Sixth-ranked Ware County will have its hands full Friday night when Florida’s Bartram Trail visits.
The meeting will officially be the first between the two schools, who have been scheduled to play a couple times with COVID wiping out one trip and unforeseen circumstances cancelling another trip.
The Bears (1-1), who entered play last ranked fourth by Max-Preps in Florida’s second-highest classification, are coming off a 28--21 home loss to Ponte Vedra. Bartram Trail opened the season with a 34-12 win over visiting Sumner High School of Riverview, Fla. Ware County seemed regrouped and refocused in a 49-7 demolition of over matched Bainbridge. The Gators scored five touchdowns via the airwaves and twice on the ground turning four turnovers into scores.
“We left the field with a much better feeling than we did at Coffee,” said head coach Jason Strickland referencing the 20-16 setback to the Trojans. “I never ever dreamed the game would get out of hand. I was honestly thinking about a touchdown difference being decided in the final quarter. “We did not have a lot of offensive yardage because our defense kept giving us the ball on a short field. The guys were jazzed up because of Senior Night and went out and played lights out.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Ware County stuffed the Bearcats’ run game throwing the visitors for minus-30 yards on 30 rushing attempts during a feeding frenzy.
Bartram Trail is two seasons removed from its last unbeaten regular season, the fourth since 2011. The Bears are 132-47 the past 14 seasons averaging 9.4 wins against 3.4 losses.
An 8-5 mark last year under then firstyear head coach Corey Johns was the most losses in a season since posting the same mark in 2016. The eight wins were the fewest since going 7-4 in 2010.
“Bartram Trail is a well-coached team and a program that we have scheduled a couple of times previously only to be cancelled,” Strickland said. “There is a little pocket of good football played in north Florida. They (Bears) are in that pocket in the Ponte Vedra-St. Augustine area.
“Watching them on film, they are exactly what we’ve heard about. They remind me of Calhoun with their physical style of play. They are not flashy, but they play hard. Plus, they are going to be ticked off after losing to their rival Ponte Vedra last week.”
Strickland believes Bartram Trail will attack offensively on the perimeter running from a one-back, one tight end set, out of the triple option and with its RPO (run/pass option) game.
“I think we match up well with our defensive box against their offensive line,” said Strickland. “They have a quarterback (junior Jaden Weatherly) who can hurt you and a running back (junior Arthur Lewis IV) who is really good. They also have a tight end (senior Landon Tippie) who is being highly recruited.
“The key for us defensively, if they attack our perimeter, is tackling in space. We’ve also got to create turnovers, which we’ve done a pretty good job of doing that so far.”
Ware County has forced 11 turnovers through the opening three games getting nine fumble recoveries and two interceptions.
Strickland said the Bears have some pretty good defensive players in their 34 defensive scheme.
“They have a stout defensive line and two very good inside linebackers,” the veteran coach said. “They also have two very special safeties who are coming downhill when they read run.
“We’ve got to keep them off-balance with our shifts and motions. We’ve got to do a good job along the offensive front recognizing the games they play with stunts.
“We’re going to have to be able to run the ball with (Tayshaun) Franklin as our power back and Jamir (Boyd) utilizing his speed. We need to hit some passes downfield to open up our running game.”
