Mary Persons face West Laurens for the GHSA Region 2-AAAA title

The Mary Persons Bulldogs will be in familiar territory Friday night when they take on West Laurens for the GHSA Region 2-AAAA title.

The two battled for the region championship in the regular-season finale last year with West Laurens coming out on top 21-14.

This year, the Bulldogs and Raiders will be vying again for the region title in the final regular-season game. Mary Persons is 9-0 overall and 5-0 in region play, while West Laurens is 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the region.

But Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson hopes to erase memories of last year. Searching for its first region title since 1997, Mary Persons will look to break through after back-to-back failed efforts. The Bulldogs also finished second in 2013 when they lost one region game, 10-0 to Veterans for the title.

"At the end of the day, we just put emphasis on each week and each opponent, and each game," Nelson said. "That's what has allowed us to play well this year, and so at this point in the year, there's really not a whole lot of changing."

Mary Persons enters after beating Baldwin 37-3 last week. The Raiders have had their own share of successes the past two weeks, outscoring Baldwin and Perry 71-0 after their lone region loss of the year, 14-7 to Veterans.

"I guess, the thing is, in our region, you've got to be ready to show up every Friday night or it's not going to be a fun night for you," Nelson said. "(West Laurens is) a really good ballclub. They're well-coached, they've got a bunch of players that have been there and been playing and that are good players."

Last year's win was the first in the series for West Laurens since 1996, as the Bulldogs hold a 10-2 advantage all-time. Despite the loss last year, Nelson said Friday night will not be any different from a motivational standpoint.

"Our kids have been motivated all year and have done a good job showing up and working and learning and preparing and playing the game," he said. "I think our kids have taken that approach to every game we've played this year."

Nelson said both teams lean on the run, and since each recognizes that fact about the other, the key to the game will be simple fundamentals: blocking and tackling.

Isaiah Morman is West Laurens' top rusher with 489 yards, taking over for the injured Darius Bradford. Zach Harvey has 979 yards and Jaquavious Sims 668 for the Bulldogs.

And even though Mary Persons is one of five teams in Class AAAA that is still undefeated, Nelson did not say he wanted to be able to say he achieved something the Bulldogs haven't attained since 1980: a state title.

Rather, once the season is over, Nelson said he wants to be able to know his players "played as hard as they could" and improved throughout the year.

"I think those are the things you really look at more so than the wins and losses and not getting tied up in that," he said. "Our kids have come out every Friday night and have done the best they possibly could, and at the end of the day, win or lose, you can live with that kind of stuff."

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Mary Persons face West Laurens for the GHSA Region 2-AAAA title ."