BEARVILLE — Top-ranked and unbeaten Pierce County hits the road for the first of back-to-back matchups with Class 4A programs when the Bears travel Friday to Jesup.
The Bears (2-0) opened the season with a 41-7 victory over Coosa Christian School (Alabama) and a 42-7 win over Brantley County.
Meanwhile, Wayne County (0-3) is off to a slow start under first-year head coach John Mohring losing 16-10 at home to Class 5A Glynn Academy, 49-7 to visiting Class 5A Brunswick and 34-0 at PCHS’s Region 3 mate Appling County.
Pierce County owns a 35-0 scrimmage win over the Red Terrors, that coming the week before the seasonopening matchup with Wayne County.
The Pirates jumped ahead 17-0 in the first period, led 20-0 at intermission, and carried a 34-0 advantage into a “mercy rule” final period in Wayne County’s last outing.
“They’ve got some good speed and have big bodies,” said Bears head coach Ryan Herring. “They’ve got a lot of things going on over there and I hope they don’t get it figured out this week. What I’ve noticed is they’ve got able-bodied athletes who look good on film.”
Friday’s meeting at Jaycee Stadium on Donaldson-Madray Field is the 12th in the series. PCHS has won three of the last four matchups to pull to within 8-4 in the series standing.
The Bears blanked Wayne County 14-0 at home in head coach Ryan Herring’s second season (2020) and followed with a 25-0 victory in Jesup in 2021.
PCHS’s offense has averaged 41.5 points in its first two games despite getting off to slow starts in each. The Bears have scored just two touchdowns in the opening period before seizing control over the middle two quarters (10 touchdowns) outscoring their foes 69-7 forcing consecutive running clocks in the final stanza.
“We’ve just got to keep improving each day at practice and every Friday night,” said Herring. “You never know what a defense is going to try and take away, so we always go into a game looking for balance. Getting our running game going is going to be important.” PCHS is averaging 362.5 total yards with 131.5 on the ground and 231 through the air. The Yellow Jackets, who are allowing 33.3 points a game, have shown both an odd and even front in their first three games.
“At times it resembles a 3-4,” Herring said. “They played a lot of even against Appling County so I think we’re going to see a lot of stuff.” Wayne County is without all-state candidate Tavion Wallace, a senior linebacker with offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Alabama. He is no longer in the school system having transferred to Appling County.
The Bears’ defense is surrendering 169 yards a game (67.5 rush - 2.9 average per attempt, 101.5 pass yards - 42 percent completion). They have forced six turnovers (five interceptions, fumble recovery), nine punts and 23% of conversion attempts on third and fourth down.
Wayne County has operated out of three different offensive schemes looking for a fit.
“I really don’t know what to expect,” said Herring. “We’ve just got to be prepared for all three. The key is stopping the run. We’re still a work in progress on the defensive line. We’ve got to have a good week of practice on the grass this week.”
PCHS will still be without the services of junior wide receiver/safety Jah Evans and sophomore running back/defensive back Jae’Veon Williams. Sophomore wide receiver Baden McKendree is questionable.
