Kell coach on upset win: ‘About as exciting and as hard-fought as they get’

1. Ever been in a low-scoring game quite like that? Also curious about your assessment of Blessed Trinity’s star defensive lineman, five-star prospect D.J. Jacobs.

“I have not been in a low-scoring battle like that in my career. Typically, you think the high-scoring battles are the exciting ones, but that was about as exciting and as hard-fought as they get. I figured the game would be in the 20s as far as scoring goes. Both defenses are very talented, but I figured there would be some points scored. Our defense played hard and flew to the football all night. The same can be said about BT. Neither side allowed big plays or got frustrated with the offense’s lack of production. In the second half, we were able to control the clock a little bit on offense, which I believe at the very least kept our defense fresh. D.J. Jacobs is as good as they come. He’s a nightmare to game plan for. But the defense as a whole is very good, and Blessed Trinity’s defensive line is one of the best in the state, all classes.”

2. A year ago, you started 0-2 in region play, losing to Blessed Trinity and Westminster, and had to beat Cambridge, an eventual Class 4A quarterfinalist, just to avoid the No. 4 seed. How are things different when you get off to a good start vs. having to play catch-up like last season?

“Things haven’t changed much. We still have to go 1-0 each week. The process in which you attack the day has to stay the same. We are off to a better start, but I think that comes with our maturity. We are essentially the same team as last year, but one year older. We now have to deal with the possible effects of complacency setting in and focus on our motto, DMGB – Doesn’t Matter, Get Better!”

3. Last year’s team was 7-5 but probably better than your record because of a tough schedule and three or four close losses. Is this year’s team better?

“We played a tough schedule for a reason, and that was to prepare us for the playoffs. If you think about our losses last year, most of the teams made deep playoff runs and/or were in larger classifications. I believe we are much better this year because we returned most of our team. We were young last year and dealt with some big injuries early in the year. I do think we were peaking at the right time last year as well, but because of seeding we ran into a buzz saw in Creekside, even though we had our chances to win that game as well. We have a long way to go, but hopefully, we can peak at the right time, stay healthy and continue to rely on our senior leadership.”

Note: Kell beat Cambridge and one Class 6A region champion, North Atlanta, last season and lost to four top-10 teams, including eventual Class 5A runner-up Creekside 42-35 in the second round of the playoffs.

4. You’ve got a bunch of good players, so we hate to single out any of them for a question, but you have two top-150 national recruits with running back Moonie Gipson and linebacker Brayden Rouse. For those who haven’t seen them, what is unique or most impressive about each in terms of their skill sets?

“We have a bunch of talented players who don’t get enough recognition, but Bray and Moonie are two of the best I have coached. Moonie is a complete back who can catch out of the backfield and run tough between the tackles. As for Bray, I’m not sure what he can’t do. He can probably play eight positions on defense and four or five on offense, along with long snapping and even returning punts. For both players, their growth and maturity throughout the years have been fun to watch.”