Heard County vs. Rockmart
There is one word that can and should be used to describe this matchup.... PHYSICAL! These two teams play styles of football that lend themselves to being more oriented around strength and violent collisions, but what makes them great is that they have players that live for those collisions and enjoy playing the game in clean but extremely violent way. Heard County and Rockmart each want to run the football down your throat and make you like it. The Braves and the Yellow Jackets both boast running backs in their respective backfields that run with a great forward lean and keep their legs churning constantly. The offensive lines consist of just good, hard nosed high school football players. You're not taking about 5-star All-Americans, but what you are talking about is players that approach each play with great effort and the right mentality. Also, being the 2A State Title game, there are only so many young men to field a team with at a 2A sized school, so you'll see plenty of 2 way players and a lot of those will also play special teams. It's going to be a good one and there are problems and challenges that each team poses for the other.
Heard County has never been so thankful for a 4 1/2" wide piece of metal as they were this past Friday! The Braves survived a field goal attempt at the end of regulation by Fitzgerald when the Purple Hurricane place kicker clanged one off the upright with no time remaining. Heard County would capitalize on that momentum and win the game in overtime behind a legendary sequence of plays from University of Tennessee commit Aaron Beasley. Beasely would score on the first play of OT for the Braves on a power toss to the right out of the I formation and then would seal the game with an interception on the defensive side of the ball. It is no secret who the best athlete on the field is most nights, and Heard County is not scared to feed #21 the ball 25 to 30+ times per game. Alijah Huzzie is also one heck of a runner in his own right from the Quarterback position. The majority of the Heard County offense is run from the shotgun and yes you'll see them in 3 and 4 wide receiver sets, but running the football with Beasley is option number 1. Option number 2, use Beasley as a lead blocker or a misdirection fake for design QB runs that Huzzie takes full advantage of. Option number 3 would be the sprint out passing game and then Huzzie just making plays with his legs when things break down on passing plays in general. The unsung hero of the Braves offense however is #8 Andrew Leak. Leak does it all! You'll see him lined up at fullback in the I formation and dishing out punishment as a lead blocker (which he did on Beasley's game winning TD run in OT). You'll also see him lined up in the slot as a receiver and run good routes, find holes in the zone coverage of opposing defenses, catch the ball, and he also displays the athletic ability to do something with it after the catch. Finally, you'll see this 215 pounder sprinting down the field from the backside of an offensive formation to cut off a safety on a pursuit angle and spring his teammate for a TD with an extra effort block. Huzzie and Beasley are the focal points and it's a given that they are going to get theirs, but in order for the Heard offense to have success it's going to come down to players like Andrew Leak making the difference.
Oh, and you know how I mentioned a lot of 2 way players, well Beasley, Huzzie and Leak are all also studs on defense. Beasley, well he's an SEC caliber safety and can absolutely crack skulls when he comes up to play the run. Huzzie is a very sure tackler in space and shows an excellent ability to play the ball in the air when in coverage on a receiver. Leak just has a motor that doesn't stop, he can stop the run and rush the passer when Head Coach Tim Barron and the Braves' coaching staff decide to send him on a blitz. Philosophy wise it seems like Barron's defense wants to keep as many men near the box as possible. On film it looks as if the Braves' base is a 4-4 and they play a lot of cover three. This will be a benefit to them against the modified wing-t attack that Parson and the Jackets will bring into the Benz. It'll be imperative that outside linebackers Kesean Johnson and Micaiah Austin do a good job setting the edge, replacing down blocks, and taking on pulling guards to force the Rockmart buck sweep, counter trey and all off tackle plays in general to be strung out and allow the corners and safeties and inside backers to rally to the ball. It's going to be a tall order for this defense, despite it's stud players, to consistently get stops. You only have to look back to September 7th of this year when Rockmart put 33 points up on the Braves in the first half alone and then the game was forfeited by Heard County at the half due the game being non-region and there being delays due to lightning and inclement weather. Regardless of the reasons, you know that performance was embarrassing for the Braves and that they and Tim Barron will have plenty of motivation and bulletin board material to be primed and ready to take on an excellent Rockmart offense.
Speaking of the Yellow Jacket offense, it has been explosive this year. Biff Parson has acknowledged in interviews that they know they have weapons on the offensive side of the ball and its not just one or two guys, they have speed and they have depth. 6 different Yellow Jackets have over 150 rushing yards on the season and as a team Rockmart will likely eclipse 4000 rushing yards in their 15th game (3,898 currently). The group is spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Markus Smith and Zabrion Whatley. Each of these Senior running backs have over 1000 yards on the year, 1142 and 1077 respectively, and they are also reliable targets out of the backfield in the passing game with a combined 381 yards on 19 receptions. Dylan Bailey is a capable quarterback that throws for just over 100 yards per game and can contribute to the running game at time, but Bailey's main job and best contribution to this Rockmart team is how adept he is at managing Biff Parson's shotgun wing-t system. He handles the ball well and takes advantage of limited opportunities in the passing game. 22 touchdown passes is a high mark, especially for only throwing the ball an average of just over 8 times per game. Look for the Yellow Jackets to getting Smith and Whately rolling early behind Deacon Allen, Jourdan Rachel, Matthew Waddell, Timothy Malone, and Russell Head and to try and lull the very aggressive Braves' secondary to sleep. Once they do that it's danger time, because the big play is coming by way of a bomb to Juke Boozer (what a great name!). Juke is explosive and averages over 26 yards per reception this season. Also, out of his 27 catches this year, 11 of them have resulted in touchdowns. I look for Bailey to Boozer to be a combination that keeps the chains moving and puts points on the board for the Yellow Jackets in the 2A title game. Also, don't be surprised to see a key reception or two from tight end Reed Couch in the redzone!
Defensively Rockmart should have a lot of confidence coming into this game having held a very good Callaway team 10 points below their season average and knowing that they are facing an opponent that they completely stonewalled earlier in the year! Truth be told though in this game, I believe that Rockmart's best defense in the Championship game will be their offense. In the first 11 ball game this year the Yellow Jackets were only yeilding 4.63 points per game!!!!! Over the last three games though the Rockmart defense has been more bend but don't break and has given up some points as Bremen, Jeff Davis, and Callaway have averaged 22.6 points on them. Being able to control the ball offensively and win the time of possession battle behind an experienced offensive line and stable of running backs would be huge for Rockmart's defense as Beasely, Huzzie, and Leak are touchdowns waiting to happen for the Braves!
I believe that Heard County is vastly improved from that ill fated night in September. I think that Aaron Beasley and Alijah Huzzie are game changers and that Braves are, and should, be confident after taking down a perennial contender and highly respected program in Fitzgerald. I also believe that ultimately it's just not going to be enough. The Yellow Jackets have had the winning recipe all season! Run the ball, play sound defense and special teams, and make big plays in the passing game when the opportunities present themselves. I think that the misdirection, the pulling guards, and the timely playaction game of Rockmart makes the difference. It'll be closer than the first match up and I believe that Heard covers the 7.5 point spread, but Rockmart will be your 2018 2A GHSA Football State Champions!
Heard County 19 - Rockmart (-7.5) 24
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