CANEY BAY — Brantley County is looking to break through in the win column this week with former region foe Vidalia visiting Friday night in the last non-region game of the season.
The Herons (0-3) played perhaps their best game of the season last week against Class AA defending state champion Pierce County though the 42-7 score may not give any indication.
Brantley County trailed just 7-0 16 minutes into the game when the Bears methodically pulled away. PCHS head coach Ryan Herring was highly impressed with what Herons’ first-year head coach David Shores is doing with the program.
“They (Herons) did some good things offensively,” Herring said. “I think moving that big kid (Carson Jacobs) inside helped them a lot on the defensive side.”
Shores like the direction and effort of his squad.
“We definitely played better than we did last week (20-8 home loss to Windsor Forest),” he commented. “We need to get sharper in our execution and we need to elevate our secondary play. I thought we did a good job of running the ball against a very good defense and I thought we stopped the run against a very good offense.”
Up next is Vidalia (2-1) ahead of Brantley County’s first open ate of the season. The Indians, who also dropped down to Class A Division I, have bounced back from a seasonopening 20-10 loss at Long County.
Vidalia, in its second year under Rodney Garvin, knocked off Screven County 28-7 and followed with a 436 victory over Tattnall County. Both decisions came at home.
Friday’s meeting is the seventh between the Indians and BCHS.
Vidalia owns a 5-1 series lead having won the last four matchups including 29-7 last season as Region 3-AA foes. Vidalia, and just like Jeff Davis in two weeks, utilize groundoriented offensive schemes with wing-T attacks. The Indians mix in the double wing once used by Georgia Southern during its glory years while the Yellow Jackets are true single wing-T.
“We’re (coaches) trying to solidify our secondary and our next two games are against wing-T teams,” said Shores. “We’ve shored up our box (front seven), but we made some mistakes against Pierce County with those elite skill players.”
Shores said the blocking scheme used by both upcoming programs is based on angles.
“We just have to be disciplined, read the keys, get off blocks and use our hands,” he stated. “The challenges over the next two games are about not getting caught by mis-direction plays and not having our eyes where they need to be.
“I think our improvements on the defensive side of the ball have made us gap-sound. We’ve just got to keep working on the little things to keep getting better each day.”
The first-year coach mentioned three players who have garnered his attention. Senior wingback A.J. Mc-Clendon (5-foot-7, 150), senior quarterback Jackson Berry (6-foot, 175) and senior fullback Jamarion Phillips (6-2, 210) are key players. “That No. 2 (Mc Clendon) is explosive,” said Shores. “He had a 90-plus yard kick return last week. The quarterback is a good looking athlete. Their (Indians) fullback is big and presents a challenge. They don’t have a big offensive line, though.”
Defensively, Vidalia runs a 4-3 front. The Indians have allowed one touchdown in each of their last games.
“The offensive staff has put together a pretty good game plan,” said Shores without tipping his hand. “We’ve got to do a better job of throwing and catching the ball, though. I believe our running game is starting to come around. Adding in our quarterback to the run is going to be a bonus. We had some success with the quarterback run against Pierce.”
Shores said his squad escaped Bearville without any major injuries.
“We’ve got a couple of guys banged up, but we should be alright this week,” he said.
