BEARVILLE — Pierce County will try to protect its lofty perch atop the Class AA poll against visiting Brantley County here Friday night.
The Bears (1-0) recovered from a slow start against visiting Alabama’s two-time state runnerup Class A Private School Coosa Christian School in rolling to a 41-7 win in the season opener.
The Herons (0-2) are off to a slow start for the season under first-year head coach David Shores falling 61-13 at Charlton County in their season opener and 20-8 to visiting Windsor Forest in the home opener last week. Friday’s meeting will be the 42nd between the schools since PCHS consolidated for the 1981 school term. The Bears have won 13 consecutive games against Brantley County to open up a 28-13 advantage.
The Herons have not scored more than eight points in the last six games and nine times during PCHS’s recent surge. The Bears have scored at least 35 points in each of the last 13 games outscoring Brantley County 604-154 in winning by an average score of 46.5 to 11.9.
The matchup is the longest rivalry in Pierce County history and second longest for Brantley County (47 games with Charlton County). The two teams have played every year except 2000 and 2001.
Brantley County is facing a top-ranked opponent for the sixth time in school history and is looking for its first-ever win. The Herons lost their first four encounters to Charlton County (1995, 2000, 2006, 2010) and to Peach County in the 2019 Class 3A playoffs.
The Bears are playing as the No. 1 team for just the second time.
“It does not get any easier for us,” said Shores. “Obviously, they (Bears) are a great team and one of the Top 10 teams in the state. We will have our hands full.
“They have talent and play hard-nosed football. We’ll work hard this week and see if we can’t give them a game.”
Brantley County’s offense has struggled in the first two games averaging 27.5 yards rushing and 135.5 passing as it adapts to the new scheme implemented by Shores and his staff.
“We’re going to have to be creative,” Shores said. “We’re averaging about 1.2 yards per carry behind a young group of linemen. We may have a wrinkle for a certain situation to try and slow them down.
“They (Bears) are very physical and we have to get a hat on a hat to try and slow their rush down. We’re asking a lot of our younger guys as they learn and grow.”
“What it looks like to me is they (Herons) are just not in sync yet,” said PCHS head coach Ryan Herring. “They show good formations and give you different looks. They spread the field and run the ball and throw it.
“They are trying to get the ball to the tight end (Carson Jacobs) and they throw a lot of screens to the running backs and wide receivers. They give you a lot to defend. There is also a learning curve when you have a new coach.”
The Bears surrendered just 18 yards rushing to Coosa Christian and 141 yards passing. PCHS forced four turnovers with three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Defensively, the Herons are surrendering 312 yards per game with 206.5 coming on the ground and 105.5 through the air. PCHS put up 277 yards against a good Coosa Christian defense with most of the yards coming in the first three quarters.
“They give you a lot of looks,” said Herring of the Herons’ defense. “Coach Shores has been around some big-time football programs so he knows what he’s doing.
“We’ve got to clean up some mental errors. That’s part of playing the first game of the year. We had some little things which hurt us and we (coaches) don’t want for those things to hurt us down the road.”
“We improved from opening week to last week,” said Shores. “I’m hoping we can slow them down and force a couple of mistakes. Their (Bears) offense is much better this year with all those skill guys. They can pound you or go over the top.
“We’re using each week as an opportunity to get better. That is the goal this week is to get better and stay healthy.”
