Twiggs County, Stratford ready to settle ground game battle

The odds are that the ball won’t spend much time in the air Friday night in Jeffersonville.

For Stratford head coach Mark Farriba and Twiggs County head coach Ashley Harden, two head coaches who believe in strong running games, that’s perfectly fine. The running game, both offensively and defensively, has put their teams in healthy positions at this point.

“They lean heavy on the run out of the wing-T, just like us,” Harden said. “They do it a little differently than we do it, but the clock should run fast Friday night.”

The 7:30 p.m. meeting between the Eagles and the Cobras has plenty riding on it. The winner maintains control of its destiny in the race to claim a spot in the region championship game, while the loser likely will have to fall back on the power rating system for its postseason plans.

The attractiveness of this matchup, GHSA Region 7A-1A standings aside, is in where each team’s strength resides.

Twiggs County’s running game has powered the Cobras to an unbeaten mark against teams from Georgia this season. Power back Ja’mon Height and speed back Javoris Smith have combined for 1,071 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, a yardage total that is more than six times greater than the Cobras’ 191 passing yards this season.

Stratford, meanwhile, hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 19 points, thanks in large part to an impressive front seven anchored by defensive linemen Tobe Umerah and Jourdain Irvin. The Eagles held Lincoln County, one of the top contenders in Region 7B-1A, to negative rushing yards in a 35-19 win Sept. 23.

“Both teams, (the running game) is just kind of our style,” Farriba said. “They’re not changing; we’re not changing. It’s just a matter of executing and getting stuff done.”

Both teams are 4-1, having won their sub-region openers last week. Twiggs County scored an impressive 29-17 win over then-private school No. 1 FPD to vault into first place in the Class 1A public power ratings, while Stratford (now private No. 5) breezed its way to a 41-14 victory over Mount de Sales.

With Tattnall Square still unbeaten and FPD likely to stay in the mix, the Stratford-Twiggs County winner definitely will have an advantage heading into the final three weeks of sub-region play.

“Whoever wins is in a position to share the driver’s seat,” Farriba said. “This is a huge game from the perspective that you want to stay in control. Lose, and you’re a game back. You’d like to stay ahead a little bit if you can.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Twiggs County, Stratford ready to settle ground game battle."