Cobras aiming higher with strong offensive arsenal returning

The familiarity is a bit unusual on and off the field for Twiggs County.

But the Cobras aren’t complaining.

At this time a year ago, Twiggs County was entering the season with its fifth different head coach in six seasons.

Now, with their five-season postseason drought over and Ashley Harden returning as the Cobras’ head coach, bigger things are expected. Last year’s record of 4-7 was Twiggs County’s best since 2009, and the Cobras qualified for the playoffs for the first time since that same season.

The Cobras return all but one offensive lineman and also return Ja’mon Height, who rushed for a team-best 1,142 yards and 14 touchdowns.

“It’s big for them to have some consistency for a few years. Even the things they went through before I got here, those are life lessons for them,” Harden said. “You have to work. No matter who your boss is, you have to work every day. That’s one of those life lessons that’ll help them later as they go on with life.”

Having a full season under Harden can only be a good thing for Twiggs County, especially with the complexities of the Cobras’ run-based offense that is predicated on a high level of execution to throw opposing defenses off balance.

“We think that hopefully we can control the ball and control the clock,” Harden said. “We like to say that if we need 2 or 3 yards, we should be able to get 2 or 3 yards.”

If the Cobras have their way, there will be multiple offensive threats to account for. Calvin Stephens returns at quarterback, in addition to Devon Height and Javoris Smith, along with Tyrese Blackshear, who has had a strong offseason and figures to be a candidate to play somewhere on offense.

“It’s year two in our system for these kids and year three in the wing-T from when they ran it with (former head coach Dexter) Copeland,” Harden said. “Being in there for two to two-and-a-half years, it makes a big difference.”

And having a year within the offense will help the Cobras’ coaching staff, as well. Instead of having to teach a new offense, they can now use that time fine-tuning the play of Twiggs County players with a firm grasp on what to do within the offensive scheme.

“To have the guys coming back that we have, it makes us feel real good going into the season,” Twiggs County offensive lineman Levi Thompson said.

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Cobras aiming higher with strong offensive arsenal returning."