Sometimes, a mere look at a stat sheet provides a moderately clear scouting report.

Such is, to a point, the case with Blessed Trinity.

“Oh, they got two 1,000-yard rushers, they’re quarterbacks’ thrown for almost 2,000, (got) a 1,000-yard receiver,” Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson said. “Yeah.”

That’s the task his defense faces when Mary Persons hosts Blessed Trinity in what may be a standing-room only game at Dan Pitts Stadium in a Class 4A semifinal.

This is Mary Persons’ second straight semifinal, and the first time the Bulldogs have hosted this round since 1993 when Washington County visited in of the still-remembered meetings between the two, won that time 14-13 by Mary Persons.

The Bulldogs then lost a heartbreaking 24-21 championship game at Greene County.

So to say Forsyth was buzzing a bit Friday is pretty accurate.

“The whole place is excited,” Nelson said. “We’re just trying to keep the kids down to earth, not make it any bigger than what it already is.”

Blessed Trinity (11-2) lost in the 2015 Class AAA final to Westminster, which lost last week in a Class AAA quarterfinal to Peach County, which handed Mary Persons one of its two losses. The Titans have gotten past the first round in their last seven playoff trips. The program’s first year was 2001.

Neither Nelson nor Blessed Trinity head coach Tim McFarlin and their staffs had to worry about a lack of familiarity heading into Friday night. They played last year in the quarterfinal, a 28-27 Mary Persons win.

Few on hand will forget that one, either.

Brooks Hosea had made four field goals to keep the Titans alive against a stout Mary Persons defense, which lost most of the key players this year. And the West Point-bound kicker lined up for 28-yarder to win the game with single digits showing on the clock.

He missed by about a foot.

Ethan Chauvin is Blessed Trinity’s kicker this year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise for the game – termed in some parts around Blessed Trinity as “the redemption tour” - to come down to his foot – which is 8 of 11 on field goals with a long of 48 – or that of Mary Persons’ Alex Rivera, who is 9 of 11 with an astounding four field goals of 50 yards or better, including of 54 yards against Baldwin two weeks ago.

“They’re not much different, just a year older, a year more mature, probably a year better,” Nelson said of the Titans. “All those kids were sophomores last year.”

Junior quarterback Jake Smith is 114 for 185 (61.6 percent) for 1,887 yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Steele Chambers leads the ground game with 1,162 yards and 20 touchdowns while Elijah Green isn’t far behind with 1,077 yards and nine touchdowns.

“The Chambers kid, he’s more of a pounder,” Nelson said. “The Greene kid is more of a (scatback) dude. Last year, they just had the Chambers kid. This year, the other kid creates a whole ‘nother mess.”

Ryan Davis has caught 58 passes, nearly half of the Titans’ attempts, for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns.

But the Titans are more power oriented, using a fullback and often two tight ends.

“We were probably a little more stout on defense (for) what they wanted to do: power football, run right at you,” Nelson said. “That was the strength of our team last year. The strength of our team this year has probably flipped to the offensive side.”

And that includes another common denominator on Mary Persons’ side with running back Quen Wilson, who ran for 155 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries in last year’s meeting. Injured much of this season, Wilson appears close to last year’s form, and is 72 yards from 1,000 despite a shortened season.

Quarterback J.T. Hartage leads the Bulldogs’ offense with 1,771 yards, 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions on 136-of-198 passing. His feet have been valuable, too, and he is third on the team with 344 yards and seven touchdowns on 86 carries.

Mary Persons is off maybe its most complete game, last week’s 51-32 win over Jefferson.

“We put it together, for whatever reason, Friday night. We played well offensively, and as good as we played offensively, we were able to play good enough defensively when we needed to.”

Two interceptions by Bralen Harvey and one by Antoine Davis plus a fourth-down stop helped slow down a solid Jefferson offense while the Bulldogs were sharp with the ball.

“We played as good as we’ve played all year on offense,” said Nelson, who got an 11-for-14 night for 169 yards from Hartage and 213 yards from Wilson. “Defensively, it’s about what it has been, just kinda holding our ground and fighting and clawing and trying to limit it as much as possible.”

The Titans aren’t too different than Jefferson in many ways, but have a few more weapons.

“Same type of schemes, same types of folks,” Nelson said. “They’re just a little bit better at a couple different spots.

“This is what they do. It doesn’t matter what you do, they’re just gonna keep grinding it out.”