Morgan County (7-0, 2-0 Region 4-AA) is ready to resume action this Friday after a scheduled bye week.
The Dogs will face Jackson (4-3, 2-0), which is also coming off a bye last week, for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off. The Red Devils have had an up-and-down season but are on a two-game winning streak.
Morgan County has a huge advantage in this game when its defense is on the field. Jackson’s offensive unit has sputtered this season, averaging only 8.1 points per game through seven weeks.
“I think with them, we’re kind of trying to figure out what their personnel group is going to be,” Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins said. “They’ve played a couple of different quarterbacks and a couple of different running backs this year. They’ve been consistent in the last two games. So, we’re trying to prepare for who the quarterback will be. It’s similar stuff but a little bit different, too.”
Jackson has rotated quarterbacks this year but has settled on junior Cannan Bernhardt. He’s helped lead the Red Devils to significant region wins over Rutland and Pike County in their last two games.
Jackson also relies heavily on its run game, spearheaded by sophomore tailback Danarri Brown. He has rushed for 346 yards and four touchdowns for an offense that has had trouble moving the chains.
Jenkins and his staff have challenged the Dogs’ defense to buckle down, mainly because the unit has seen different offensive sets in the last few weeks compared to what it has prepared for in practice.
“That is a credit to our kids and what they’ve done this year. People are starting to come up with different stuff to try and attack us,” Jenkins said. “So, we’ve had to manage that, but when you get the spotlight put on you a little bit, you’re going to get everybody’s best shot, and I feel like we have.”
Morgan County’s offense has shown no signs of slowing down. The Dogs are averaging 40 points per game, a testament to quarterback Davis Strickland’s success and the offense’s skill players.
Jackson’s defense is the team’s anchor, so it will try to slow Morgan County’s offensive attack down.
“It’ll be a good matchup,” Jenkins predicted. “Again, we’ve challenged our players on both sides of the ball.”
Seven weeks in, Jenkins’ squad remains undefeated and ranked No. 2 in Class AA. The Dogs hope to continue their success on the field; however, Jenkins doesn’t want complacency to kick in.
Regardless, Jenkins feels his team is peaking at the right time, three weeks before the playoffs start. His players know their goals are still in place as they begin the final stretch of the regular season.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Jenkins said. “We’ve challenged our kids. Winning the region will always be a big goal. You can win only two championships, obviously a region championship and a state championship. So, anytime you can win the region, that’s a big deal.
“But probably more importantly, and this is what we talked about with our kids a lot last year, what it does for you is in a playoff system, it sets you up well bracket-wise and seeding-wise. However, you want to take it,” Jenkins stressed. “It sets you up to hopefully have the best opportunity to play at home in the playoffs, which is huge.”