HOSCHTON — Defense wins championships they say. But in the 2015 Class AAAAAA playoffs, the top four offenses -- Colquitt County, Grayson, Roswell, and Mill Creek -- have shown that it may be possible to score your way to the title.
All four are unbeaten, and all four have scored 38 or more points at least twice so far through the first three rounds. Three of the four -- Colquitt County, Grayson, Roswell -- are averaging over 40 points a game for the season.
But in a classification that seems all about the offense, standing like a beacon for all defense-minded fans to see is Mill Creek.
The Hawks (13-0) are the only AAAAAA unit to register a shutout in the 2015 playoffs -- a 23-0 domination of Archer in last week’s quarterfinals -- and have not allowed more than 14 in any one playoff game. They have yielded just 27 total postseason points (9.0 ppg), and just 88 points (6.7 ppg) all season.
By comparison, Roswell, the next best defensive team left in the Class AAAAAA playoffs, has allowed 50 points in the playoffs. Grayson, who plays Roswell in the semifinals on Friday, has given up 59 postseason points. Each of those units has given up more than 25 once.
Colquitt County, which takes on Mill Creek Friday night in the semifinals at Mill Creek Community Stadium, has allowed 68 points (22.6 ppg), including 31 to South Forsyth last week.
For Mill Creek coach Shannon Jarvis, who is guiding the Hawks into their first-ever semifinal appearance, the matchup that could decide if his group will get to play for its first-ever state title is the one most everyone in the state is waiting to see.
“Our defense has been a large component of our team’s success. We have believed in them from the beginning,” Jarvis said. “They just play so well as a unit. It is without a doubt one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever been around as a coach. And I think we all are looking forward to see how we do against their offense. That will probably decide the game.”
Colquitt County (13-0) is the defending AAAAAA champion and is pummeling the opposition behind an offense that has scored 618 points (47.5 ppg) including 159 points (53 ppg) in the playoffs. They have scored 41 or more 11 times in 2015. The Hawks defense, conversely, has six shutouts to its name this season and has held all 13 of its opponents under their scoring average. No team has scored more than 17 in any game in 2015 against Mill Creek.
The Packers play a similar style of offense as Archer behind senior quarterback Chase Parrish, who has 2,759 yards and 33 touchdowns to go with just four interceptions. He has also rushed for 351 yards. Parrish has a big target to throw to in Kiel Pollard (Arkansas commit), who has 955 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns. Pollard also has 11 rushing touchdowns on just 24 carries. Blend in three running backs with over 300 yards rushing (Qwazavia Lee, 671; Nate Powell, 649; Nigel Hillie, 316) and it’s easy to see why they generate nightmares for most defensive coordinators.
However, South Forsyth appeared to have them on the ropes last week before the Packers exploded for the final 21 points in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 49-31 win.
The numbers looked similar for the Archer offense coming into last week’s quarterfinals against the Hawks. The Tigers’ Will Bearden had thrown just three interceptions all season up to that point. He was picked off twice. The nation’s No. 1 wide receiver, Auburn-commit Kyle Davis, had three catches for 18 yards on their first drive but just five more for another 29 yards the rest of the way as he was taken out of the game by senior cornerback Kishawn Miller.
Is it a matchup that could yield similar results for the Hawks defense against Colquitt County?
“The quarterbacks are about the same and Davis may be a little better (than Pollard) but (Colquitt) just executes so well,” Jarvis said. “No one has really been able to slow them down. I don’t know if you can say because we held Archer down that that means we’ll be able to slow down Colquitt just because they run a similar style.
“To me the gameplan is always simple on defense: tackle well, be relentless on every play, and don’t give up the big plays. Most of the points we’ve given up this year have been on big plays. We’ve been able to make people work hard for yards and usually we’ve been able to get a sack or a turnover. That’s our plan again.”
The Hawks’ front-seven has been dominating all season. Defensive linemen Peyton Moore, Anthony Imbordino, John Hunt, and Tyler Vernon, combined with linebackers Sidney Otiwu, Micah Bull, and Aaron Anderson, have combined for 51 of the team’s 63 sacks and 57 of the team’s staggering 85 tackles for loss.
Last week, Moore helped put the game out of reach by halftime, intercepting a Bearden pass and slaloming 27-yards for a touchdown -- dragging a defender the final five yards before diving into the corner of the end zone.
“Probably my favorite play all season,” Jarvis said. “Just a tremendous effort. But those guys have been doing that all year.”
Jarvis said the credit for the defense’s steady play can be attributed to his defensive staff: defensive coordinator Bill Stewart, defensive backs coach Chad Rogers, defensive line coach Jed Hodges, and linebackers coach Jeff Zmistowski.
“The credit goes to those guys for getting the kids prepared and ready to play every week. And also the kids should take credit for taking the coaching and trying to improve themselves each week,” Jarvis said. “I think the defense, from the coaches to the last guy on the unit, takes a lot of pride in what they do. Some of the numbers and stats they have put up this year have been impressive.”
What has been hard to impress upon Jarvis, however, is the historic run his Hawks are on. They finished the regular unbeaten for the first time and won their first-ever Region 7-AAAAAA title. Last week’s win put them in the semifinals for the first time ever.
Another win on Friday would put them one more step closer to the ultimate goal of a state title. Jarvis, however, wants no part of the speculation of what could be. At least, not yet.
“We know we’ve hit some goals we’ve been chasing. But right now we’re just focused on the next game, which is Colquitt County this week. We’re really just feeling fortunate to get to keep playing another week because there are so many good teams out there who aren’t,” he said.
“We’re not worrying about our status among the teams or what kind of history or validation or anything like that all this means. All of that stuff is for the offseason. I’ll feel like I can get a better look and perspective on all this once the season’s over. Hopefully that won’t be for another week or so.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/12/353941/hawks-defense-dominating-in-offensive-minded-aaaaaa-playoffs