By RICK HEAD
Publisher
Brantley County is set to begin Region 3-AA play Friday night when the Herons travel to Bearville to face second-ranked and unbeaten Pierce County on Homecoming night.
The Herons (3-1) began preparations for the Bears (4-0) last week during a bye week, the first of two for BCHS. Brantley County lost a 21-19 heartbreaker against Johnson two weeks ago on a rainy night in Savannah.
Friday’s meeting is the 30th between the two neighboring programs with Pierce County holding a 26-13 series lead and riding an 11-game winning streak. The Bears, who’ve been ranked in the Top 10 for the last five meetings, have won by an average score of 44.5 to 12.6 during the streak, scoring at least 35 points in each matchup.
“We had really good practices last week,” head coach Geoff Cannon said of the bye week preparations. “We (coaches) stressed focus and discipline and worked on us. Of course we had Friday off and it didn’t rain. This week we’ll probably get rain from the hurricane (Floria).
“This is a big game because it’s the region opener and the first of six games. We want to go 1-0 each week and that starts Friday night. We don’t have a jayvee game this week so our practice schedule will be a little different. Monday will be our physical day instead of Tuesday and hopefully that gives us an additional 24 hours to rest our legs with Thursday being a walk-thru.”
Brantley County will be looking to stop several streaks. The Herons have lost seven consecutive games against Top 10 opponents since beating sixth-ranked Charlton County 34-16 in the 2019 season opener. BCHS’s 32-29 win at fourth-ranked Charlton County is the biggest win in program history stopping a 49-game losing streak vs. ranked foes.
BCHS, 5-70-1 all-time in matchups vs. Top 10 programs, is 0-4 against teams ranked No. 2 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll falling 62-7 to then AA region foe Camden County in 1986, 45-6 to Cook in 2001, 48-0 to Charlton County in 2007, and 48-7 to Appling County last year.
PCHS enters riding an 18-game region winning streak over the past four years in Region 1-AAA and have won seven consecutive region openers. The Bears are 28-2 in three-plus seasons under head coach Ryan Herring against unranked competition. The Bears are 93-7 in their last 100 games vs. unranked foes dating back to 2011 under Sean Pender, Jason Strickland and Herring.
“Pierce County is a very talented team and well coached,” said Cannon. “They (Bears) force defenses to defend all 11 players on offense.”
Pierce County is averaging 42.2 points per game scoring 56 points at Jeff Davis, 30 points at then ninth-ranked Class A DI Metter, and 47 vs. Liberty County and at seventh-ranked Class A DII Charlton County. The victory in Folkston ended an 11-game losing streak in the series.
The Bears rotate three running backs to get the job done from its “Big Bear” formation. PCHS is averaging over 300 yards and nearly 10 yards per attempt behind the senior trio of D.J. Bell, JaQuez White and Jimarion Guyton.
“Those three are all good with varying talents,” said Cannon. “They (Bears) line up and snap the ball to one of those three and run the same zone plays. It’s an attacking scheme and they do a good job running the ball and a good job of blocking.
“We’ve just got to come up and tackle whomever is running the ball. We’ve got to have all the gaps covered and just make plays. Those backs are looking for a crease to hit. We’ve got to be able to get their (Bears) offense off the field and hopefully keep them off. We can’t let them ‘big play’ us like they did last year.”
Brantley County has nine defensive players in double-digit tackles led by junior cornerback Mason Thomas (5-foot-6, 140 lbs.) with 22 stops including 15 solo and three tackles for loss. Senior outside linebacker Nathan Willis (5-9, 165) is second with 20 stops.
Sophomore defensive end Carson Jacobs (6-3, 230) leads the team with seven tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. Kellon Middleton (5-11, 175) has lone interception on defense that has recorded three takeaways.
Pierce County’s four wins have come against two teams running the wing-T and two operating out of the spread. The Bears are surrendering 10.75 points per game with three of the six touchdowns allowed coming against backups.
“They are a base 3-4 which way back was a 50 scheme,” said Cannon. “When the spread evolved teams took defensive ends and dropped them and they became outside linebackers. Pierce utilizes a run-first defensive scheme that is really a 5-2 with a cover 2 look on the backend. Those outside backers and corners are not afraid to come up and stick their nose in to stop the running game and they are very physical.”
Cannon said the key offensively is ball-control.
“We’ve got to control the ball and move the chains to control the clock,” he said. “We cannot turn the ball over. We’ve got to be able to finish drives.”
Junior quarterback Kirkland Cannon (5-9, 160) directs the offense behind a veteran offensive line that returned four of five starters. He has completed 65 percent of his passes (17-of-26) throwing for 216 yards with two touchdowns against two interceptions. He has also run for 169 yards on 37 attempts (4.6 per carry) with three scores.
Sophomore Kendall Wright (5-8, 155) is the leading rusher with 267 yards on 55 rushes (4.9) and three scores. Middleton has added 217 yards averaging 8.3 yards per touch with a team leading four touchdowns. He also has grabbed a team-high five catches.
Cannon believes special teams play will play a big part in the outcome.
“There may be a fake punt from them or we need a field goal at the end of a drive,” he said. “It’ll come down to who can make a play in special teams.”
BCHS vs. PCHS
Bears lead 26-13
BCHS PCHS
1981 0 23
1982 8 27
1983 6 21
1984 10 6
1985 19 36
1986 12 7
1987 8 6
1988 26 20
1989 20 15
1990 26 13
1991 0 12
1992 14 21
1993 6 35
1994 0 49
1995 0 49
1996 19 44
1997 24 7
1998 21 32
1999 29 26
2002 20 38
2003 28 35
2004 28 14
2005 24 12
2006 19 0
2007 13 28
2008 21 37
2009 17 14
2010 26 6
2011 18 35
2012 7 51
2013 6 57
2014 0 35
2015 20 35
2016 43 49
2017 18 48
2018 7 49
2019 7 56
2020 7 49
2021 6 35
