Warriors to face Habersham Central

The White County High School Warriors football team gets a chance to play at home again this week as Habersham Central makes the short trip to Cleveland to renew the neighborhood rivalry.

The two schools, who have only played 11 times in the history of the series, meet for the sixth consecutive year on Friday.

The Raiders, who are coming off a bye week, started the season at 1-1, recording a 27-7 win over Apalachee in Week 2, after dropping a 28-25 decision to Madison County in the season opener.

Cokely said given the current Covid-climate, it's hard to know what his own team will look like each week, and it's nearly impossible to figure out an opponents lineup heading into a game.

“Each week is going to be different this year,” Cokely said Tuesday morning. “I just don't think you can size teams up from one week to next like we used to. Who knows? We've had as many s 19 guys out (of practice), and we'll probably have 10 out today. You just don't know. We have changes each day, but it's fun that we're getting our games in when some are not.”

Cokely said he has enjoyed playing the Raiders the past four years, and hopes this series continues in the future.

“This rivalry since I've been here has been close, we have big crowds,” Cokely said. “They have a big running back this year, and big backs are hard to scheme for. Either you can or you cannot tackle them. It's that simple.  It doesn't matter (about the scheme). Defensively, they run the same thing (as last year), and they might be a little faster, but they aren't quite as big. Offensively, the same thing, they aren't quite as big up front. Since (HCHS quarterback Josh) Pickett left,  it changed the way they play, just like it changed the way we play when J. Ben (Haynes) left here."

Cokely expects the game to be a tight battle, much like the Warriors' 28-21 win last year.

It will be a test," Cokely said. "We're ready for the game, but in a rivalry game where kids get really excited, you have to calm them down. I think it will be a close, hard-hitting game like it has been for the past couple of years.”

Warriors beat Pickens

The White County Warriors got a much-needed win last Friday night in Jasper, knocking off the Pickens Dragons 20-7 to snap a season-opening 0-2 start.

The Warriors scored twice in the opening half to take a 13-0 lead into intermission, and then made enough plays in the second half to get past the Dragons. The Warriors wrap up the non-region portion of the schedule Friday night, returning to Warrior Stadium for a match-up with Habersham Central.

WCHS head coach Tim Cokely said it was nice to get a win after a couple of tough losses to Stephen County and Hart County, and thinks the team is starting to carve out an identity.

“I think we know who we are now,” Cokely said. “We've had some things happen early in the season with personnel, with the depth chart, and when we got to the Hart game, I didn't do a good job managing the roster. It was better Friday night. We played well and it was good to get the win.”

The Warriors struck first after forcing the Dragons to punt on their first possession. Darius Cannon took a screen pass from freshman quarterback Tripp Nix, and turned it into a 10-yard gain to get the 77-77-yard driving going. Two plays later, Nix, making his first varsity start, hooked up with Bryson Cronic for a 13-yard gain, and then Cronic's number was called again, this time on a screen pass, he picked up 29 yards for a first down at the Dragons' 40-yard line. But the drive seemed to stall out after a couple of penalties,

The Warriors faced a punting situation when Cam Wilson, one of the blocking backs in the Warriors' punt formation, took a short snap on a fake, and rambled 26 yards down to the 18-yard line. A personal foul was called on the Dragons at the end of run, giving the Warriors a first down at the 9-yard line.

Mulligan finished the drive on the next play, running through a tackler on the way to the end zone for a 6-0 lead with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.

Three minutes into the second quarter, the Warriors forced another punt and needed only five plays to extend the lead to 13-0. The Warriors overcame a penalty to start the drive, with Cannon picking up 14 yards on a short pass play, and Mulligan ripping off a 10-yard run. The drive was aided by a 15-yard penalty against the Dragons, giving the Warriors a first down inside Dragon territory.

Two plays later, the Warriors dialed up another outside screen to Cronic, and this time the senior receiver sprinted past three defenders on his way to a 43-yard scoring play. Hayden Vandegriff knocked home his first career extra point to make it a two score lead with 9:37 left before the half.

The Dragons had the ball twice in Warrior territory in the final nine minutes of the half, but the defensive unit kept the shutout alive.

The Warriors forced an incomplete pass on the first drive, and senior linebacker Zion McMullen stripped the ball away from a Pickens receiver near the 12-yard line, and Cronic recovered the loose ball inside the 5-yard line to end the Dragons' scoring threat in the final minute of the half.

“Defensively, it was one of the better games we've played since I've been here,” Cokely said. “We had some guys out, guys playing different positions with everything going on. We just did a really good job of concentrating and getting guys on the ground, and that's a good sign.”

The Dragons opened the second half with a 16-play, 73-yard drive to get back in the game. The Dragons did almost all of the work on the ground, completing just one pass for a 12-yard gain in the drive, which lastest more than seven minutes. Pickens quarterback Sam Striecher finished off the drive with a 5-yard run, cutting the Warriors' lead to 13-7 with 4:38 to go in the third quarter.

The Warriors got an insurance score midway through the fourth quarter, putting together a 10-play, 85-yard drive. Mulligan rushed for 66 yards on six carries, including runs of 28 and 24 yards, while McMullen had 19 yards on two attempts. Mulligan capped off the drive with 1-yard plunge into the end zone on a fourth down and goal play.

The Warriors finished the game with 191 rushing yards and 142 passing yards for a total of 333 yards.

Mulligan had a season-high 146 yards on 29 carries, also a season high. Through three games, Mulligan has rushed for 367 yards on 73 carries, and has scored three touchdowns.

McMullen added 33 yards on eight carries, and Cam Wilson had 26 yards on the fake punt.

Nix was very efficient in his first start, finishing 10-of-14 for 142 yards and a touchdown. Cronic led the receivers with four catches for 102 yards, while Cannon had five catches for 32 yards, and Kane Lowery added a catch for eight yards.

Nix was the team's third starter at quarterback through the first three games, following Billy Carder and Silas Mulligan, and Cokely said the Warriors are still trying to find their identity on offense, but that they took a step in the right direction in the win.

“We're still kind of in the probing stage,” Cokely said about the offense. “When you have a freshman quarterback and he plays on Thursdays (JV game), I don't think that tells you anything. There are just too many things that are different now. I thought Tripp needed to get out there and play. He needed to play so he could see what he is, and we could see what he is. He did a really good job, but we still like the other two guys (Mulligan and Carder) that play quarterback too. They will also play. The days of starting one guy at the same position are over right now with everything going on, so you have to develop some depth at every position or you are going to get caught. If we continue to do that, we'll get to play all of our games. We don't want to cancel games. These are non-region games, so we can take more risks. We can try guys at different positions.”

McMullen,

a senior linebacker, led the defensive effort with 11 total tackles, including nine first hits and two assists, while fellow linebacker Alex Thornton also had 11 total tackles, with seven first hits and four assists.

Jeb Robinson, Cronic, Cannon and Riley Turner each had six total tackles, while Noah Williams, who had to make an emergency start on the defensive line, and Tavi Simmons both had five total tackles.

Matthew Gee, making his first start on the defensive line, had four total tackles, Colton Turner had two, and Teddy Strange had two assists.

“I'm really proud of those guys,” Cokely said. “You have to have a lot of character, a lot of camaraderie, or it can go bad fast. On Friday, we played well, we cared about each other, and the guys we asked to play some different positions played well.”