We live in the age of offense. For more reasons than we can get into in this space, teams at all levels of football are scoring more than they ever have before. This is not news.
What, then, of the old adage ingrained in every football fan over the age of 25?
Defense wins championships.
Whether or not that’s still true on a large scale is a subject open to debate and just begging for some sleeves-rolled-up, heavy-duty statistical analysis. Again, this isn’t really the place for that, but on an anecdotal level, we can see defense definitely still matters, especially in big games.
Take last year’s AA postseason, for example. In the first three rounds of the playoffs, the average score was 38.6-15.6. In the final three games (the semifinals and state championship game) the average score was 19.6-8.6.
In other words, scoring was cut almost in half in the biggest games between the best teams. Fittingly, the state championship was decided in a 14-7 win by Lovett over Lamar County.
So, since we're at or nearing the midway point in the season, let’s spend some time focusing on the defenses. And few teams in the state are playing better defense than No. 3 Vidalia.
It’s been over a month since anybody scored on the Indians (5-0, 2-0 Region 2-AA). Since West Laurens reached the end zone in the fourth quarter on Aug. 29, Vidalia has shut out three straight opponents for the first time since 1984. For most teams, three shutouts in a season is a high mark (indeed, the Indians haven’t had that many in a single season since 2003).
Of course, any time stats are analyzed in football, quality of opponent must be considered, and Vidalia’s foes are a combined 10-14 on the season, which obviously isn’t great. But the Indians are doing what good teams should and dominating.
Consider:
- The Indians defense has scored as many TDs (3) as it has allowed.
- They have an interception in every game so far, nine total, including four by Blake Corbett and three by Quantrell Yarbrough.
- Only Swainsboro has rushed for more than 151 yards, and Vidalia won that game, 42-6.
- Only AAAA West Laurens has scored more than six points (Vidalia won, 30-17). In its other four games, West Laurens (3-2) is averaging 35 points per game, including a 42-point outing against Thomasville, which has been pretty good on defense otherwise.
All that to say: the Indians are looking pretty stout. In addition to an opportunistic secondary, Vidalia boasts a Division-I prospect at linebacker in sophomore Nathan McBride. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder was the anchor leg on the region-winning 4x100 relay team as a freshman, runs the 200 in the 22-second range, according to Vidalia coach Lee Chomskis, and already has offers from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida and South Carolina.
Yet, Chomskis is relatively reserved regarding his team’s defensive play.
“Well, we just made some changes to our defense to suit us,” he said. “We had more linebacker types and were a little short on defensive back and defensive lineman types.”
As a result, the Indians went to a four-linebacker alignment, but will walk one linebacker up to the line of scrimmage to maintain a five-man front that Chomskis says has helped create turnovers by turning up the pressure at the point of attack.
“Our defensive staff also does just a great job,” said Chomskis, now in his eighth year as head coach of the Indians. “Rodney Garvin has been our defensive coordinator for eight years, and he does a great job of preparing our kids and getting them in the right spots, and they’re passionate about playing for him.”
The Indians special teams have chipped in as well, producing two returns for touchdowns, and getting “about 95 percent” of their kickoffs from Carlos Giron into the end zone.
“That changes everything when you’re making a high school team go 80 yards every time they get the ball,” Chomskis said.
And if it involves Vidalia athletics, there’s a good chance it involves senior Jordan Black. A preseason All-State selection as an athlete, Black is in his first year at quarterback after playing previously at receiver, while still holding down a spot in the secondary.
“Jordan doesn’t come off the field for us,” Chomskis said. “He’s our free safety on defense, he returns punts, he’s our quarterback and he would go catch passes from himself if we could figure out a way to let him do it. High-character kid, he’s bright, he’s got a 3.3 GPA, he’s been a starter since he was a freshman in football, basketball and baseball. He’s a just great athlete, but he’s an even better kid.”
Vidalia plays at Long County (1-3, 0-2) on Friday night. The Blue Tide presents its own challenges – namely junior RB Brendon Scott, who has 696 rushing yards – but many onlookers are already pointing to the Oct. 17 showdown with No. 5 Benedictine.
“Benedictine is on another level,” Chomskis said. “We haven’t really started talking about it yet. I’m sure people in the community have been talking about it, but we’ve got Long County and then we’ve got a bye week before we get to them, and Long County is giving us plenty to worry about right now.”
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Here's a look at some of the other top defenses (by points allowed) in AA ...
Jeff Davis (4-1, 2-0 Region 2-AA)
Points allowed per game: 8.0
Opponents’ record: 7-17
Last year: 1-9, allowed 33.4 ppg
Notable: The Yellow Jackets posted a shutout in their first game of the season last year, then proceeded to lose the final nine games, mostly by lopsided scores. So even though they’ve faced a forgiving schedule to this point, the improvement is substantial for a program that hasn’t reached the postseason since 2001. ... After a bye week this Friday, Yellow Jackets’ biggest test of the season so far comes Oct. 10 when they host No. 5 Benedictine. ... Joel Lewis and Garret Walters lead the team in tackles.
No. 9 Screven County (5-0, 1-0 Region 3-AA)
Points allowed per game: 8.2
Opponents’ record: 5-20-1
Last year: 5-6, allowed 20.9 ppg
Notable: The Gamecocks have already faced two winless opponents, but proved they were more than the product of an easy schedule with a win over then-No. 7 Jefferson County, 12-7, last week. … No team has scored more than 14 points on Screven County this season. … The Gamecocks have six interceptions in five games, led by Brian Rhodes’ three.
No. 10 Model (5-0, 1-0 Region 7-AA)
Points allowed per game: 8.8
Opponents’ record: 11-14
Last year: 7-4, allowed 16.1 ppg
Notable: The Blue Devils are off to their best start since 1981. … Twice this season they have held opponents to less than 175 yards of total offense. … A big game looms this Friday as they host No. 8 Darlington. The Model defense will face its stiffest challenge to date in Darlington’s Trey Edge. Unofficially, Edge has run for 871 yards through five games.
No. 5 Benedictine (3-1, 2-0 Region 2-AA)
Points allowed per game: 10.8
Opponents’ record: 11-10
Last year: 13-1, allowed 6.5 ppg
Notable: The Cadets fell in a heartbreaker, 24-21, to GAC in the season opener. It was the first and remains the only time since the 2012 playoffs that an opponent has scored more than 15 points against Benedictine. … In just four games, the Cadets have forced 13 turnovers, including 10 interceptions. … They’ve racked up 30 tackles for loss, including nine sacks. … Jack Muller, Tru’self Cooper and Zach Scott each average more than 10 tackles per game.
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Who's your pick as the top defense in AA?
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