Class 5A semifinal, Jones County vs. Warner Robins: Breaking down the O and D

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Jones County offense vs. Warner Robins defense

          The reputation still attached to Jones County as wide open is a bit off. Mike Chastain, at both Warner Robins and Jones County, oversees quality balance by offensive coordinator Josh Herring in Gray, and is not deserve the label of pass-happy.

          The Greyhounds don’t have as many weapons outside as they’ve had the past few seasons, but Maleek Wooten is a senior who has racked up numbers regardless of the quarterback, currently at 707 yards on 49 catches with nine touchdowns. Freshman speedster Zion Ragins has 38 for 584 and four.

          Andrew Carner is undersized only on paper at 5-8, 175 pounds. He is the primary run threat, with 1,612 yards on 202 carries and a whopping 28 touchdowns.

          But he’ll take a pounding from the Demon defense, likely the best the Greyhounds have faced. Carner has 1,134 more yards and 155 more carries than the Greyhounds No. 2 back, Javious Bond, who may get a few carries to give Carner a break.

          QB John Alan Richter has some size at 6-3, and has gotten on a roll to reach 1,906 yards and 17 touchdowns, with nine interceptions while completing 59 percent of his passes. He’s not a running threat, but he’s no statue, either.

          Jones County’s offensive line has a task against a defense that averages 7.6 tackles for loss a game, led by sophomore Victor Burley with 21.

          The inside linebacking duo of Demarcious Robinson and Ahmad Walker is among the best pair in the state of any class, even without massive tackle numbers. Nobody keeps a stat for disruption.

          Senior Xavier Hill has three of the Demons’ eight interceptions, and Warner Robins isn’t like to bring much of a pass rush with secondary blitzes.

          Warner Robins played two of the top four QBs in 5A as far as passing yards per game – Thomas Castellanos of Ware County and Blake Etheridge of Veterans – and held them to 38.1 percent completions and 178.5 yards average.

          Richter is 14th in average yards. fifth in total yardage. His job, though, will be game management and avoiding no-reason-for-that passes. Jones County will need to make the Demon defense work, because if that unit gets into a rhythm and gets off the field in short order …

Edge: Warner Robins

Warner Robins offense vs. Jones County defense

          Quarterback Jalen Addie has been the focal point for two years now, surrounded by different backs and receivers, and performing consistently.

          Of the Demons’ 673 offensive plays, he’s passed or thrown in 45 percent of them, and he has accounted for 50.9 percent of the yards.

          But running backs Jahlen Rutherford (162-936/7) and Malcom Brown (93-928/9) give the Demons a clear depth advantage on the ground, with ground-and-pound Ahmad Walker moving over from LB for short-yardage and red-zone work.

          He actually leads the Demons with 11 rushing touchdowns, on only 26 carries.

          That puts pressure on the Jones County defense to come up with more three-and-outs than the Demons are used to. Warner Robins has gone through some stretches of offensive sluggishness only to make an adjustment or two and get going.

          The Demons can play around on offense a little bit, backup quarterback Christon Lane having completed 23 of 46 for 340 yards and four touchdowns. Addie has three catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, so, one never knows.

          Jones County’s defense is keyed around a pair of top-flight linebackers, too. Deon Richardson and J Venerable are 1-2 in tackles, Richardson a pain in the offense with 10 tackles a game while Venerable leads the team with 13 tackles for loss.

          Venerable also leads the Greyhounds with four interceptions.

          Addie has three main targets – Daveon Walker, Armon Porter, and Kaleb Howard – who range from 18-41 catches and 249-683 in yards. They’re closer in touchdown catches, six each for Walker and Porter and four for Howard.

          But Addie is the player who just catches your attention. He’s 6-3, and a strong 210 pounds, whose run and pass game is almost effortless. Some of his passing numbers are down a little – losing standout Marcayll Jones to graduation had an impact - and his rushing numbers are up.

          He doesn’t need to throw it around a lot – he’s tried 20 passes or more only twice this year – to be effective, and he can throw on the run, which puts pressure on the Greyhound defense on all three levels. The secondary has stick with coverage longer and linebackers have to do the same while also trying to corral him before he takes off.

          Addie is actually a better and smarter quarterback than his numbers may indicate.

Edge: Warner Robins

Special teams

          Jones County has the kicking edge, but both teams have a good chunk of skill players and speed to make the return game very much something to watch.

Edge: Jones County