Northside hosts Ware County in Class AAAAA showdown
WARNER ROBINS -- Losing any game is pretty rare for Northside. Losing a home game is extremely rare for Northside. And not following through on the practice plan is a shocker, as well.
All three scenarios played out a week ago when the Eagles lost 34-13 to Houston County in the city, county and GHSA Region 2-AAAAA title game. Finally, the process to eliminate that nasty taste has arrived, but it won't be easy cleansing the palate.
Ware County spent much of the season at No. 2, right behind Northside, in the Georgia Sports Writers Association poll before a pair of losses knocked the Gators out of the poll. Nevertheless, it's a quality team that makes the drive from Waycross for Saturday night's Class AAAAA first-round game at McConnell-Talbert Stadium, and that makes it a highly anticipated game.
Northside head coach Kevin Kinsler said the Eagles had a decent night up front against Houston County in last week's loss, but not anywhere else.
"We had a collective discussion and watched the video and saw the things we didn't do like we worked and saw a lot of the undisciplined things we did," said Kinsler, citing bad nights from skill players on both sides of the ball. "They know enough football. They knew."
It's a return to Middle Georgia for Ware County head coach Franklin Stephens, who went 26-2-2 in two seasons at Lamar County. But he's more than familiar with Northside from his days at Tucker as an assistant and head coach. Thus, the Eagles' staff has some familiarity with the wing-T that the Gators of Region 3-AAAAA employ.
"They're pure wing-T," Kinsler said. "They run a ton of formations, try to get you outnumbered and outflanked. True wing-T stuff."
The foursome of Dedrick Mills, Jaquez Bolds, Jordon Turner and Gary Williams has combined for 1,911 yards and 30 touchdowns. Ware County averages 66 yards passing per game.
The Gators are 8-2 and have won three straight after losing 14-7 to Glynn Academy and 24-21 to Effingham County on consecutive Friday nights.
"Those games they got beat, they really shouldn't have lost those games," Kinsler said. "Effingham big-played them, and Glynn played pretty good defense against them."
Since then, the Gators have won 39-3, 36-13 and 42-5. One similarity between the offenses is trying to get defenses out of position, albeit through different overall styles.
"We use a lot of formations to outflank people to run what we run," Kinsler said. "They do the same thing. The thing about the wing-T is having guards that can pull.
"And they've got guards that are as fast as their running backs."
A well-run wing-T puts pressure on some spots more than others.
"The linebackers and ends, those edge players, they're really gonna have to come in and be physical," Kinsler said. "They're gonna try to run it ... right off tackle and right off end. You've really got to squeeze that off and not let them open up that hole up inside.
"We have to be more disciplined than we were."