BEARVILLE — Pierce County stretched its playoff run to 14 consecutive years receiving a 16th seed in the 32-team Class AA bracket with first round games kicking off Friday night around the state after last week’s open date.
“I don’t really like a week off,” said PCHS head coach Ryan Herring, who is 18-4 in six years of competing in the post-season including 6-0 in the first round. “It worked out good, though. We’ve got some guys injured, but I think everybody’s ready and waiting for Friday night ... it’s something to look forward to.
“We’ll come in Monday and start finalizing the game plan. At least we know we’ve got a game Friday night.”
The Bears (8-2), who finished third in Region 3 behind 10thranked Appling County (7-3) and Crisp County (4-6), begin the playoffs with their 10th consecutive first round home game dating back to 2016 when 17thseed Ringgold (6-4) visits.
PCHS has won 12 straight (121 home record) first round home playoff games since falling 43-22 to Cook in 2011. The Bears are 24-4 at home over the previous 13 years and 30-6 overall in home playoff games (including region playoffs) since 1982.
Pierce County has scored 42plus points in seven straight games and 33 points or better in 11 of 13 post-season home games since 2011. The Bears have won by an average score of 42.1 to 17.1 and 48.3 to 6.8 in the Ryan Herring era. “Ringgold is a scrappy football team,” Herring said. “They (Tigers) took Rockmart to overtime. Their quarterback got hurt after midseason and that caused them to have a hiccup.”
Ringgold, playing in its 81st season, is making its fifth consecutive state playoff appearance (three straight under third-year head coach Austin Crisp), and 12th overall — all since 203. The visitors have never won a region title.
Including two region playoff appearances (1982, 1983), the Tigers are 0-12 on the road and 4-14 overall. The visitors have fallen by an average score of 38.8 to 14.4 in road losses since 2003 with nine of their 10 opponents scoring at least 35 points. Ringgold’s closest game was a 14-7 setback at Thomson in 2021.
The Tigers bring in an offense averaging 28.2 points per game while PCHS allows just 11.6 points — fourth best in Class AA.
The Bears surrender 199.9 yards of offense (118.5 rushing 4.4 per attempt/81.4 passing 44% completion). They have forced 15 turnovers (seven fumbles/ eight interceptions), held opponents to 26% third down conversions (24-of-92) and 35% fourth down conversions (7-of-20).
Ringgold’s spread offense, which utilizes a lot of one tight end sets, has scored 31 points or more in half of its games (five).
PCHS has allowed only Crisp County and Appling County to reach 28 points or better while holding eight opponents to 16 points or less and five to a single touchdown.
“They’ve (Tigers) got two guys who can run the ball pretty good,” said Herring. “I think we’ll get some heavy stuff with them trying to run the ball. After watching us against Appling County, I bet they’ll try to run a ball a little more than maybe what they have on film.”
Sophomore Bo Green (5-foot-9, 155 lbs.) directs the zone-based running game. Junior Zach Grower (6-3, 215) is the running back. Lining up at the wide receiver spots are junior Christopher Grady Haddock (5-11, 155), sophomore Bryant Marshall (6 foot, 170) and senior Ellijah Pursley (6 1, 170). Senior Ross Burguess (5-10, 200) is the tight end. The offensive line has some beef anchored by senior Slade Swaney (6-2, 310). Joining Swaney on the right side are junior Tyler Arnold (6-2, 250) and sophomore right tackle Ty Henderson (6-3, 290). Junior Adam Gann (6-foot, 205) and sophomore Julian Barnes (5-11, 195) man the left side. Senior Rhett Deschaine (5-11, 205) rotates in.
“The key for us is recognition formation and getting lined up,” said Herring. “That’s going to be key ... we’ve got to get lined up and that’s the bottom line.”
The Tigers will align in variations of a three-man front with a 3-3, 3-4 and 3-5 defensive look. They will walk up their outside linebackers for a five-man look. Ringgold has allowed 22.2 points per game during the regular season with six teams scoring 24 points or better. They surrendered back-to-back 34-point games in their last two outings.
“I bet we’re going to get a heavy, heavy box with stunts coming from everywhere on every play,” Herring said. “We will probably see more of a 50 look with a robber or something like that.”
Ringgold’s defensive front includes ends senior Ethyn Jones (6-4, 240) and sophomore Hampton Andrews (5-11, 200) and nose tackle Owen Forscutt (5-10, 240). The outside linebackers are Grower and senior Will Matthews (5-10, 175). Manning the inside linebacker positions are sophomore Ethan Woody (5-11, 190) and senior Haddon Fries (5-6, 180) The secondary consists of senior Logan Moore (511, 190), senior Ross Burgess (5-10, 200) and Green.
“We’ve got to recognize what they (Tigers) re doing, and adjust if need be,” said Herring. “We’ve got to have good blocking rules and be well versed in our roles because we could get a lot of crazy stuff.
Pierce County counters with an offense scoring 30 points a game for the eighth consecutive season. The Bears have scored 34plus points five times including four games of 42 points or better operating out of the “Big Bear” runbased attack.
PCHS generates 78% of its 313.9 per game offensive total yards on the ground (242.4). The Bears average 6.7 yards per rush attempt scoring 32 of their 40 touchdowns on the ground.
Junior running back Jay’Veon Williams has put together eight consecutive 100-yard games finishing the regular season with a region-leading 1,398 yards. He has accumulated 26 touchdowns scoring at least two touchdowns in all 10 games.
Senior quarterback Drake Dowling has 804 yards rushing and five touchdowns over nine games. He’s completed 32-of-59 passes for 550 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Senior Nigel Brown is the leading receiver with 10 catches for 195 yards and two scores. Brown is one of 10 players with a reception and one of six with a touchdown reception.
Senior Garrett Stevenson and junior Chance Williams are the only other players with more than 100 yards. Stevenson has five catches for 144 yards and a score while Williams has nine receptions for 139 yards and two scores.
With an extra week of preparation, Herring isn’t sure what defensive wrinkle the Ringgold coaching staff may have added.
“There’s no telling what we’re gonna get to be honest with you,” Herring said. “Real good team have a base defense and they’re not gonna change a lot. Ringgold has mostly been odd, but they did show a 4-2 in one game. We’ve (coaches) just got to be ready.”
The open date gave players with ankle and shoulder injuries a chance to heal up.
“We got our guards healed up a little bit from ankle injuries,” said Herring. “We’ve had a few more ankles this year than we ever have. So we’re going to hire an ankle specialist to come in the winter.
“Ocean (Henderson) and Chance (Williams) were suffering from shoulder injuries. Our guys play a lot of football playing both ways. So they take a lot of abuse on their on their shoulders. You see a lot of players in college and the NFL wearing those shoulder braces. It’s just normal.”
