Banged-up Bulldogs ready to play for home crowd

Published 11:45 am Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Injuries continue to be a point of concern for the GMC Prep football team this season.

First-year head coach Gavin Tierce is readying his 0-2 squad for this week’s bout against visiting Brentwood with multiple starters out.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids having to step up,” Tierce said Tuesday. “It feels like we’re going to have to have three separate game plans depending on who’s healthy and who’s not.”

Not the way a head coach wants to have to prepare for his first home opener, a date every program looks forward to once the schedule is finalized.

“There’s a buzz around campus about it,” said Tierce. “Dealing with the injuries does put a damper on things, but we’re still excited to play football. It’s still going to be a fun atmosphere. Brentwood’s going to bring a great crowd. It should be a good small-town football environment. We’re going to do what we can to be competitive.”

Coming in hot are the 2-0 War Eagles of nearby Sandersville. They’re averaging 55.5 points per game over the first two weeks with wins at Trinity (44-21) and a basketball-score-sounding 67-48 performance over Pinewood Christian at home last week.

Tierce called Brentwood “probably the best team” his own eyes has seen thus far. The Eagles seem to have taken a major step forward from what was by the program’s standards a down year in 2023 as they finished 5-6 with a first-round playoff exit. That came after three consecutive trips to the state finals with one championship sandwiched in the middle.

Part of the reason for last year’s drop-off was the Eagles’ youth, but they have done some growing up under now second-year head coach Adam Lord. They are led on offense by senior running back Zach Denton, who’s been a varsity contributor every year since reaching high school. He had 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing a season ago, and he’s off to a hot start with nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns through the first two weeks of ‘24.

The War Eagles last year dipped their talons into the waters of a more modern offensive approach, a shotgun spread version of the wing T they had been running for over two decades. This year marks a return to the more conventional under-center version with sophomore quarterback Baylor Cobb at the helm. He’s part of a stronger cast of characters around Denton, meaning opposing defenses can’t key on the running back singularly. The change in scheme seems to be paying off.

“We’re in for a tough task defensively because they’re so versatile in what they do,” Tierce said. “They obviously score a lot of points, so our offensive game plan stays the same as last week. We need to control the football and control the clock.”

That worked out great for the Bulldogs last week when they held possession basically the entire first quarter at Crawford County, but then the wheels fell off and GMC Prep lost 43-7.

Tierce’s Bulldogs will try to keep the car running and avoid a three-game losing skid when they meet Brentwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday on Davenport Field.