BEARVILLE — Second-ranked Pierce County begins its quest for the Region 3-AAA title Friday night when the Bears host Johnson-Savannah on Recreation Night.
Region 3 is one of two regions in the state joining Region 1AAAAAA to have the top three teams in their respective Top 10 rankings. Toombs County is the Class 3A top-ranked team with Appling County third.
Thomas County Central, Lee County and Coffee are the top three teams in Class 6A.
The Bears (3-0) have reached their lofty height after entering the season ranked 10th in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Class AAA pre-season Top 10 poll. PCHS has outscored the opposition by an average score of 45.7 to 11.
The Atomsmashers (1-2) have lost their last two games after a season-opening 20-6 victory over Savannah High.
Pierce County returned from an open date last week to beat visiting Class AA 10thranked Swainsboro (1-3) 35-7 behind the school-record 367-yard rushing night of senior Jae’Veon Williams on 32 carries. Williams also scored four touchdowns on runs of four, 28, 71 and 18 yards.
PCHS’s defense allowed a season-high 85 yards rushing after throwing Coosa Christian and Brooks County for a combined minus-82 yards. The Bears surrendered a season-high 217 total yards.
Head coach Ryan Herring, who said the bye week was much needed, said mistakes committed against the Tigers will be addressed this week.
“We’ve (coaches) got to make sure we’re identifying our mistakes and correcting them,” the veteran coach said. “That’s why film study Sunday with the players was huge. We made some mistakes, so there are things we need to address.
“Even though you’re happy with a 35-7 win against a very good team, there’s some corrections that’s got to be made on both sides of the ball. That’s why Sundays are so important. That’s when we got time to sit down with the players, watch film and make corrections.”
Friday’s meeting is the first between the two programs since 2014. PCHS is 3-0 in the series matchup winning Region 1-AAA matchups in 2012 (21-7 home) and 2013 (159 road) and the 2014 non-region meeting 410 at home.
After knocking off Savannah, Johnson fell 39-0 at South Effingham and 43-19 to Liberty County. The Atomsmashers have won just nine games over the last three-plus seasons and have not won more than five games in a season since 2000.
Senior Shamari King (5-foot-6, 175 lbs.) has lined up a quarterback in the Johnson offensive scheme (spread, Power-I, unbalanced) completing 2-of-5 passes for 19 yards. He is the teams’ leading rusher with 108 yards on 19 carries scoring twice.
“Their (Atomsmashers) quarterback is a really good athlete and hard to tackle,” said Herring. “He’s dangerous and can make something out of nothing. We’ve got to be ready for the inside run, inside counter, jet sweep, and the quarterback’s ability to throw the ball downfield out of playaction.”
Defensively, the Atomsmashers have shown a 3-3 and 5-2 alignment in previous games.
“I really don’t know what they may line up in against us,” Herring said. “We could see a heavy front like a 6-2. They may have all 11 players in the box, including the team manager. They may also get in a hybrid look.
“The key for us is trying to identify their flavor for the night. We’ll (coaches) probably have to make adjustments on the fly after each series.”
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