Ware County will carry its top-ranked billing on the road Friday night when the Gators travel to Hinesville to face Bradwell Institute in the second Region 1-AAAAA matchup of the season.
The Gators (5-0 overall, 1-0 region) started the last half of the 2022 regular season with a 42-14 win over visiting Jenkins (1-5, 0-1) of Savannah while the winless Tigers (0-6, 0-1) fell 42-13 to sixth-ranked Coffee (5-1, 1-0).
“The leadership this team has does not focus on the records of our opponents,” said head coach Jason Strickland. “They are focused on us getting better every day at practice and their teammates being held accountable. They want to play at a high level.”
The meeting is the 13th in a series that dates back to 1972. Bradwell Institute won six of the first seven games while the Gators have taken the last five by an average score of 38.2 to 5.4.
Ware County is 4-0 against the Tigers when playing as a Top 10 team including 1-0 (2014) when entering No. 1.
Bradwell Institute has lost 27 games in a row since beating Effingham County 31-28 October 11, 2019. The Tigers have allowed 18 opponents to score 30-plus points during the stretch with 14 losses by 20-plus points.
The once proud program has endured through a 21-72-1 stretch since 2013 with just one winning record and four winless campaigns.
“We can’t worry about anybody else and what they may be going through,” Strickland said. “We need to focus on us and execute on both sides of the ball. If we do that then we can take care of business. That’s our key to success.”
Friday’s road game is the first for the Gators since a September 2 game at Baldwin in Milledgeville — five weeks ago.
“It’s been over a month since we’ve loaded the buses and played on the road,” said Strickland of the five-week stretch. “Our players have never been to that stadium. We’ve also got fall break this week. There are a lot of distractions that (we) have to address and get the guys focused in on for Friday.”
Bradwell Institute will be multiple offensively. Most of the Tigers’ yardage has come through the air averaging just over 143 yards per game. The run game generates 63 yards averaging less than three yards per snap.
Junior quarterback Christopher Garrett (5-foot-11, 200 lbs.) has completed 62-of-90 passes (69 percent) for 741 yards. He’s thrown for five scores and suffered three interceptions.
Senior Treshaun Peggis (5-10, 157) is the main running threat having compiled 313 yards on 70 tries with a touchdown. No other back has more than 70 yards.
Sophomore Tyon Jones (5-11, 155) has a team-high tying 18 receptions and a team-leading 307 yards with a team-leading three touchdowns. Junior Bryant Thomas (5-10, 160) has 18 catches for 214 yards and a score with senior Caden Guy (6-foot, 175) registering 15 catches for 217 yards and a score.
“They (Tigers) like to spin the ball around,” Strickland said of the passing game. “They have some athletes and skill players that can hurt you. We’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback and force some errant throw. Turnovers have really hurt them (Tigers) this year.”
The Tigers’ 4-2 defensive alignment is pretty similar to what Ware County faced from Jenkins.
“We (coaches) knew we needed to throw the ball against them (Warriors),” said Strickland. “They were pretty stout up front with a defensive tackle headed to Florida State and a defensive end with about 10 Power 5 offers.
“We’ll take a similar approach this week. We’ve got to get proficient in the passing game. We had some good moments, but there was some inconsistency in the throws, our blocking up front, and our route running. We just need to blend all that together.”
WCHS vs. Bradwell
Series tied 6-all
WCHS BI
1972 6 40
1973 0 34
1978 28 14
1979 14 23
1980 0 27
1981 12 15
1998 6 21
1999 27 16
2012 39 6
2013 48 0
2014 33 0
2015 44 7
