Dublin, Brooks County play for AA title with backstories taking the center stage

There is a very recent history between the Trojans and Fighting Irish. The title game serves as a rematch from the regular season, when when the Fighting Irish won 49-35 on Sept. 20 in Quitman. In 2018, the Trojans won 13-10 in Dublin.

Both teams have long-tenured coaches who won a state title with their respective programs more than a decade ago. In 1994, a 28-year-old Maurice Freeman parlayed the first season of his head coaching career into a Class A title — the only championship in a Trojans history that dates back to 1959.

“It was a great feeling,” said Freeman, who would leave Brooks County in 1997 for stints at Southwest-Macon and Brunswick before returning to the Trojans in 2008. “I was young and inexperienced, so thought at the time I’d win more of them but it’s been 25 years since I’ve had another shot.”

Roger Holmes guided the Fighting Irish to a title game appearance in 2002, his first season with the program, and then to a championship in 2006. Friday will be their first time back in the final.

“There’s no question it’s a struggle to get to the championship and an even bigger one to win it,” Holmes said. “Taking for granted that you’ll be there on a regular basis is not a good thing.

“Coach Freeman and I both have been with small schools and even though everyone cycles through student-athletes, in small schools those cycles are farther apart. So, it takes a special group to play for a championship.”

The Trojans and Fighting Irish took their own roads to Georgia State Stadium. Here’s a look at how they got there.

The Trojans and the ‘BC3’

On Sunday, the head coaches of the finalists in all classifications met with the GHSA at Georgia State Stadium in preparation for the championship games. Freeman brought with him three Trojans jerseys: Nos. 26, 32 and 72. Those numbers represent what is known around Quitman as the “BC3” — No. 26, Johnny Parker; No. 32, Shawn Waters and No. 72, Jicarre Watkins.

Parker, Waters and Watkins were penciled in as the starting linebackers for the 2013 Trojans but, following a team workout on July 9, they were killed in a auto accident when the SUV Watkins was driving hydroplaned in rainy conditions and struck a pecan tree.

Because the team was traveling separately from one facility to another, teammates trailing Watkins’ car witnessed the crash. Afterward, the team filed into the field house and Freeman had to deliver a message no coach should have to.

“I told (the team) we lost them,” Freeman said.

Freeman was especially close to the Parker, Waters and Watkins because he also doubles as the team’s linebackers coach. Waters and Watkins were entering their senior year. Parker, who would have been a junior, was offered by Troy State just days before the accident.

The tragedy devastated the small town of Quitman and made national headlines. The day after, the community gathered in the school’s gym to grieve. On July 13, Freeman met with the team. He was willing to do whatever the playeres wanted, including sitting out the 2013 season. The seniors spoke up, led by Malkom Parrish, a defensive back who would go on to play at Georgia. They decided that they wanted to play, and that their fallen teammates would be remembered as the “BC3”.

“It was a tough situation and I considered retiring after their funerals,” Freeman said. “I had a hard time adjusting, and it’s still tough. But that season, we wanted to rep the BC3.”

The 2013 Trojans would reach the semifinals and finish 12-2. The season win total still ties for the program record, which has been matched three other times.

Today, the BC3’s memory is still vibrant within the school. There are three crosses behind the locker room, where the team prays daily. Painted on the wall of Freeman’s office is a mural that says “BC3” and “Heart and Soul” with their jersey numbers. Waters’ younger brother, Ernest Whitfield, is a senior linebacker who wears Waters’ No. 32 and leads the team with 12 tackles for loss.

Freeman promised himself that if the Trojans ever returned to the state championship, he’d bring the BC3’s jerseys to the site of the game, because he wanted them to be the first to see the stadium, before the rest of the team.

“I miss them that much,” Freeman said.

As expected, the moment Freeman arrived at Georgia State Stadium was an emotional one.

“It was breathtaking,” he said. “I was choking up. It was a tough few minutes.”

While Whitfield will be wearing Waters’ number, Nos. 26 and 72 will be in the Trojans’ locker room for the title game. The BC3’s presence will also be seen in the stands.

“You’ll see some BC3 shirts out there,” Freeman said.

Setbacks at start, finish of regular season for Dublin

In the spring and summer practices leading up to the season, Holmes held a competition between juniors Kendell Wade and Markelle Mitchell to settle the quarterback position. Wade won the starting job, adding even more value to the team as he was also a starting safety and punt returner.

However, in the second game of the season against Swainsboro, Wade went down with an injury that broke both his leg and ankle and required season-ending surgery. Just like that, the Fighting Irish were forced into different plans.

“It was a big loss,” Holmes said. “Really we lost three starters in Kendell, and (the injury) made us really thin in the secondary. He was only one of two returning defensive backs.”

Mitchell took over at quarterback in the Swainsboro game, which was ultimately a 35-13 win, before heading into the bye. They resumed their season with the win at Brooks County.

Though the Irish had to adjust to not having Wade on the field, no struggle was evident as the season went on. Following a 3-0 start in non-region play — all against ranked opponents — the Fighting Irish continued to plow through their Region 3 schedule.

