Warner Robins, Veterans feel battle-tested for region play

Both Warner Robins (1-5) and Veterans (3-3) enter week one of GHSA Region 1-5A play with the battle scars and the confidence of two teams that have already faced down some of the best programs Georgia has to offer.

The Demons and the Warhawks made it through daunting non-region schedules that saw each team stumble at times but improve in many facets of the game along the way.

The opening week of region play represents a new start and a chance for both teams to throw their hats into the race for one of four playoff positions in a small five team region.

“I feel like our team is battle-tested for sure,” Warner Robins head coach Mike Chastain said. “We’ve played a lot of really good football teams, and I feel like we’re as prepared as possible to head into region play. I’m excited about stepping into this region. We’re talking about our guys being 0-0 right now. It’s a new season, and we want to put everything that’s happened before now behind us.”

“We’re excited, and I think the kids understand what’s at stake,” Veterans head coach David Bruce said. “They understand that what we do now determines what kind of playoff seeding we get or if we get a playoff seeding. We feel like we’re ready for it.”

The two Houston County programs join Thomas County Central, Bainbridge and Harris County to comprise a region of five teams with past playoff pedigree and five teams with much to prove in 2016. Thomas County Central is currently the only region member ranked in the top 10 of the Georgia Sports Writers Association Class 5A poll.

“I think (the region) is very competitive,” Bruce said. “I don’t think there’s any one team who is head and shoulders above anybody else. I think we’re all fairly equal as far as the strength of teams, so every week I think it’s going to be a shootout and a dogfight, or whatever else you want to call it. It’s going to be one of those deals where if you don’t come to play one week, then you can get your fanny whooped. You’ve got to be ready to go.”

“Our region is really competitive,” Chastain said. “I think a lot of people believe that Thomas County Central is the team to beat right now. Bainbridge had a good run last year, but they’ve been down a little bit without their running back for most of the season. Harris County is about in the same boat that we’re in right now with a new coach, learning some new things and doing some good things. Veterans is playing good ball, too. I really believe our region is up for grabs for anybody.”

Veterans will break up Friday’s near three-hour bus ride to Bainbridge with a stop in Cordele. The Bearcats were unbeaten at 13-0 before falling to eventual state champion Cartersville in the semifinals last season but enter this week’s contest at just 1-4, although most of those games have been tight.

Three of Bainbridge’s four losses have come by a total of just 12 points, including a two-point loss to Rickards (Florida) last week that marked the return of star tailback Dameon Pierce from an ankle injury. The Alabama commitment carried 51 times for 331 yards and four touchdowns in a losing effort.

“I’m interested to see how we’ll respond,” Bruce said. “He’s a big name recruit, he gets a lot of attention, and I think sometimes that can have a good effect on us because our guys take that as a challenge. We want to see if we can be the ones who can slow him down or stop him.”

Bainbridge’s rushing attack versus Veterans’ staunch rush defense should represent a strength-on-strength matchup, and the same could be true when Warner Robins hosts Thomas County Central (4-2) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.

The Demons’ defense has proven tough to run on at times this season with stellar efforts against the rush in games against West Laurens, Houston County and Peach County. The option attack of the Yellow Jackets that averages more than 256 yards per game on the ground should challenge that defensive front once again.

Quarterback Kelias Williams pulls the strings. He leads the Yellow Jackets in rushing at 125 yards per game, and when he does elect to pass, it usually goes for a big play at greater than 20 yards per completion.

Thomas County Central burst out of the gate this season at 4-0 before dropping two straight games to opponents from higher classifications in Valdosta and Lee County.

“They have an option attack on offense, and they have a really, really, really good quarterback,” Chastain said. “We have to tackle. We did not tackle well at Coffee last week, and we’ve had another game this year where we didn’t tackle well, but for the most part we’ve been pretty successful at stopping the run. We just can’t turn the ball over, and we have to tackle people in the run game.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Warner Robins, Veterans feel battle-tested for region play."