CANEY BAY — Brantley County returns to action here Friday night when third-ranked Pierce County invades Herons Stadium for a Region 3AAA tilt for the 44th meeting between the two neighboring schools.
BCHS head coach Matt Hickox (3-4 overall, 2-2 region), who has led his team to one more victory than the previous two seasons combined, said playing the Bears (6-1, 3-1) is “an all out physical war.”
“You’ve got to tighten your chin strap a little bit and make sure you’ve got a good mouthpiece when you step on the field against Pierce County,” said Hickox. “They're (Bears) going to play violent at the point of attack. You’ve got to have players who has the heart to go in and collide and put their face in a fan for 48 minutes.
“If you can’t put your face in a fan for 48 minutes, then it's going to be a very physical, very long night that you’re going to have to endure.”
The Herons and the Bears are each coming off byes following October 8 and October 9 victories. Brantley County recorded a 27-14 road win October 9 in Savannah over Johnson to end a two-game skid. PCHS blasted Tattnall County 56-17 at home in a rare Thursday night affair.
“The open week was essential for allowing some of our players to recover from injuries sustained during the Johnson game,” said head coach Matt Hickox. “The guys toughed it out and were able to play, but they weren't able to play at 100 percent. Having the open week allowed us to rest some bumps and bruises. A couple of players, who played in the Johnson game, were at about 70%. Hopefully we got them playing about 90%.
“So, it was definitely a well timed open week to let us kind of recover before we go into this last three-game finish.”
Brantley County enters the matchup having dropped the last 15 encounters to the Bears, who own a 30-13 series advantage. It’s the secondmost played series for the Herons trailing the 48 games against Charlton County.
“This was a big rivalry back when I played in it,” said Hickox of his time donning the Blue and Gold from 2005-2008. “It’s not so much a rivalry anymore. Our (coaches) goal is try to make this game a rivalry again. We’ve got to learn how to persevere, be physical and play these games tight to start earning some respect so we can call this a rivalry again.”
The Bears are 12-0 when entering ranked against Brantley County. Pierce County has won eight consecutive times in Caney Bay where it is 14-7 During PCHS’s 15-game winning streak, the Bears have won by an average score of 45.3 to 10.7 scoring 47 more points than in the first 28 meetings. Pierce County’s overall scoring margin in the series is 30.5 to 14.1.
The Bears have held BCHS to eight points or less 11 times in the past 15 games including the last eight games.
PCHS and the Herons have faced two common region foes.
Both teams lost to topranked Toombs County (28-7 Bears, 71-7 BCHS) and both beat Johnson-Savannah (48-6 Bears, 2714 BCHS).
Pierce County will bring a punishing rushing attack into the game with its “Bear Bear” scheme. The Bears are averaging 394.1 yards per game on the ground led by Jae’Veon Williams 1,533 yards on 149 carries - 10.3 per attempt; 17 touchdowns) and Dylan Johnson (708 yards on 59 carries — 12 yards per rush; 14 touchdowns).
“When you play Pierce County, you’re going to have to block and you’re going to have to tackle,” said Hickox. “If you can do that you can hang with them. If not, then it’s going to get ugly fast. The question is how do you stop that style of football with those running backs? We’ve got to tackle.
“We can’t bounce off Jae’Veon, we can’t hit him high, nor can we come in and shoulder tackle him. We’ve got to come in and land our face mask in his chest, grab cloth with our fingers, and finish with our feet. We’ve got to be willing to do that and have the heart to do it again and again and again.
“We’ve got to be gap sound, we’ve got to play very physical, and we’ve got to tackle when we get opportunities. All their (Bears) backs need is a crease.”
Offensive, Hickox said Brantley County will have success if the Herons can find some open space in the PCHS 3-4 scheme.
“The best thing to do is try to get the ball where they ain’t,” said Hickox. “They’re (Bear defenders) going to be in man-to-man coverage or really, really tight zone coverage that limits those spaces. I know the defense that they’re going to run, but it doesn’t make it any easier on trying to execute.
“They’ve (players) been coached up for so long and at such a high level. They run it the right way. I’m a full believer in that defense and our defense is very similar. There are some weaknesses to it, but when you got a seco ndary that’s as talented as what they have this year those weaknesses are still far between.
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