Ware County kicks off its 2025 season Friday night at Memorial Stadium hosting Class AA Appling County.
The Gators, ranked eighth in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Class 4A Top 10 pre-season poll, of seventh- year head coach Jason Strickland are looking to bounce back from a 6-6 campaign which began with a 40-14 victory in Baxley. The season-opening victory was the fifth straight for Ware County following a 19-7 opening act loss to Rockledge (Fla.) High School in Strickland’s first season. The Gators are 18-6 in openers this century. Ware County’s lone pre-season scrimmage ended in a 34-all tie last week at Brunswick.
The Pirates, ranked sixth in the Class AA Top 10 poll, are looking for redemption under new head coach Tucker Pruitt. Appling County finished 10-4 last season before being stripped of the 10 wins by the Georgia High School Association in April for the use of an eligible player finishing 014.
The forfeited season cost Jordan Mullis his job after four seasons and three consecutive Region 3 titles (one a tri-share).
The meeting is the 37th between the two schools dating back to the 1958 season. Ware County has won the last three meetings to open up a 20-16 series lead.
“We (coaches) know they’re going to be big and athletic like they always,” said Strickland. “We’re just not real sure what they’re going to do on either side of the ball with Tucker (Pruitt) taking over. They (Pirates ran three different offenses (under center wing-T, true single wing, spread) so that’s got us a little bit uncomfortable.
“Defensively, he was an odd front guy at Fitzgerald, but against Bacon County is a three-man and fourman so we’re trying to prepare for everything under the sun. I do know coach Pruitt is a really good football coach.” Appling County’s offense is led by pro-style sophomore quarterback Harrison Hickox (6-foot-2, 200 lbs.), a Second Team All-Region selection last year. Junior Jaiden Knight (6-foot, 185) headlines the running back position.
Senior Cameron George (6-foot, 225) will man the H-back position. Juniors Harrison Bennett (5-11, 230) and Chance Daniels are the most experienced linemen.
“It’s going to be interesting because we (coaches) really are having to prepare for all three schemes,” Strickland said. “The main thing for us we’ve got to tackle better in open space. We had some opportunities in Brunswick that went for long plays. If our safety comes down and makes a tackle right there near the line of scrimmage we’re okay.
“Hopefully Appling doesn’t have anybody as fast as a Brunswick’s running backs. We’ve just got to be better in the tackling department.
The Pirates’ defensive, typically and even front but played a three-man front in a 28-14 loss at Bacon County in their scrimmage, is anchored by senior Edwin Burt (61, 275) and Jaiden Solomon. George will handle a defensive end position with Knight lining up a linebacker.
“They had some problems defending the pass against Bacon,” said Strickland. “Plus, Bacon played with tremendous tempo against them. Appling County was playing a bunch of guys both ways and you could kind of tell as the scrimmage went on they kind of got a little bit winded.”
After looking at Friday’s scrimmage against the Pirates on film, Strickland and his offensive line coaches will have to protect themselves against penalties. The Gators were flagged for four holding penalties.
“You’re going to have those things,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re not really seeing what the official saw. So we’re going to be working on solving that.”
Ware County adjusted its game plan on the fly against the Pirates. Instead of utilizing two and three tight end sets, the Gators, due to an injury and one tight end missing, were limited to a one tight end set.
“Everything we (coaches) game planned for was lost so we threw our call sheet away,” Strickland explained. “I thought we did a good job of regrouping. We took a lot of the shifts and motions and a lot of things we were planning to do out and became very vanilla.
“Each one of our offensive linemen have about 40 games under their belts ... it’s a good group. Isaiah (White) did a terrific job of playing quarterback. He’s got to get a little bit better at his protection calls, though, and that comes with experience.
“Both Tay (shaun Franklin) and ‘Little’ (Jamir Boyd) ran hard. Tay has come a long way and is a pounder. ‘Little’ has put on about 30 pounds from last year (153 lbs. to 180 lbs.) is a slasher. They play well off of each other.”
Another area that will be addressed is kick return coverage. The Gators allowed 36.2 yards on five kick returns that included an 87-yard touchdown and a 57-yard return of the opening kick.
“We’ve got to get better on our kickoff coverage,” he said. “ You don’t know about kickoff coverage if it’s going to be right. I think that’s just kind of the first night under the lights, but we’ve got to do a better job.”
WCHS vs. ACHS Gators lead 20-16 WCHS ACHS 1958..........25 .............7 1959...........0.............14 1960 ..........6.............10 1961 ..........25.............0 1962...........7 .............13 1963..........35 .............7 1964..........21 .............7 1965..........32.............0 1966..........13 ............41 1967..........22............25 1970..........12 .............7 1971 ..........22.............2 1972...........0.............14 1973..........23 ............14 1974...........8.............38 1975..........24............22 1976...........6..............0 1977..........20............10 1978..........27 ............14 1979 ..........14 .............7 1980 ..........7 .............32 1981 ..........14 .............0 1982..........19 ............14 1983..........13 ............14 1984..........14 .............0 1985 ..........0.............21 1986 .........29............50 1987...........0.............41 1988 ..........7.............28 1989 .........29 ............13 1990 ..........6.............34 1991 ..........13 ............33 1992...........6.............33 1993..........33 ............14 2022........¢ xx...........xx 2023.........20 ............17 2024.........40............14 ¢ - Cancelled due to thunderstorm.
