RABBITTOWN, Ga. — No one knows more than Matt Turner that so far, the only thing that has been able to slow down the East Hall offense is the group in the mirror.
He also knows, with the start of Region 8-3A play on Friday against Monroe Area at East Hall Stadium, the man in the mirror needs to clean up his act.
“Turning the ball over in key moments, penalties that really kill us in key moments, those are the things that will neutralize us and give us the least amount of chance to win. Maybe we were dwelling a little bit too much on (the things that) had happened previously, so hopefully we put that behind us. I just think we've got to execute better both sides of the ball in a couple of key situations. We have to learn from it," Turner said leading up to what is certainly the biggest game to this point for the Vikings (2-3, 0-0 Region 8-3A).
It may be the biggest game of the entire season if things play out as they did in 2024 in Class 3A’s toughest region. East Hall missed out on the playoffs by a single game last year, with the Hurricanes (4-1, 0-0 Region 8-3A) taking the final playoff spot by virtue of their wild 48-42 win over the Vikings in Monroe.
“It definitely is a big game. It's definitely important,” Turner said. “We try not to make it bigger than it is, because we do believe that the other games are going to be just as important. You never want to say your season hinges on one game. I don't think that's the case this week, but this one is definitely big.”
In their three losses, two were by a combined five points. One, a 51-49 loss to North Hall on a Hail Mary as time expired, saw the Vikings rally from 14-points down to take the lead with less than a minute left only to lose on a heartbreaker. They lost 30-27 to Oglethorpe County when they had two touchdowns called back because of penalties.
Their 52-38 loss to East Jackson was of a similar variety where penalties and turnovers kept the offense, which is still averaging 42.2 points/game despite the setbacks, from getting totally unleashed.
“Last week we had a couple chances to put some more points on the board and put a little pressure back on them and we had a couple of penalties that really, really hurt us. So if we can clean that stuff up going forward, we feel like we'll be fine,” Turner stated.
They also need to figure a few things out on defense as well. They scored 87 points in their last two games. The defense was torched for 103, however.
Monroe Area will offer another huge challenge on both sides of the ball. The Hurricanes are averaging 35.8 ppg on offense while the defense has amassed 88 TFL and 11 sacks on the season and have forced 7 turnovers, including 4 INTs.
“They’re a solid football team, no doubt about it,” Turner said. “Offensively, they've got some guys that can really hurt you. Their little tailback is explosive. If you let him get loose, he's going to hurt you.
“They got a quarterback that's playing well. They do a lot of tricky things on offense. You have got to be on your P's and Q's.”
But Turner was adamant that none of that matters if they can get 8-3A play under way with a strong start.
“The message we send to our kids is, every week we’ve got to get better,” he said. “I think this region and this season could come down to the second half of the last game of the year. It's going to come down to the very, very end (of the season).”
