BEARVILLE — Pierce County closes out its 2026 home schedule Friday night when Islands visits on Senior Night for its first-ever meeting with the Bears.
PCHS will honor 14 seniors prior to kickoff. The list includes Jae’Veon Williams, Alex Lacot, Ocean Henderson, Chance Williams, Terry Gibbs, Demontrey Clark, Riggs Mock, Brayden James, J.T. Boyette, Trenton Kennedy, Jeffrey Walley, Logan Spivey, Leland Williams and Ja’Lynn Everett.
“The neat thing is that Jae’Veon, Chance, Trenton and Logan are the only members of the class who dressed for the 2023 Class AA state championship game,” said head coach Ryan Herring recalling the 48-45 triple overtime thriller against Rockmart in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz.
It’s a matchup of two teams headed in opposite directions. Third-ranked PCHS (7-1 overall, 4-1 Region 3-AAA) has won three consecutive games since a 28-7 loss to top-ranked Toombs County back on September 25. Meanwhile, the Sharks (3-5, 0-5) have lost five straight since entering region play. The meeting is the first-ever between the two schools. Islands began playing football in 2012 playing two years of non-region schedules. The Sharks are 31-99 since 2014 with their three wins this year two more than the previous four years combined (1-39), which included a 37game losing streak (2021-25).
The two programs have four Region 3 common opponents. Islands had its 3-0 season start ended by Brantley County (7-6), a team the Bears beat 52-0. The Sharks fell 48-35 to Beach while PCHS rolled 65-20. Islands dropped a 31-14 decision to Tattnall County while Pierce County rolled 56-17. Both teams suffered losses to top-ranked and unbeaten Toombs County with the Sharks being harpooned 76-0 and PCHS falling 28-7.
The game will feature two ground-oriented attacks. Islands throws the ball a little more than six times a game while the Bears attempt less than four passes a game. The Sharks generate 82 percent of their offense (1,338 yards; 223 yards per game) from their flexbone run game while PCHS gets 95% of its offense (3,027 yards; 378.4 per game) out of the “Big Bear” scheme.
Islands uses a quick huddle, quick to the line and quick snap trying to catch teams mis-aligned and out of position using a lot of mis-direction running plays and play-action when it does pass.
Senior Mason McLaughlin (6-foot-2, 160) barks the signals for the Sharks. He has completed 14-of-34 passes (41%) for 221 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He has 156 yards rushing on 30 attempts with a teamleading four touchdowns.
Junior Nathan Tulloch (5-9, 170)handles the majority of the rushing attempts with a team-high 65 carries and teamhigh 378 yards with one 100 yard game. Junior Parker Woods (5-10, 170) is second with 55 carries for 345 yards Senior Michael Cooler (6-4, 205) has accumulated 209 yards and three touchdowns. Cooler, who is listed as a tight end, has a team-high eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
“The key for us is getting our defensive signals in quickly,” said Herring, whose defense is allowing 13 points a game. “We’ve got to lineup quickly before they quick snap it. We’re going to have to have some calls built in so we can be ready.” Offensively, the Bears have surpassed the 50point plateau in a schoolrecord three consecutive games scoring 57.7 points per game in wins over Beach, Johnson and Brantley County. PCHS’s season average is 45.6 points, second to Toombs County’s state-leading 58 points per game.
Jae’Veon Williams has totaled 1,742 rushing yards (second in the state, first in Class AAA) and 21 touchdowns. Over seven games, Williams averages 248.9 yards (10.2 per carry) a game and three touchdowns. Dylan Johnson has accumulated 757 yards (12.2 per attempt) and 14 touchdowns, which included back-to-back 264-plus yards in consecutive games.
Chance Williams is the homerun threat turning a team-leading five catches (141 yards; 28.2 per catch) into a team-leading four touchdowns.
“Defensively, they (Sharks) are a base 50 defense,” said Herring. “Who knows what defense alignment they will line up in against us.”
Senior linebacker Zane Burroughs (5-10, 195) anchors the Islands’ defensive unit with a team-high 30 stops. He has two tackles for loss. Senior linebacker Jackson Tripp (5-9, 190) is second with 26 tackles. He has a teamleading five TFLs.
Senior defensive back Andrew Davis (5-9, 170), senior linebacker Whit Perry (5-9, 180) and senior linebacker Josh South are the only other defenders with more than 20 tackles.
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