By Dusty Vassey
TIFTON — The Berrien High Rebels have shown improvement this season but have suffered at the hands of a brutal Region 1-AA schedule. It doesn’t get any easier for the Rebels this week.
The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane (5-0) is marching to Nashville, and Berrien head coach Ross New may be pulling a few tricks to keep the coach Robby Pruitt’s squad out of town.
“We’re going to put up a road block in Nashville, and try to give them wrong directions,” New joked.
In reality, such tactics may be the best bet for Berrien (2-4). Fitzgerald has been dominant in each of its games this season, blowing out teams 199-22. Fitzgerald has wins over Irwin County (31-6), Randolph-Clay (41-13), Mitchell County (41-0), Dodge County (30-3) and Albany (56-0). Fitzgerald is ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Georgia high school football poll for Class AA.
Berrien lost to Seminole County 33-14 to start the season then put up two-straight wins over Atkinson County (26-13) and Albany (34-0). Then, the Rebels entered the meat of the Region 1-AA schedule against three of the region’s top teams.
The Rebels lost to Early County (40-10), Thomasville (30-3) and Brooks County (41-0). Now they play the team that is possibly the best team in the region.
Fitzgerald’s offense is simple enough. It uses a bevy of talented running backs and a strong offensive line to run over teams. Fullback Nick Williams leads the Hurricane with 537 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s averaging 9.4 yards per carry. Dion Ross is second on the team with 327 yards and five scores. He’s averaging 10.5 yards per carry.
Larry King (275 yards, 12.5 average), Corey Taylor (187 yards, 10.4 average) and Jemea Thomas (117 yards, 7.8 average) also carry the ball for the Hurricane.
“They’re awesome,” said New. “They’re one of the best teams in the state. It’s death row.”
The coach said his team would need to gang-tackle and try to keep the Hurricane contained.
Offensively, Berrien will run a spread offense that emphasizes the pass. Sophomore quarterback Cameron Jones has passed for 543 yards and two touchdowns with seven interceptions. His top target is Aaron Dobbs who leads the area with 23 catches for 265 yards.
Running back Khalid Lamar has 323 yards and three scores for Berrien. The Rebels have a huge offensive line that relies upon Georgia-commitment Tanner Strickland and senior James Hughes.
“We have to be able to spread the ball and get people out of the box and attack that way,” said New.
