Mary Persons hopes for big home-field advantage in first round

Mary Persons opens the GHSA Class 4A playoffs on Friday where the Bulldogs hope to spend the next four Fridays: within the friendly confines of Dan Pitts Stadium.

The Bulldogs (8-2) are seeded first out of Region 2-4A and will have a home-field advantage the first two weeks of the playoffs, as well as possibly the third and fourth rounds. That all, of course depends on one variable, Mary Persons surviving and advancing week by week in the postseason.

“This is a unique place to play a football game,” Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson said. “Obviously, our kids love playing here and our fans come out and support us. It’s nice to be able to host a playoff game.

“We’re just not looking too far down the road and taking it one at a time and trying to play one of the best games or close to it we’ve had all year.”

The road begins for the Bulldogs against North Clayton. The winner plays either Stephens County or Heritage-Catoosa.

The Eagles (5-5) are the fourth seed out of Region 4-4A and are in the postseason for the first time since 2011. Mary Persons and North Clayton share one common opponent. Both defeated Washington-Atlanta, Mary Persons by a 41-0 score and North Clayton by 30-7.

“The biggest thing you see with them is just being athletic,” Nelson said. “They have two or three good backs that run the ball. They have a big offensive line and are real aggressive on defense.

“The biggest thing from our standpoint will be playing sound fundamentally all game and tackling their running backs.”

Mary Persons enters the postseason on a roll, especially on defense.

The Bulldogs past four opponents have been held to seven points or fewer. Two of those victories wins against playoff teams, Upson-Lee and West Laurens. The tandem of Malik Herring and Trey Howard lead the way up front with a combined 35 tackles for a loss, 20 by Herring. They’re 1-2 in sacks with seven and four, respectively.

In the offensive backfield, the Bulldogs will once again look to their running game to control the game’s tempo.

Zach Harvey has rushed for 1,151 yards and 18 touchdowns, with Quen Wilson and Jatori Sims combining for 833 yards and four touchdowns to multiple options to keep defenses off balance.

Mary Persons, however, is not taking anything for granted.

The Bulldogs will lean on the advantage of experience. This will be the first go-round for this group of Eagles players, while Mary Persons is in the playoffs for the sixth year in a row, advancing past the first round each time.

“I feel like we’ve been getting a little bit better every week the last five or six weeks, and this time of year you want to be playing your best football,” Nelson said. ”I don’t know if we are quite there yet, but we’re getting closer. We’ve been getting better and better the last five or six weeks.”

Mary Persons isn’t the only area Class 4A team looking to advance. Upson-Lee visits Region 4-4A champion Woodward Academy, West Laurens hosts Luella and Baldwin travels to Cairo.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Mary Persons hopes for big home-field advantage in first round."