Seasoned Hunnicutt leads Greyhounds

The task seems daunting on the surface. Jones County rolls into the season having to replace all 11 starters from last year’s defense that gave up more than 20 points in a game only three times.

But it’s anything but a doom and gloom situation for the Greyhounds. A fresh group of players is eager to make its mark on defense, and an experienced offense, led by three-year starter Bradley Hunnicutt, is also champing at the bit to build on a 19-5 record the past two seasons, the best such mark during that span in program history.

“It makes life a lot better to have a third-year starter back there who’s comfortable in what he’s doing, understands the concepts and kind of my way of thinking,” Jones County head coach Justin Rogers said. “It’s always nice to have your quarterback back. To have one in their third year is even better.”

Hunnicutt has done more than fill in a lineup spot in the past two seasons. He has thrived in the Greyhounds’ quick-strike offense, throwing for 5,126 yards and 39 touchdowns. And those numbers included the big stage, as well as wins over heavyweights from Jones County’s region at the time, Houston County, Northside and Warner Robins, all victories in which the Greyhounds found their way to victory in part due to an offense that kept opposing defenses on their heels.

“He makes good decisions,” Rogers said of Hunnicutt. “For the style of play we have, it’s so important for the quarterback to make quick decisions and get the ball out of his hands.”

And with two years of experience under center and in Rogers’ offense, Hunnicutt’s comfort level is high. Having a strong assortment of weapons helps, as well, and that starts with senior receiver Nick Singleton. Despite missing a handful of games last year, he still had 905 yards receiving for four touchdowns.

“I’m a lot more comfortable,” Hunnicutt said. “I feel like this is my offense, I just have to come and lead them.”

That comfort level could loom very large for Jones County, especially as its defense finds its way in the early stages of the season and replaces standouts such as last year’s team leader in tackles and sacks on the defensive line, Torrez Finney.

And while Rogers knows that a player such as Finney can’t be replaced, the overall play of a defensive unit can be improved.

“You won’t have a single guy like you had last year when Finney was making play after play. It’ll be more of a pursuit defense, swarming to the ball,” Rogers said. “You just have to replace that by committee. We have some kids who have stepped up that we’re real excited about and got in there last year with some late-game minutes, but this’ll be their first time in there as ‘the guy.’ They’ve come together really good, the defense really relies on each other.”

That’s where Jones County will be counting on an offense spearheaded by Hunnicutt to lead the charge.

“Any time you score, you help your defense. The thing is, you’ve got to dance with the girl that got you here. This is what we believe in, this is our philosophy at Jones County. It’ll be a high-tempo, snap it fast on offense and be aggressive on defense; we’re not going to change that,” Rogers said. “Our slogan here is, ‘Tradition never graduates.’ We want to be like a Northside, like a Warner Robins, like Peach County. They graduate every year, but they come back each year with a new crew.

“We want to be the next team to step up and be able to compete year after year.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Seasoned Hunnicutt leads Greyhounds."