The Trojans have been battered and bruised most of the season, starting with several key injuries in their preseason scrimmage game against Gainesville.
“We had some unfortunate things happen in that scrimmage and it kind of forced us to make some moves early on,” North Hall coach David Bishop said. “It wasn’t like we had no experience out there but when you have to take a No. 2 guy from one spot and move him over to cover another spot it kind starts a chain reaction where you don’t have a lot of your No. 1 guys on the field in their natural spots and you end up with No. 3s as backups.”
As a result, North Hall’s patented wing-T offense has been slowed to just 25.1 points per game average, the lowest in two-plus seasons. The defense, which allowed just 14 total points in the first two games, has been hit for 29.25 ppg since due to the massive roster shuffling.
“Take a guy like Luke Volle, who has been a receiver all his life and now he’s having to step in and play running back, a position he had very little experience at. Those kinds of things are tough on the kids,” Bishop said. “Now he can move back to his natural spot, which will make us a better offense when you add back in the guys that were out.”
But after a week off following a 45-21 loss to No. 3 Greater Atlanta Christian, the Trojans (3-3, 1-1 Region 7-3A) are as close to 100 percent as they’ve been since the summer. And it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as they hit the stretch drive of the Region 7-3A schedule. They travel to Blue Ridge on Friday to face an unbeaten Rebels squad (5-1, 2-0 Region 7-3A) that is off to its best start since 2008.
ALL ABLE-BODIED GUYS WELCOME
“We’re not going to have everyone full-go until probably next week, barring anything else, but we’re as close as we’ve been in a long time,” Bishop said. “We’re able to run more accurate scout teams and have our No. 1 guys playing together in practice. It’s been good to see some of the guys back that have been out the entire year.”
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
“I think it’s going to be a physical football game. (Fannin) likes to play that way, which is the brand of game we enjoy,” Bishop said. “I think last year (Fannin was) 2-0 going into this game as well but I don’t see this as a big thing for us right now. It’s not a hit-or-miss where we’re going to lose everything if we don’t win it.”
THE SEASON STARTS NOW
“Our guys are just excited to get back out there after a week off. They were excited about how they played against GAC, the No. 3 team in the state, without having all our guys available. When you put all that together I think our guys are ready to get going and make a run here at the end of the season.”
THE PLAYERS
Sr. running back J.T. Fair [leads team in rushing with 638 yards and 2 TDs]:
On having a full complement of players for the first time in 2019:
“It's going to be a lot better. We're going to have better looks on the scout team. There's not going to be having to rotate people as much, which I think will really help us get better. It should be a lot more fun.”
On the offense, despite the missing pieces, being able to move the ball against a good GAC defense:
“Our offense moved the ball pretty good last week and I think took a big step forward. I think part of our problem early was it just takes some time with a lot of new parts and when you factor in all the injuries that we had. But I feel like we've really been rolling on offense the last few games.”
On the key against Fannin County this week:
“I think the key this week is just going to be our offensive and defensive lines. Fannin is good and they have a lot of returning players. They've been playing well but I think we can beat them if we just play our game.”
Sr. wide receiver Luke Volle [8 catches, 127 yards]:
On managing an up-and-down season so far and the mental outlook for the team:
“Even though we're just 3-3 I think we're a lot better than that. I think everybody is positive coming into this game. We haven't had a full-strength roster for the entire season so we really haven't seen how good we can really be.”
On finally having most everyone available to play as they hit the stretch run for a playoff spot:
“This will be our first game where we've been full strength and I think everybody on the team feels that we're capable of winning this game and possibly winning out. That's our plan going forward.
“Our ultimate goal is to get a home playoff game and once you get that first playoff win you never know what can happen going forward. I do believe that now that we have everybody back this is a team that is capable of making a run.”
