Morgan County has faced its ups and downs in its first four weeks of the 2026 season, with victories over Madison County and Eastside before a tough home loss to Oconee County.
The Dogs (2-2) hit another hurdle on the road on Sept. 11, with a 35-12 loss to Mountain View High School and now will head into a bye week before hosting its region opener on Sept. 25.
Despite the outcome, Dogs head coach Clint Jenkins said his players “fought the entire game” against the 6A school. However, he added he believes the team did not play “as clean as they needed to” to secure a victory.
“We fought the whole time and there was no give up or anything like that, but with any bigger, stronger opponent, you have to play clean to give yourself a chance and we just didn’t quite play clean enough,” Jenkins said. “It was just one of those nights where we really didn’t get off on offense, and didn’t play well at times on the defensive side of the ball, and credit to Mountain View, they got some really good players and support.”
Morgan County totaled 218 yards on Friday night, with 137 rushing yards from senior running back Alex Corrias, and 39 from senior wide receiver Cole Wesley. Junior quarterback Gunner Braswell went 5-for-8, throwing for 31 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
The Dogs trailed the Bears 21-0 until Braswell threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Wesley in the second quarter. Morgan County scored its final points in the fourth quarter when Corrias ran into the end zone for three yards.
Jenkins said he believes the Dogs’ defense did well making stops in the second half, holding the Bears’ offense to just one touchdown in the third quarter. He noted that with the recent non-region match, his players can look ahead to improving for region competition.
“We had a couple of good stops, but again, our consistency as far as level of play just was never where it needed to stay, and we were just kind of up and down a little bit,” Jenkins said. “On the positive side, it’s another non-region game, and it’s still a tune-up; we want to be playing our best football in the region and going into the playoffs.”
With the bye week ahead, Jenkins said he hopes the Dogs can improve and said the team will continue to practice on a regular game-week schedule.
“Everything about blocking and tackling, we want to continue to get better from a fundamental standpoint. I think that’s the most important thing, and understanding what we’re trying to do. We talk about just getting one percent better every day,” Jenkins said.
“On the positive side, the bye-week gives us a chance to get some guys back. We’re a little beat up in some spots.”
After the week off, Morgan County will host Hebron Christian Academy, the defending back-to-back state champions. Jenkins said he believes the match will make a good opportunity for his players to test themselves ahead of their following region games.
“We’re 2-2, and what we’re preaching now, going into the region, is that we’re 0-0, so it’s a new start, and we’ll take what we learned and move on,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to have to play well [next week], we know that, but it’s a good challenge, and I’m thankful we’ve got them at home.”