Football: NHall-Bluff renew Hall County's newest, (best?!) rivalry

In Cherokee Bluff’s brief six-year-plus history, there have been two constants: Tommy Jones and North Hall.

The Trojans are the only team Bluff has played in each of their first six seasons as a program, and Jones has been the Bears‘ only coach.

Both will be in play in 2024. The two teams will lock horns again on Friday at Yonah Field. (You can be here the game on WDUN AM 550 (Click to listen live).

But this time there will be no official region titles or playoff spots on the line. Or will there?

After spending the last six seasons in the same region in either Class 3A or 4A, the two Hall County rivals find themselves not in the same region for the next two seasons. They both dropped from Class 4A down to 3A with North Hall now in Region 6-3A and the Bears in 8-3A. Three times the game has decided either a playoff spot or a region title.

However, with the new Power Ratings System (PRS) in play for classifications A through 3A, this year’s game could take on even more significance than in previous seasons. Regardless, both Jones and North Hall coach Sean Pender are treating it like they always do.

“It's real simple. It's North Hall vs. Cherokee Bluff. And when the two teams get together, it doesn't matter if it's football, tiddlywinks, or whatever, they're going to compete and play hard,” Pender said. 

“It’s a big rivalry game for us,” Jones said. “There’s always a lot of excitement, tons of fan support, and they've all been really close, exciting games. It generally comes down to a handful of plays. And I don’t think this year will be any different.”

But the PRS gives this one an interesting new dynamic.

“We're both in the same classification. We both feel we have a team that can make the playoffs. So when it comes down to power ratings, this is just as important to us as if we were both in the same region,” Pender said.

“I'm not smart enough to understand this whole (PRS) formula,” Jones said. “I think you have to have an advanced degree to be able to understand exactly how the formula works. But I think this will be a huge game since we are in the same classification. I know this. The teams that win the most games will have a bigger advantage when it comes to higher power (ratings).”

Coming into the season, both teams were unknown, with multiple question marks in key spots. Both were replacing large elements of their offenses, and many pundits (including this one) felt both may be in a rebuild mold.

But after just three games combined, Bluff (2-0, 0-0 Region 8-3A) and the Trojans (0-1, Region 8-3A) already seem to have moved beyond whatever questions they had on offense.

Both defenses will be tested. 

After giving up a 52-yard touchdown run to Cal Faulkner just three plays into their season, the Bears have allowed just 20 total points over their last 7-plus quarters. North Hall allowed 260 yards to Wesleyan’s Ben Brown and picked off one pass. But Brown was coming off a 400-yard, 6 TD performance against a solid Commerce defense.

New Bluff quarterback Brooks Brien has been impressive, with 455 yards and 5 TDs passing so far. He has connected with nine different receivers in two games.

After averaging just 22 points/game in 2023, the Bears have scored 80 points (40 ppg) in their first two contests. Senior receiver KT Thompson has 13 catches for 197 yards and 4 TDs, and junior receiver Malcolm Milsap has six receptions for 85 yards and 1 TD catch so far.

“I don't think you ever quite know where you are until you play a (real) game,” Jones said. “Brooks has done an outstanding job up to this point. He's everything you want in a quarterback.

“He's talented. He has the ability to make all the different throws that we ask of him. He has all the tangibles, and he's a natural leader.

“He's also got a good group of receivers around him, and he's been really efficient at getting the ball out quick and getting the ball into their hands and letting those guys make some plays.”

North Hall has a talented duo sharing time under center in junior Smith McGarvey and sophomore Alex Schlieman. McGarvey (12-for-18, 132 yards) and Schlieman (10-of-14, 116 yards) both looked impressive in a tough loss to Wesleyan that was decided on a field goal at the buzzer after a botched punt deep in their territory. Cole Cable finished with 111 yards receiving, and Luke Jenkins received 99 yards for the Trojans.

The assumption that a two-quarterback system is hard to manage is certainly not the case for Pender. In his time with both Pierce County and Brunswick, Pender employed a two-QB offense four times (2012, 2014, 2019, 2021) with three of those teams winning 10 or more games, one capturing a region title, and three advancing to the second round or farther in the playoffs.

This will be the fifth time he takes two quarterbacks into a season.

“A lot of people have that assumption. That has not been my experience. I’ve done it before several times with great success,” Pender said. “I had a kid named Jamar Lincoln, and I had a kid named Stetson Bennett (at Pierce County, 2014) when they were both sophomores. I had a dual quarterback system with both of them. We made it to the third round, and we had 10 wins.

“I have two guys this year that are both playing very well, and both deserve to be playing, so we’re going to play them both. They played very well last week, as you can see by the numbers. We only ran 44 plays, and we passed the ball 32 times, so you can see we have confidence in both of them.”

North Hall leads the series 4-2, winning each of the past two showdowns. But the last three meetings were decided by just 14 total points. Both coaches are expecting nothing different this time around.

“To me, playing well in all three phases of the game is critical,” Pender said. “Special teams are going to be huge. We had a huge mistake last week, which we have to clean up. Bluff returned a kickoff for a touchdown, but they've also given up two kick returns for touchdowns.

“Creating turnovers and making stops on defense. The little things will probably decide this one.”

“We need to show up. We need to play well. We need to play hard, fast, and physical,” Jones said. “Whichever team makes the least mistakes will win it.”