Jones County already working toward next year after playoff loss

The figurative wounds were still a little fresh for Jones County head coach Justin Rogers, but he and offensive coordinator Jimmy Dudley already were working on next year Tuesday afternoon.

Just a few days after their season ended with a 28-22 loss at Glynn Academy, Rogers and Dudley took in a practice at Houston County, the lone GHSA Region 2-AAAAA team still alive.

"I just wanted to watch them practice," said Rogers, who just completed his second season at Jones County and handed Houston County and head coach Von Lassiter the Bears' lone loss of the season. "I think a lot of Von. I love the program they're doing and wanted to kind of see how they go about their work week.

"I'm out of the playoffs. See if I can learn something."

Rogers is banking that the chat wasn't between future region rivals. With the GHSA nearing the end of the next reclassification process, there's a good chance that the Bears and Greyhounds won't be in the same classification, let alone the same region. Current enrollment numbers have Houston County (and Northside) in Class AAAAAA and Jones County in Class AAAAA.

"I hope the word comes out to validate that we're not in the same region with them jokers no more," Jones said with a laugh. "Shoot, I'm 1-1 against Northside and HoCo. I'll take that."

There was also a short conversation about Mays, the Bears' opponent Friday night in the second round. The Raiders ended the Greyhounds' season a year ago in the quarterfinals, winning 44-41 on the final play of the game when a pair of Jones County defenders barely missed sacking then-quarterback Asahina Aderhold, who threw the game-winning touchdown after the clock expired.

"Tackle him," said Rogers with a chuckle, of the quarterback position, now manned by B.J. Phillips. "And if you're in man-to-man coverage, stay with your man. You do those two things, you'll be all right."

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Jones County already working toward next year after playoff loss ."