Morgan County (1-1) travels to Monticello Friday to take on Jasper County (2-0) for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
• Series History: Morgan County leads, 31-4-1
• Last Meeting: Morgan County defeated Jasper County 65-7 in 2022.
Jasper County is off to its hottest start in over two decades. The last time the Hurricanes started 2-0 was in 1999 and now they are much-improved from 2022 under second-year head coach Ashley Henderson. The former Thomas County Central coach has changed the culture quickly in Monticello.
Morgan County dominated Social Circle in Week 1, defeating the Redskins handily, 41-7. However, the Bulldogs took a step back last week and fell to rival Greene County 24-14 on the road.
So, Jasper is trying to continue its winning ways and Morgan is hoping to get back on track this Friday.
Bulldogs’ head coach Clint Jenkins stressed to his players that they needed to rebound from the loss.
“One of the things we have to take away from the Greene game is that it was a rivalry game. We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but we can’t let Greene beat us twice,” Jenkins said. “That’s one of the things we’re talking about this week. We came in and watched the film. We talked about how we need to fix these mistakes that we made so we don’t make them again. We’ll learn from this and move on or we’ll let it continue to plague us, so we’ve got to make a decision as a team.”
Morgan County’s chance to rebound will come on Friday against a team it beat 65-7 last season at home, but Jenkins acknowledges this isn’t the same Jasper County squad from a season ago.
“They are much improved schematically. They’ve got a counter-option attack and are good with the quick screens,” Jenkins said. “They’ve also got a quarterback who can run. It’s a lot of stuff and they do a good job of what they’re trying to do. They’ve also got some good athletes on the roster.”
The Hurricanes are led by senior quarterback Austin Young and junior running back Jalen Stewart. Senior wide receiver Chevy Sands also can make plays in the run game and on the perimeter.
Jasper’s offense is averaging 31 points per game through the first two weeks of the season. On the other hand, the Hurricanes’ defense is stingy, giving up an average of 12 points per game in 2023.
Jasper’s defensive unit likes to get after the quarterback and it’s led by sacks (4.0) and tackles for loss leader (6.0) Tyler Banks. He also leads the Hurricanes in total tackles with a dozen through two games.
Morgan County’s offense needs a refresher after scoring a season-low 14 points last week. The Bulldogs could look to their ground game and lead running back Jay Dorsey to get them back on track. The offense is likely to rotate in quarterbacks Talan Fuller and Davis Strickland during the night.
Defensively, Morgan will need to stop the run, but that will be hard to do without Antavious Elder, who suffered a concussion last week and is likely out Friday. Still, the Bulldogs have Jamel Cox, Landen Vickers, Draco Frazzitta and a few others to help counter Jasper’s option attack.
Either way, Jenkins knows he and his team could have a potential ‘dogfight’ on their hands this week.
“If we don’t go over there with the right mindset and take care of business, this is a game that could away from us, too,” Jenkins said. “They’ve got a lot of momentum right now. When you get a team that hadn’t had a lot of success, when they got some momentum, you’re going to be in a dogfight. We will have to play well.”