Nine years ago, as Heard County coach Tim Barron recalls, one of his players tore his ACL during spring practice. As a result, in the eight springs since, the Braves have done away traditional spring practices. So, while other teams will be in pads and hitting each other, the Braves will be taking a more conservative approach.
“I don’t feel comfortable doing a true spring practice,” Barron said. “That kid pretty much missed his whole senior year, so the risk-reward with a school our size isn’t worth it. We haven’t put on pads in a long time in the spring.”
It's hard to argue the results. Last season ended with the Braves being crowned as Class AA champions, defeating Rockmart 27-6.
In addition to safety concerns, there are other reasons Barron elects not to hold a traditional spring practice session. He sites the later ending to basketball season coupled with Heard County athletes participating in other spring sports including golf, baseball and track and field as factors.
So what does a Heard County spring practice look like? Barron compares it to a combine or camp setting. There are 40-yard dashes, shuttle runs, power ball tosses and 1-on-1 matchups among other activities.
However, college recruiters need not worry should they make the trip to Franklin to evaluate Braves players.
“If we have some highly recruited kids and coaches are coming to evaluate them, we can manipulate the practice so that they can see what they came to see,” Barron said.
At Heard County, the spring sessions, which begin the first week of May and last two weeks, culminate in...nothing. There is no spring scrimmage. In the big picture, the goal is to have the team fresh for summer practice, which begins two weeks after the school year ends.
“Even if we practiced (in the spring) and get them conditioned, they’re going to get out of shape (in the time between the first summer practice) and be back at Square One in the summer,” Barron said. “So this is a good formula for us. We don’t want to burn the candle on both ends so that they’re gassed by the end of the season.”
That theory seemed to hold true last season. The Braves stumbled out of the gate at 1-2, with the two losses coming to No. 1 Hapeville Charter and No. 8 Rockmart by a combined 66-3 on back-to-back weeks. However, they wouldn’t lose again and were playing their best football by the time the postseason rolled around, winning all playoff games by double digits except the semifinals.
Regardless of how the Braves prepare for next season, they’ll be climbing an uphill battle to repeat as state champions, which no AA school has done since Buford (2007-10). They lose four starters on defense and three on offense, including all-everything standout Aaron Beasely, an AJC Class AA all-state selection who signed with Tennessee. He was the team’s leading rusher and played shutdown free safety on defense.
In addition, they replace quarterback East Tennessee State signee Alijah Huzzie — who seamlessly took the reins from Emory Jones (now at Florida) — with Leroy Marsh, a 5-foot-7 speedster who will team with Alex Boyd (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) and Ashton Bonner (5-foot-5, 160) in the backfield.
“We have to adapt offensively to what we are as far as where we were with Emory Jones and Alijah Huzzie,” Barron said. “We’ve been fortunate for the past 12 years or longer where there was a guy pulling the trigger (at quarterback) who played at the college level, so we’ve been spoiled at that position. But we’ll adapt to Leroy’s skillset and we feel really good about those guys.”
On defense, in addition to Beasley the Braves lose AJC Class AA defensive player of the year Zaylin Wood, who played defensive end, and inside linebacker and honorable mention Andrew Leak, both of whom signed with MTSU. But they bring back defensive lineman and honorable mention Tray Owens, and linebacker Jai Wright, who will be expected to lead the defensive next season.
With the turnover, and with a tough schedule — they play both Hapeville Charter and Rockmart in non-region play again — including playing in 5-AA, one of the state’s best regions with Callaway and Bremen, Barron’s expectations for the 2019 Braves are tempered.
“The goal for us is to find a way back into the playoffs,” he said. “The biggest thing for us is to weather the storm early with the tough schedule and getting our kids experience. Obviously, we were 1-2 last year but we looked different by the end of the season. There will be growing and maturity that will have to take place and it won’t be an easy task by any means.”
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