There has been spirited conversation on blogs and in chat rooms, on the subject of No. 3 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy’s 70-0 drubbing of Strong Rock Christian (1-5) last week. In today’s post, ELCA head coach Jonathan Gess gives his side of the story.
Also, we take our weekly look at the Georgia High School Association/MaxPreps Power Ratings, as things begin to round into shape heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
ELCA’s Gess on 70-0 win over Strong Rock
Strong Rock Christian is still in its relevant infancy as a football program. The Patriots began varsity competition in 2007 in the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) before stepping up to the Georgia High Schools Association (GHSA) in 2010.
The road has been rough, to say the least. Strong Rock, located in Locust Grove, has had the misfortune of being placed in Region 5, one of the toughest in Class A. Going into this season, the Patriots are 15-34-1 overall, 4-24 in region play, with three of those wins against Mount Vernon Presbyterian, another fledgling program in its 10th season (the other win was by forfeit over First Presbyterian Day of Macon). Against ELCA, one of Class A's most dominant programs, Strong Rock hasn't been competitive, losing by an average score of 57-7 in the five games prior to last week's 70-0 loss.
Charger head coach Jonathan Gess and his staff has taken some heat on blogs and message boards for what some have perceived to be running up the score against a lesser opponent. He responded to those comments on Tuesday.
On competing against lesser opponents
“I worry about every team we play. I want us playing at an A-level anytime we take the field, no matter who we play. To me, as a coach, you never go into a game thinking you’re going to kill the other team. You respect everyone you play.”
On his overall philosophy on “running up the score”
“We don’t do that. We don’t want to embarrass people. But I will say this. Especially in single A football, you have all these teams that want to throw the ball 30-40 times a game. When you do that, if you’re not completing passes, you keep stopping the clock and the game drags on and on. My feeling is this: I can’t worry about the other team. My first priority is to my team, my players, my parents, my coaches and my administration.”
On what happened early against Strong Rock, including an onside kick after a score
“For one thing, in the first half they tried to go for it on fourth-and-eight at their own 25-yard line, and didn’t get it. Then, when we were leading 14-0, we were attempting a pooch kick, not an onside kick. We really need to practice the pooch kick because there are some teams where we don’t want to kick it deep to their return man, like [Lofton] Tidwell at Landmark. The idea is to kick the ball high and have it land around the 30-yard line, but our kicker shanked it. The ball went straight up and came down at the 40. Their front line players moved out of the way and the ball landed right in our hands.”
On his thinking at halftime, leading 42-0
“My feeling is that I want us to really get after it for two quarters, no matter what. Then after halftime, we try to get as many kids playing time as we can. Well, it was 42-0 at halftime, but when I looked at the stat sheet, my two tailbacks had a total of 10 carries – Josh Mays had three carries for 15 yards and Trevor Gear had seven for 130. I thought [Mays] works his tail off in practice all week and he deserves to get more than just three carries in a game. So I told my staff we would play our [first team players] one series on offense and defense and get them out of there. Well, on offense we gave the ball to Josh three straight times, same play each time, and he scored. That made it 49-0. Then they get the ball and throw a pick-six, so now it’s 56-0. Right after that, we put our JV players in and they scored two touchdowns, and we didn’t throw the ball once. Those kids work hard, too, so I can’t tell them not to score when they get in the game.”
On his thinking when his team has been on the other end of a lopsided score
"I know what it's like. I've been on the other end of some of those games. Against Mt. Paran Christian [in last season's private state final, a 49-7 loss], we just kept telling our kids to keep playing hard, don't worry about the score. One play at a time, play as hard as you can. In 2012, when we played [Class AAA] Washington County, we like to play fast but we slowed things way down, way, way down, because we weren't quite sure how we matched up against them." Note: ELCA loss the game, which was its season opener, 24-19, but went on to win 13 straight en route to the Class A title.
On his final thoughts on the game
“At the end of the day, I have to take care of my team, my players, my coaches, my parents and my administrators. After that, I’ll do everything in my power not to run up the score on anybody.”
Prince Avenue, Turner County at the top of Power Ratings
Prince Avenue Christian remains at the top of the private school Power Ratings, while Turner County, which took last week off, moves into the top spot on the public school side.
Class A Private
Worst Record In: No. 15 Walker (3-4)
Best Record Out: No. 17 Fellowship Christian, No. 19. George Walton Academy, No. 22 Tattnall Square (3-3)
First Team Out: No. 17 Fellowship Christian (3-3)
Who Dropped Out: No. 17 Fellowship Christian (3-3)
Who Jumped In: No. 14 Mt. Pisgah Christian (3-3)
Class A Public
Worst Record In: No. 6 Commerce, No. 11 Twiggs County, No. 12 Dooly County, No. 14 Telfair County, No. 16 Miller County (3-3)
Best Record Out: No. 17 Randolph-Clay, No. 20 Hawkinsville (4-3)
First Team Out: No. 17 Randolph-Clay (4-3)
Who Dropped Out: No. 20 Hawkinsville (4-3)
Who Jumped In: No. 16 Miller County (3-3)
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