The outcome of last Thursday’s scrimmage didn’t count toward Morgan County’s record, but head coach Clint Jenkins liked the fight his Bulldogs put up against a tough Cherokee Bluff squad.
The contest unofficially ended in a 14-14 tie after the Bears scored a late touchdown in garbage time.
Still, there were a lot of positives for Jenkins and his staff to see heading into the season opener on Friday.
“I thought our kids did a good job. We were very physical,” Jenkins said on Tuesday. “I thought we had a lot of good energy, which is something that we’ve been talking a lot about through the offseason.”
Bluff is a relatively new program, starting in 2018 under head coach and Jenkins’ friend, Tommy Jones. The two were together at Dacula, where Jones was the head coach from 2013-17.
Despite going 3-7 in 2022, the Bears enjoyed success in 2020 (10-2) and 2021 (11-1) under Jones. So, Jenkins and his players know what a huge accomplishment it was to go neck-and-neck with them.
“Defensively, you can tell the guys are understanding what we are trying to do,” Jenkins said. “Offensively, it’s the same deal. And we know Cherokee Bluff had a couple of 10 and 11-win seasons a few years ago. They’re a good program, they’re well coached and we’ve got a lot of respect for them. One of the reasons I like to play them is because they’re extremely physical up front. It was a good test for us early to kind of see where we are, but I thought our kids did a good job.”
Despite it being a very physical, defensive scrimmage, each offense reached the end zone two times.
Bulldogs’ running back Jay Dorsey was the highlight of their offense, rushing for 60-plus yards and a score. He was able to slash defenders and rush through open gaps created for him by his offensive line.
“I think the biggest one that stood out [in terms of being] a year better was Jay Dorsey,” Jenkins said. “He had a good night. I don’t know what he had yardage-wise because he only played a half … but I think Jay had a really nice cut on the touchdown. He scored another but a holding call brought it back. He also had a really nice physical run on our sideline. You can just tell he’s a year better.”
Morgan County rotated quarterbacks between starter Talan Fuller, a senior, and sophomore Davis Strickland. Fuller completed 4-of-10 passes for 32 yards in limited action through the third quarter.
Strickland was productive, completing 5-of-7 balls for 47 yards and a touchdown. His scoring pass was a 24-yard strike to fellow sophomore tight end Drew Ainslie toward the end of the third quarter.
“I think Davis has had a good spring and summer,” Jenkins said. “Davis is just getting better and better every week. I think he has a really high ceiling as a quarterback. He’s just got to continue to work but that was a nice ball he threw on the touchdown. We’re excited about his progress. He’s a guy that from one year to the next has gotten a lot better. He’s got tremendous potential.”
Defensively, outside of a few long runs by Bluff’s physical rushing attack, Morgan did a great job of getting past its blockers upfront and stopping the run. Bulldog defenders such as Landen Vickers, Antavious Elder, Jamel Cox, and Draco Frazzitta all made plays in the Bears’ backfield during the game.
Unofficially, Morgan racked up at least seven sacks in the scrimmage. According to Jenkins, the Bulldogs’ defensive front seven collected no less than five of those takedowns against the Bears Thursday. He and the coaching staff saw at least four different guys make plays on Bluff’s signal-caller.
“I think it’s funny, we had more sacks on the quarterback the other night than we had all of last year,” Jenkins said. “It is what it is but we were pretty aggressive in terms of getting after it that night.”
Morgan County will open up its season against Social Circle on Friday at home for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.