Mary Persons is playing solid in all areas entering quarterfinal
Brian Nelson says that it is a pretty exciting time for not only his Mary Persons football team but for the entire community.
The Bulldogs defeated Heritage-Catoosa 38-21 last week to move into the GHSA Class 4A quarterfinals for the first time in four years. Mary Persons (10-2) will meet Blessed Trinity (10-2), who beat Carver-Columbus 24-21 to advance to the quarterfinals.
“We are all happy to still be playing football right now, and if you are practicing during Thanksgiving week, then you have a pretty good football team,” Nelson said. “These kids have not been in this situation before, because the last time we were still playing at this time of year, my seniors this year were in the eighth grade. It is a unique situation, but we are having a lot of fun.”
Nelson knows the Bulldogs are in for a challenge Friday night.
“Blessed Trinity is well-coached and very disciplined and have very good skill players, and it will take a great effort from us to beat them,” Nelson said. “But we feel like we are doing some good things on both sides of the football right now, and we are excited about our opportunity.”
Mary Persons ran for more than 300 yards against Heritage, with Zach Harvey and Quen Wilson doing most of the damage, but the Bulldogs also got 192 yards passing from Caleb Speir.
“Caleb is a senior and he is a first-year starter, so he waited a long time to play for us,” Nelson said. “But he cared about the program and came in here and got better and better every year, and he has earned his playing time. He is playing like we expected him to play as a senior.”
Nelson also credits a much improved offensive line that has helped Mary Persons average 43 points in its past four games.
“Caleb Etheridge, Ladamian Sands, and Noah Davis have been great,” Nelson said. “But we have three seniors — Quan Sands, Zach Hobbs, and Eric Maddox — that are seniors and first-time starters. We would not be where we are today without these guys.”
Defensively, Mary Persons is led by Malik Herring, Tre Howard,Vic Henderson, and Tay Jarrell, but have three seniors — Tyricus Danielly, Dalon Edge, and Quan Davis — who are first-year starters as seniors.
“Looking back to the beginning of the year, we had five new guys who had very little game experience that were going to have to step in and play this year,” Nelson said. “We feel fortunate that we have guys that are willing to wait their turn to play here at Mary Persons.”
Nelson admits he is ready for Friday night and believes his team is, too.
“It’s been a different week with the kids being out of school, but I feel like we have handled it well,” Nelson said. “When you get right down to it, it’s just another Friday night football game, and we have practiced hard and prepared well. I wouldn’t say I am nervous yet, but we are all very excited.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Mary Persons is playing solid in all areas entering quarterfinal."