Vikings playoff hopes rely on defensive improvement

RABBITTOWN — The old saying defense wins games and championships in football might be overused but is true. 

And for the last five seasons, defense has almost been non-existent for the East Hall Vikings. 

Statistically speaking, the Vikings have allowed 2,179 points for a season average of 435.8 points given up in the last five seasons. That breaks down to a per-game average of 41.1 points scored against them. 

Although last season was a smidge better and the best number in four seasons, the Vikings gave up 40 or points in seven of the 10 games and 50 or more twice. That’s around 42.7 points allowed per game. 

The stats do paint a dismal picture for the program, but second-year Vikings coach Michael Perry is working tirelessly to fix the problem and hopes to improve on last season’s 2-8 record. 

"There's no doubt about it, we've got to get better on defense," he said. "Last year, we averaged one turnover. This year, we have got to get that number up to three. Defense is hard, but we've got to do a better job at forcing turnovers."

Perry continued to stress improving the turnover ratio and being more aggressive on defense. He also said maturity is going to be a key ingredient to leap the turnaround of the program forward.

Of course, all of that starts with the first two levels of the Vikings’ multiple defensive unit. 

Senior Ray Grayble has emerged as a high-energy player and caught the attention of the entire coaching staff. Grayble is expected to start at the noseguard. 

Juniors Conner Thompkins and Marcus Holmberg will bookend the defensive line. 

Also returning is the team’s third-leading tackler from last season in senior Kyle Hughes at linebacker. Sophomore Andrew Shockley will man the other outside linebacker post, and junior Levi Howard will plug in at one inside linebacker position. Perry said the jury is still out on the other inside linebacker spot. 

“Ray is an exceptional young man that has a motor that doesn’t quit,” Perry said. “He’s going to be key for us up front. We’re going to be very multiple on defense and a lot more aggressive. We’ve got to force the offense’s hand and force the quarterback to do something that is positive for us.” 

The offensive side of the ball is where it turns to chaos – good chaos. It’s known as the air raid and in the Vikings first season utilizing a heavy passing attack, then-sophomore quarterback Clete Cooper threw for almost 2,500 yards, earning him No. 1 passer honors in Class 3A in 2019. 

Cooper is back to toss it around the yard again this season and has grown up a little bit as well. Perry says Cooper’s leadership skills have improved and his desire is on fire. 

“I think he's making strides,” Perry said. “In workouts, he doesn’t complain; he encourages his teammates. He’s just getting the work done. So, I’m really proud of him for that. You know, he wants to be good. There’s not a day that he’s taking off. So, I’m expecting big things out of him this year.”

Cooper will have senior Mon Tabor back to connect with out of the backfield but lost leading receivers Drew Highfield, DJ Gray and Mon Prather to graduation.

“Drew was such a great leader,” Perry said. "He played almost every snap. Mon (Prather) was a natural receiver but we lost him early in the season. That had a big effect on us. And DJ was a huge contributor at receiver. It's definitely going to be challenging to replace those guys.”

Perry says sophomore Matthew Lott and junior Macere Walker will step in to replace the losses to graduation. 

“Matthew is very talented,” he said. “If he can handle things better and group up, then he’s got a shot to be a player that everybody knows.

“Macere also is talented. I think he has a shot to have a very good season for us.”

Words like air raid, spread offense and five-wide seem to throw up the red flag and pose the question: what about the run game?

That’s where Perry sits back and smiles. Truth is the Vikings had a running game last season. They actually ran the ball 176 times. Tabor was the lucky recipient of 79 of those carries that totaled 720 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry. Tabor also was the fourth-best receiver with just over 400 yards and three touchdowns.

Perry is definitely happy Tabor is back for his senior season and will look for him to have a breakout season. 

“Mon is an exceptional player,” Perry said. “He’s got great hands as well. So, not only will he be our main tailback, but he’ll get some catches out of the backfield.”

Shockley and sophomore Gibby Thompson also will mix in at running back as well. 

“We’ve got some solid guys we can lean on,” Perry said. “Running back is a position where you’ve got to have more than one, obviously.”

Up front, the Vikings started two freshmen in 2019. Leo Arzate and Caleb Pruitt return to anchor the O-line. Perry said he expects his offensive line to be much improved in 2020. 

“Offensively, though, we’ve got to do a much better job in the red zone,” he said. “It has to improve this year.”

The elephant in the room is a new region and classification. With the Georgia High School Association’s realignment of classifications in the winter, East Hall was booted from Class 3A and into Class 4A. They will join a newly aligned Region 8-4A. 

The region houses perennial powers Flowery Branch and Jefferson (moved from Class 3A), Class 5A dropout Cedar Shoals and potential rising stars North Oconee and Madison County. Also joining the region is cross-county foe Chestatee. The formation of the new Region 8-4A will be a true gauntlet for every team week-in and week-out. 

The Vikings will open at cross-county rival West Hall, then host back-to-back home games against Franklin County and cross-county rival Johnson before finishing up the non-region slate at East Jackson. They’ll open region play at home against Cedar Shoals on Oct. 9. 

“Just look at Madison County, they had the best team in their history last year,” Perry said. “Jefferson and Flowery Branch are what they are and always good. Cedar Shoals is very athletic. And North Oconee, who's quarterback has been offered by everybody in the country, is going to be good. So, yeah, it's going to be a challenge, but we're looking forward to it."

Regardless of the opponent, Perry says leadership, defensive improvement and responding to adversity will be the biggest keys to success in 2020. 

“The biggest thing is how our younger kids have matured over the last year,” he said. “We have got to be able to fight through the adversity when it starts to set in. So, I'm just looking forward to seeing how our leadership develops. That's what it takes to get this thing turned around.

"The turnaround starts with me, I’ve got to do a better job than I did last year. We've got talented players, and we've got to put them in the right direction. We've got to get the defense going and everybody knows that. It starts with turnovers and being more aggressive. If we do those things, we will have a successful season.”