Houston County got bigger last year, and it has shown on defense

WARNER ROBINS -- Spring practice had come and gone, and Houston County defensive coordinator Ryan Crawford saw no reason to change much of anything.

He knew who was back, and he saw the change in most of them he had hoped for.

"Just stronger," Crawford said. "That would be the word. It's hard to tackle when you're not strong."

The Bears are bigger and stronger, and they're tackling better. For all of the attention paid Houston County's offense, the Bears have been about as good on defense this year.

"I knew that we could be good on defense," Houston County head coach Von Lassiter said. "Going into the (staff's) third year with what Coach Crawford's done with those guys and the defensive staff. They've played exceptionally well."

The confidence was all over the locker room.

"Nothing really," senior defensive end Rontravius Byron said when asked what he was concerned about entering the season. "We did good in August. Spring, we were good. I liked everything."

The third-ranked Bears will get a serious challenge when they welcome Mays on Friday in the GHSA Class AAAAA second round at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.

The Raiders, who lost to Northside in last year's championship game, are 10-1 and have been held to fewer than 31 points only once, in a 10-9 loss to Stephenson earlier this month. Quarterback BJ Phillips has passed for more than 2,100 yards, a chunk going to Georgia commit Randrecous Davis.

Houston County's preseason confidence has been well-founded. The Bears (10-1) didn't allow a rushing touchdown until the seventh game of the season, which ironically was also the lone loss of the regular season, 24-17 at Jones County.

But the pain of that loss was pretty much soothed three weeks later when Houston County topped then-No. 1 Northside 34-13. The Eagles had been held to fewer than 30 points in only two ­other games during the regular season.

"The Northside game was our best game," cornerback Stefan Hill said. "We were more focused that week than any other week, yes, sir. We were real focused."

Hill and Byron are two of the returnees, although Byron barely qualifies after playing about half of a season.

"I just wasn't producing," said the senior defensive end, who admitted football had lacked a level of importance to him. "It was after the playoffs started. I was on scout team, going against the first offense. I was just busting my tail."

That and a solid spring led Lassiter to mention Byron back in August as a player to watch. Byron proved Lassiter accurate, but the Bears have plenty of players to watch on defense. Linebackers Bennie Steadman and Myron Jacobs are the leaders, Steadman a captain-type of player and Jacobs a physical ball-chaser.

Byron leads a deep and athletic defensive line that has been sparked by the play of junior noseguard Kordarius Melton.

"First game of the season," Byron said of when he saw the new noseguard would be of impact. "He has no regard for his body. He comes of the line, he gets to the ball. He does what he has to do to get to the ball."

Melton is fourth in tackles with 45, ranking second among defensive linemen behind team leader Byron.

Only one team has scored more than 14 points against Houston County, and that was Jones County.

The Bears have held every other opponent, including Warner Robins and Northside along with first-round playoff victim South Effingham, to 14 points or fewer.

The 34-14 win over Warner Robins was an attention-getter, the Bears holding their own against a bigger, run-oriented team.

Outside of the Jones County game, during which the Bears had more offensive and penalty problems than defensive, Houston County has been a tough defender.

The dedication in the weight room has been the difference for a group that had talent and skill a year ago.

"Scheme, it's the same scheme we've been running forever," Crawford said. "Our kids have bought into the weight room; we've got some older kids that are stronger and understand what it takes to play good defense."

It goes back to, as Crawford said, how a good football team sounds.

"You can close your eyes and hear a good football tame, in my opinion," he said. "You hear the line of scrimmage hits, you look at people's helmets. If you go to practice and close your eyes, you can tell who's pretty physical.

"That's what we hang our hat on. Being physical is about being stronger."

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Houston County got bigger last year, and it has shown on defense ."