Morgan County will begin its 2022 football season on Friday night at Social Circle.
The Dogs scrimmaged at Cherokee Bluff on Aug. 9; however, on Aug. 19, the rubber meets the road when they will face the Redskins of Social Circle. The result of this game will count toward the Dogs’ 2022 overall record.
Social Circle went 6-5 in 2021 under Rob Patton in his second season. The Redskins also finished third in the Region 8A-Public standings entering the playoffs. Now, the Redskins are competing in Region 5 due to the GHSA’s most recent region alignment. They are also playing in the newly-formed Class A Divison I.
Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins is familiar with Patton. The pair coached at different schools in Gwinnett County before accepting their current positions as head coaches at MCHS and SCHS. So, they have a little bit of a history, which goes back a decade.
Jenkins has a lot of respect for Patton and his coaching style.
“We ran into each other several times when I was the defensive coordinator (and then head coach) at Dacula (High School),” Jenkins said. “He has a great football Patton enters year three at Social Circle, where’s there a lot to be excited about entering 2022."
The Redskins return All-Region quarterback Logan Cross and several offensive weapons, including Kam Durden, Mason Moore and DaShon Hyman.
Jenkins acknowledged the excitement around the Redskins’ program.
“They have a lot to be excited about. It’s supposedly going to be one of the best team’s the program has ever had,” Jenkins stated. “They have a good quarterback, wide receiver and other skill guys returning. Coach Patton has done a great job over there.”
Cross threw for a career-high 2,213 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. He also averaged 202.1 yards per contest during his junior campaign. Cross is slated to have another great year, despite losing his favorite target.
Social Circle lost its leading wide receiver in K.J. Reid to graduation in May, but the Redskins return two weapons in Moore and Hyman. The duo combined to rack up 889 receiving yards and 12 scores in 2021. They hope to take on a bigger role this season.
The Redskins will also be without leading rusher Amarion Russell this season, although Durden is slated to step up in his place. He was the team’s second-leading rusher in 2021, totaling 364 yards on 98 attempts with four touchdowns.
Jenkins is hoping the Dogs’ defense can hold this high-octane offensive attack in check.
“The formula is pretty simple. We have to win the game on third-down,” Jenkins said. “That’s on both offense and defense, but defensively, it’s definitely more important. These guys (Social Circle) can get in third-and-long situations and have no problem. They’ve shown their ability to make explosive plays last season.”
The Dogs’ secondary gave up a couple of long pass plays to the Bears in the scrimmage, but Jenkins felt like his defensive backs kept their receivers in check “for the most part.”
“I felt like we played well in the secondary. There were a couple of explosives given up, but our corners and safeties were pretty much on par all night in the scrimmage,” Jenkins said. “We do need to play better defensively all-around, though, which means not giving up as many explosive plays. That starts on Friday night.” The Dogs’ offensive line struggled with snap counts against Cherokee Bluff, but to Jenkins, “that’s expected in a scrimmage.”
The group still got better as the game progressed and provided holes for a trio of tailbacks - D.J. Smith, Jacere Cooper, and Jay Dorsey - to run. They will need to do that against the Redskins in order to succeed.
Defensively, Social Circle lost its leading tackler in the offseason. Tucker Cleary racked up 117 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and one pass deflection last season. The Redskins still return a core group of seniors in Moore, Jenkins, Hyman, Phillip Bayne Jr., Mehki Butts and Jaxon Ethridge. All contributed a lot in 2021.
Social Circle’s defense struggled last season by giving up explosive plays, so the Dogs’ could take advantage of that. Moore will highlight the Redskins’ secondary at free safety, but he will have to contain Morgan County’s vertical threat in TJ Thompson. Dogs’ tight end Antavious Elder could also be tough to handle as well.
Jenkins summed it up to (again) winning third-downs.
“That’s one of the most important aspects of the game we’re worried about,” he said. “If we can do that - both offensively and defensively - I think we can win games this year. That’s what it comes down to. … We will see on Friday night how we perform.”