Appling County is 6-0 and in the midst its best start since 2011 and in coach Rick Tomberlin’s third season, he has the Pirates exactly where he wants them, 6-0 and 1-0 in region play with two games left before a showdown with No. 8 Pierce County to close out the regular season.
But he does not deserve all the credit.
“I’ve got really good coaching staff and our coaches worked very, very hard,” Tomberlin said. “The work ethic and the dedication that the coaches have makes a big difference.”
The Pirates are tied (1-0) atop the 1-3A standings with No. 8 Pierce County in a region dominated by the two programs. Tattnall County, Brantley County and Long County – their region mates – have zero wins between them.
“Because of our strength program the coaches put in,” he said. “I don’t think we are going to play anybody in better physical condition than us. And I really like the way we are playing on Fridays”
He should.
In its pre-region schedule, Appling beat five straight higher-classed programs – 6A South Effingham (42-7), 4A Westside-Macon (45-7), 6A Statesboro (34-7), 5A Wayne County (23-20) and 4A No. 3 Benedictine (28-21) before entering region play where it beat Long County 69-12 last week.
Quarterback Jeremiah Holmes is 19-of-36 passing for 347 yards and five touchdowns, however Appling does most of its damage on the ground. Sharode Roberts leads with 57 carries for 441 yards and five touchdowns. Holmes adds 42 carries for 204 yards and five touchdowns.
All told, Appling has gotten rushing touchdowns from eight players on the season. It has rushed 244 times for 1,708 yards and 23 touchdowns and completed 20-of-39 passes for 261 yards and five touchdowns.
Coach Tomberlin answered several questions Wednesday about his program, Class 3A and the upcoming playoffs.
Q. The region shifts have created some remarkably interesting matchups come playoff time. Walk me around the class and tell me what you see.
A. Well, first off, I think 3A is loaded. Sure, there are good teams in every class, but I think 3A has more teams that are capable of winning the state championship than maybe any other class. Look at Cedar Grove, Peach, Crisp, Pierce, GAC, Oconee County… they are all darn good. They could all be state champions. And there are others than we specifically mentioned. Sooner or later, they have to play each other, sooner or later they are going to face off.
Q. Speaking of 1-3A, what does that region look like for you?
A. As far as our region goes, we don’t take anything for granted. I have learned over my years of experience, don’t take a bunch for granted because, heck, we are a little banged up right now. It’s not a career-ending injury or anything but, we had six starters held out of practice yesterday and two might play Friday, but four definitely wont play. Two are COVID related and were sent home and the others have some significant injuries and it will be a game time decision. But, in our region, I think the two teams are obviously Pierce County and us.
Q. COVID and the Playoffs. What happens when teams come down with COVID one, two, three, four rounds into the playoffs? What’s it look like to you?
A. I will be perfectly honest, I kind of walk around in dread of it. For instance, we had a young man, a starting defensive lineman and we practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then on Thursday we get word that he has been exposed. No, he does not have COVID, but he’s been exposed. So, he goes home and misses his senior homecoming game. And he might be one of the better linemen in the region. And it was the second time for him, he’s missed 28 days of school in his first semester and he didn’t do anything wrong or never tested positive but was sent home for exposure. There’s some discrepancies in how to interpret procedures and who goes home who does not. I talked to a gentleman the other night and he is a law enforcement official. He said we all were under the same rules and regulations that the football team is under. That they do not send people home unless they’ve got some type of symptoms. Well, these kids did not have symptoms. I know neighboring communities that nobody has been sent home. They don’t send any of their players home. It is ironic that we’ve sent ours home. So I think there’s still a little uncertainty about how do you interpret this. Is this recommended, suggested guidance? Or is this how you go and do it? Is this required? There are still some questions about that, as far as I’m concerned. And I do not know, it’s very discouraging. You work with kids all week and then suddenly you get a couple of starters, three or four starters, sitting home. I know I am reaching here a bit, but we could go tomorrow, and my first two starting quarterbacks are both sent home. You never know. We don’t get mulligans now, we are in the region games. And then if you do go to the playoffs and all of a sudden, you have an issue, I would assume the GHSA could answer that, but I would assume that’s if a team is fortunate enough to get to the finals, and they get COVID issues, that it would be a forfeit. That’s a hard way to win a state championship and a tough way to lose it. But unless they correct me, I don’t know how, unless you put it off two weeks or three weeks or something. And I don’t see him doing that.
Q. Pick an ideal state title matchup if you can.
A. That would be hard to say. I really mean it when I say that the top of 3A are all good teams. I mean, look at that Peach and Crisp game with Peach winning 14-13. Both teams have great defenses and then you see what Cedar Grove is capable of now. That is really incredible. They are the defending champs and they certainly deserve to be there. I think any of those teams matched up with each other would be a great game. And I hope we are worth to earn the right to get to play one or several of those teams if we keep it going. And then, that’s our plan to keep getting better and keep playing. So I don’t know if I can tell you the ideal matchup but I think it would have to include Cedar Grove. I don’t think you can sit here right now and think about a championship game without including them because of their success. They are the champs until someone beats the champs, right?
About the Author
