Ryan Herring took his over at Pierce County after Jason Strickland left for Ware County, and it's a tough act to follow.
Strickland led the Bears to a 13-1 finish and a first-ever semifinal appearance last season, where Pierce lost 30-6 to eventual champion Cedar Grove.
But Herring and Pierce, at this stage of the season, haven't skipped a beat. The No. 3-ranked Bears are 4-0 after victories against Class A-Public McIntosh County Academy (49-7), Class AA Bacon County (50-0), Class AAAAA New Hampstead (49-40) and Bradford, Fla., (10-0).
So what's the formula for success down south in Blackshear, located in the southeastern part of the state?
"More than anything, it's the fact that we have a lot of good kids," Herring said about the ease of transition he has experienced. "High-character kids, you know what I mean? We have kids, just good kids, that just play hard, play well together and they enjoy each other. We don't have superstars or, you know, all of that ... stuff. We just have good kids who play hard right now."
Pierce is coming off a 10-0 victory against a Florida program that is ranked No. 17 in the state's Class AAAA. The Bears had to weather a hostile environment, before and during the game.
"They played hard, and that's how they won Friday night in Florida," Herring said. "It was a tough environment. We had logistical issues with dressing. They had a kid's cheer-leading camp going on in the gym while we were dressing. There must have been 100 people in there when we were trying to dress for pregame. They blared music, full blast, every time we were trying to snap the ball, from the P.A. You know, you can't do that in Alabama or Georgia. They made it a hard night for us. It was 0-0 going into the fourth quarter. It was a true test. Our kids just fought for four quarters and found a way to win."
The well-traveled Bears have a relatively balanced offense. Pierce averages 170.3 rushing yards and 128.3 receiving yards. Junior quarterback Jermaine Brewton, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, is 28-of-42 passing for 522 yards and four touchdowns and is a team-leader.
"He's just like a lot of them ... he is a high-character kid," Herring said about Brewton. "He's a hard-worker in the weight room. He doesn't have a lot of play in him. He's not a foolish, horse-play type guy. He's about his business. He just does whatever we have asked him to do, and he does a good job managing the offense. He's good at getting the ball to people. He's a dual-threat guy (who can run and pass), and that makes him tough to stop. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes."
The Bears do, however, favor a ground-and-pound attack. Pierce has scored 20 touchdowns this season with just four passing touchdowns from Brewton and 13 rushing touchdowns from seven different players. Brewton has 35 carries for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Quavien Bell has 18 carries for 80 yards and three touchdowns. Deon Bell has 11 carries for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Bennett has nine carries for 34 yards and two touchdowns. L.J. Newton, Danarius Johnson and Haden Smith have each rushed for one touchdown.
"Well, we've got Quavien -- he's also the starting outside linebacker -- so he's playing on both sides of the ball," Herring said. "That takes a tough kid to do that. He can pound it in there when we need 3 or 4 yards, alongside Jermaine. We have L.J. Newton who has come on the last two games with some good runs. We have a wing-back, Luke Bennett, who plays his role and always has a few catches. So we have different guys who carry the football. We are not one-dimensional. We have our quarterback, Bennett and Bell who are all carrying the ball. We've been able to spread it out pretty well."
Pierce County won Region 2-AAA last season, but two other programs from the region are ranked in the top 10 – No. 6 Appling County and No. 9 Liberty County – who Pierce will face in the final two weeks of the regular season.
"The whole deal is, you have to get in the playoffs," he said. "In Georgia, you want to be a one- or two-seed to host. You want to host as much as you can. The travel, once you get to the third round, could take you to North Georgia. So you want to enjoy those home playoff games. That's big. I like having Appling and Liberty at the end of our schedule. Hopefully we are playing our best football at that point. I know it's going to be tough. Appling has head coach Rick Tomlin over there now, and I know they are going to be smash-mouth and run right at you. They will play good football. Liberty usually has really good skill players. Those two games are going to be tough, but I'm glad they're at the end."
When Herring was informed that Peach County and Cedar Grove likely are going to be positioned in the same quadrant of the playoff bracket, assuming both win their regions, Herring was elated at the possibility of the rematch of the 2018 title game happening in the quarterfinals.
"They'll meet in the quarterfinals," he said. "Wow. That'll be a heck of a game, especially after last year with Cedar Grove scoring at the end. That's a weird quarterfinal matchup; that'll be one of the weirdest, best quarterfinal matchups ever. I'll tell you, Cedar Grove and Peach County can play with the 7As. Those two teams can play with anybody. Peach County beat Lee County pretty good; they beat Northside-Warner Robins. Cedar Grove almost beat the one of the best high-classed teams in Alabama a few weeks ago. Those two teams can play with anybody, regardless of classification. It's well-known, whether you've been here five years or 25 years, that Peach County and Cedar Grove are elite teams."
But at this point in the season, playoff talk is all speculation. For Pierce and Herring, Class AAAAA South Effingham is the next opponent.
For now, that's enough.
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