Ware County hits the road Friday taking a three-game winning streak into its matchup with Evans in an important Region 1-AAAAA matchup.
The Gators (4-2 overall, 3-0 region) are currently tied with fourth-ranked Benedictine (5-1, 3-0) and Jenkins of Savannah (3-3, 3-0) for the region lead. BC and the Warriors clash Friday night at Savannah’s Memorial Stadium Ware County has been taking a “one game at a time” and “focus on us” mentality since a heartbreaking 13-7 loss to visiting Richmond Hill dropped the Gators’ record to 1-2.
A s injured pieces of the equation have slowly returned, Ware County has ripped off three straight region wins by a combined score of 14320 (48-7).
“I thought the defense played well against Richmond Academy,” head coach Jason Strickland said Sunday afternoon. “Our offensive line is starting to jell. Friday, though, is a three-and-ahalf hour bus trip to where I’ve never been. It’s going to be interesting to see how we handle the trip and the environment.
“The biggest thing for us is to focus on us. I like our chances if we do that.”
This is just the fourth meeting between the two programs and first since Ware County, who won the previous three meetings, beat Evans 18-14 in the third round of the 2009 Class playoffs. The two teams met as Region members in 2006 and 2007 with the Gators winning 37-6 at home and 8-6 at Evans in the 2007 encounter.
Evans has alternated wins and losses. After beating Harlem 37-20 in the opener, the Knights fell 42-35 to Greenbrier. They bounced back to best Lakeside- Evans 34-15 before falling 35-14 in the region opener against Jenkins. Evans knocked off Wayne County 42-6 and lost 48-10 to Benedictine.
Strickland said the Knights are very similar Richmond Academy with their offensive scheme.
“It’s a multiple spread with a lot of RPO (run/pass option) mixed in,” the veteran coach said. “We did a pretty good job of defending the RPO aspect against Richmond Academy. If the defensive line plays like it has the last two weeks, that helps us at the last two levels.
“Our defensive front has to take care of the box against the run. That allows us to get another hat out in pass coverage. The key is stopping the run and tackling better.”
Sophomore quarterback Grant Deal (5-foot-9, 175 lbs.) directs the offense. He has completed 49-of-73 passes for 670 yards with seven touchdowns against two interceptions. He’s been dropped for minus-30 yards on 21 rushes.
Junior Brycen Gault (5-10, 170) has racked up 856 yards (8.1 yards per carry) and scored seven touchdowns. He’s recorded five straight 100-yard rushing nights before being slowed to 73 yards last week against Benedictine. Gault rushed for a season-high 231 in the season opener.
Senior Christian Scott (6-1, 193) is Deal’s favorite target. He has 15 receptions for 327 yards (21.8 per catch) and has scored four touchdowns.
Evans utilizes a four-man front on the defensive side of the ball.
“They (Knights) don’t do a lot of things up front nor do they do a lot blitzing,” said Strickland. “They will mix up their coverages in the secondary.”
Strickland liked the results of his offensive team in the win over Richmond Academy.
“We were very balanced with 159 yards rushing and 152 passing,” he said. “As the game wore on, our runs got a little bigger and that opened up the play-action passing game.
“Going into the game, I knew we needed to control the tempo and utilize the clock to keep Richmond Academy’s explosive offense off the field. Isaiah (White) was very disciplined running the play clock down.
“As a staff, we meet and talk about a game plan. If a team likes to play with tempo like last week, we want to slow things down. Each game will be different, but I liked what I saw last week.”
Evans has four players with 23 tackles or more on the season led by junior inside linebacker James Kendrick’s (5-9, 180) 35 stops. He has one tackle for loss. Senior outside linebacker C.J. Curry (5-10, 205) is second with 28 tackles, one TFL and a fumble recovery.
Senior defensive back Kalum Shelton (5-10, 170) has been credited with 27 stops and a TFL. Senior inside linebacker Bryce Parker (5-9, 205) has 23 tackles and a TFL.
Junior defensive lineman Nate Hamilton (5-7, 210) has a team-leading five tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries. Sophomore defensive lineman Khalil Winfrey (6-foot, 210) has recorded three TFLs and a team-high three quarterback sacks to go along with a team-high four quarterback hurries.
Strickland said Evans’ special teams play is pretty good with senior kicker Nicholas Farmer (5-11, 170). He has drilled 17 of 32 kickoffs for touchbacks, averages 34.1 yards per punt with three being downed inside the 20.
“They (Knights) do a great job in punt and kick coverage,” said Strickland. “They have a great kicker/punter.”
Comments