Though the wins were adding up, that didn’t mean the team went without growing pains. Holmes has long utilized the Wing-T offense, an old-school style of smash-mouth football that some say the game has evolved from as more teams move toward the pass-first, spread offense.

“Here at Dublin, what we do offensively is not the fad,” Holmes said. “People want to spread out and throw it but that’s now what we do. Our kids hear it on the street, but they have to believe in you and trust you for any chance to become successful.”

Holmes had to sell the team not only on the Wing-T, but being unselfish within the offense. As Holmes describes it, what makes the Wing-T successful is one play setting up the next. The strategy is to give unbalanced formation looks, wait for the defense to adjust and counter. It’s rhythm-based, and to execute it properly, it takes more than one running back. That meant the three senior backs — Jaques Evans, Marcus Adams and Zion Kemp — had to check their egos at the door and share the ball.

“I think it was hard for them, to be honest,” Holmes said. “Especially early in the year. We continued to preach from a coaching standpoint to make then understand, and then they started to see it work. Marcus would have some big nights, but Zion would be quiet, so the defense would key in on Marcus and then Zion goes for 200 yards the next game. They started to buy in.”

The result has been three 1,000-yard rushers, led by Evans (2,225 yards, 38 touchdowns), and followed by Adams (1,426/13) and Kemp (1,424/19).

Though the season went relatively smooth following Wade’s injury, the Irish would suffer one more bump in the road before the regular season ended. Washington County was standing between them and their first 10-0 regular season since the 2006 championship year. Due to disciplinary reasons Holmes benched key starters, which played a role in the Fighting Irish losing 27-23 and cost them a shot at a 15-0 season.

Holmes sees the disciplinary action as a positive that benefitted the team heading into the playoffs.

“It’s helped us in the growing process,” he said. “A message was sent that we don’t consider anyone more important than our team, and that you do what you’re supposed to do to represent the program.”

The Fighting Irish immediately got back on track to win all four of their playoff games by double digits.

The matchup

The Trojans will be tasked with slowing down the Fighting Irish’s Wing-T offense, which is averaging 41.75 points in the playoffs.

Last week in the semifinals against Thomasville, Dublin’s Evans amassed 280 rushing yards and five touchdowns — in the first half.

Not to mention, the Fighting Irish scored seven touchdowns on the Trojans earlier this season, with Evans rushing for 181 yards and a score, followed by Kemp (171 yards, two scores) and Adams (157 yards). Even senior linebacker and Miami commit Romello Height got in on the action with a 1-yard rushing score. Mitchell rushed for two touchdowns and, for good measure, completed the team’s only pass for a 63-yard touchdown to Adams.

Though the Trojans lost to Dublin in September, Freeman said they’re coming to Georgia State Stadium to battle.

“They are a very talented team,” Trojans coach Maurice Freeman said. “Our team is up and coming and we show a lot of fight, but we don’t have as much talent. But we have as much fight if not more than them, so we’ll see who comes out on top. We won last year, they won this year and now this one is for all the marbles.”

If Holmes is worried Dublin might overlook the Trojans since they already beat them earlier this season, the Fighting Irish need to look no further than last year’s AA title game between Rockmart and Heard County. Rockmart won the regular season matchup 33-0, but Heard County beat them 27-6 in the championship.

Holmes said he’s talked about the team’s win over the Trojans earlier this season, as well as Brooks County’s win last year and he’s hoping the Fighting Irish aren’t overlooking their opponent.

“From where I sit, looking at the film, Brooks County is not the same team now that we played in September,” Holmes said. “The way they’re executing their offense is much smoother. Also, most teams don’t get much of a chance to defend against the Wing-T because not a lot of teams run it. But they’ve seen us once, and Washington County runs a single wing, Metter runs the Wing-T and Rockmart runs the Wing-T out of the shotgun, so that’s three out of the last four weeks they’ve seen it, which gives them an advantage over the first time they played us.”

It’s true that the Trojans aren’t the same team as early in the season. From a statistical standpoint, none of their leaders are seniors.

Sophomore running back Omari Arnold leads the team in rushing with 1,697 yards and 21 touchdowns. Quarterback Ni’tavion Burrus is a junior and has thrown for 1,970 yards and 21 touchdowns and has rushed for 658 yards and another eight scores. Their leading receiver is sophomore Willie Brown, who has 554 yards and nine touchdowns on 32 catches. Defensively, their leading tackler is junior linebacker Camron Priest, and junior end Jaquan Dawson has a team-high eight sacks.

The youth and inexperience led the Trojans to a 1-3 start that they’ve corrected as they’ve played more.

“We just needed to hang on and get experience,” Freeman said. “I promised them if they could just hang on, this would pan out for us. The players believed and we took off.”

Freeman said he expects the Trojans to play with intensity and abide by a team mantra of winning “The Hit Game,” which is approaching all aspects of the game with a superior physicality.

Holmes was recently asked what date the championship game was, and he responded, “Friday the 13th.” Only then did he realize that could invoke superstitions to those who believe. Fortunately for Holmes, he isn’t one of those believers.

“The only things that can stop us on Friday are ourselves and Brooks County,” Holmes said.

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