After getting off to a less-than-ideal start with a pair of losses to neighboring county schools, Habersham Central High School’s football team has turned things around and the potential upside to the season is still ahead of them.
The Raiders (2-2) went on the road to Central Gwinnett in Week 4 and came back to Mt. Airy with a 17-10 win over the Knights. They followed that with a 28-10 home win over Forsyth Central last week to close out their non-region schedule.
Now, on Friday night, a big offense stands in the way of a third-straight win and a 1-0 start to the six-game region slate.
“I think we’re ready (for region play),” Habersham Central Head Coach Benji Harrison said. “I think you have those four (non-region) games for a reason – to measure and to see what you need to improve in and you see who you are as a football team. I think we have a good idea.”
The Raiders will travel to Sugar Hill Friday night to face Lanier.
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The Longhorns (3-1) have been strong on the offensive side of the ball, averaging over 35 points per game. On the other side, they’ve only allowed 24 points per game.
“Nothing glances out at you as, ‘OK, here’s their weaknesses,’” Harrison said. “I don’t think they have a lot of weaknesses.”
The head man said his offense can help his defense keep points off the board by sustaining their own offensive drives.
“They’ve been very explosive offensively, so I think we, offensively, can help with that,” Harrison said. “We’ve got to sustain drives and put long drives together and limit their possessions. Any time you’re going against an offense that’s scored as many as they have, you want to keep them off the field.”
Habersham Central will have to contend with a duo of running backs in senior Tayo Ashadele and junior Tojuan Peyton Jr.
Ashadele has carried the ball 61 times for 432 yards and five touchdowns. Peyton Jr. has covered 302 yards and scored twice on 43 carries.
If the Raiders crowd the box to deal with the run game, senior quarterback Preston Ratliff (53-of-84, 814 yds, 8 TD) can hurt them over the top.
“I think, offensively, they do a really good job of being balanced,” Harrison said. “I think they have the ability of being able to throw the football and run the football, which makes it more challenging defensively. You can’t just take one away because they can hurt you with the other.”
Harrison pointed to senior Chase Jameson as one of the weapons the Longhorns can utilize against his defense.
Jameson has 13 carries for five touchdowns in the run game. He also has 24 catches for 448 yards and five touchdowns in the passing game. The next closest player in receptions has eight. The next closest player in yards has 120. Three other players have caught a touchdown pass.
“He’s a really good player,” Harrison said. “We’ve got to have a plan for him and know exactly where he’s at in the formation so we’ve kind of got an idea of what he’s about to do.”
As for it being the first region game of the season, Harrison said it could do a lot for his team.
“You get six of them. Obviously if you can get that first one, it helps you a lot and you’d beat a team that’s traditionally been in the top 3 in the region every year,” Harrison said. “It’d be a big win.”
Prior to Week 4 against Central Gwinnett with his team sitting at 0-2, Harrison said he encouraged his team to keep the focus inward on themselves rather than listening to what others might be saying outside the program. Playing for each other became a rallying point.
“Nobody knows what goes on except the guys on our team, so play for each other. Stay tight and don’t let the doubts creep in,” Harrison said of his message. “Just believe in each other and believe in what we’re doing. They did and they do.
“They knew it was early in the season. They knew exactly how good this football team can be,” he continued. “When everybody else maybe wavered, they didn’t because they knew and they still believed in what we were doing.”
Now the Raiders will prepare to start that region slate on the road.
Away games have been equally harsh to and beneficial for Habersham Central. The second game of the year was on the road against White County – a 34-6 loss. Two weeks later, with a bye in between, the Raiders topped Central Gwinnett.
“I don’t think that matters,” Harrison said of playing away from John Larry Black Field. “You like playing at home because you’re in front of the home crowd and the energy is a little bit higher. But if you can’t get your own energy up for the first region game against a good football team, you’ve got bigger problems than that.
“We’ve won at home, we’ve lost at home. We’ve won on the road, we’ve lost on the road,” he continued. “I think our kids are excited and they’re ready to go on the road. We feel like we got started turning our season around on the road.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Sugar Hill.
