Shannon Jarvis had one clear goal in mind when he decided to come home to Elbert County.
But it hit the former Elbert County grad even harder we he arrived in 2020 after spending 15 seasons building the Mill Creek program into a Class 7A power.
“Getting us back to the level of winning (region) titles and going deep in the playoffs has been our focus. So I was up in our team room with all the recent championships and I was surprised that we hadn’t won anything in almost 10 years,” said Jarvis, who is now in his fourth season with the Blue Devils. “We won three in my final years at Mill Creek. But it took that long. It’s hard to win region titles.
“When we played Rabun last year at home and we got beat, that's when I really started looking into the history of it. It’s taken a few years to get us to that level but I feel like we’re ready.”
Class A D1 third-ranked Elbert County plays host to No. 7 Commerce on Friday with a chance to bring Jarvis’s initial goal to fruition. After a stunning 21-9 win over Rabun County last week -- their first ever over the Wildcats in eight tries -- the Blue Devils (7-1, 1-0 Region 8-A Division 1) can all but seal the Region 8-A Division 1 title with a win over the powerful Tigers (7-1, 1-0 Region 8-A Division 1) at The Granite Bowl.
However, the Rabun County loss -- the Wildcats first in region play since 2013 -- also has opened the door for the Tigers to claim their first region crown since 2020.
For Commerce coach Mark Hollars and the Tigers, Friday’s showdown is in a similar vein as Jarvis.
“You work hard all year long to play meaningful football games. And here we are at the end of the season, and we've got a meaningful football game,” Hollars said. “That's all you can ask for as a competitor.”
Both teams control their own destiny. However, the road is significantly tougher for the Tigers.
To win the title outright, Commerce would have to beat Elbert County, which they were not able to do in 2022, suffering a 41-21 defeat at Tiger Stadium, and then No. 7 Rabun County in the season finale. A win over the Blue Devils followed by a loss to Rabun County next week would set up a three-way tiebreaker for the crown.
It’s one of those matchups that just screams old-time football. Commerce has a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Jaiden Daniels and Tysean Wiggins with quarterback JP Allen running point on their I-formation power option offense. Daniels (1,060 yards) still leads Class A D1 and Wiggins (1,002 yards) is fourth in the classification.
The Blue Devils feature a more balanced attack behind a two-quarterback platoon in senior Braydon Scarborough (1,270 yards, 11 TD, 4 INT) and junior Jayvyn Hickman (484 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT passing; 47 car., 322 yards, 2 TD rushing). They also have junior running back Jacari Barnett (1,009 yards, 12 TD), who is third in Class D1 in rushing, and feature four talented playmakers in the passing game with over 1,700 combined yards in junior tight end Brady Dickerson (36 rec., 464 yards, 5 TD), sophomore Dakhovin Winn (29 rec., 455 yards, 3 TD), junior Ty'Rikis Jones (27 rec., 404 yards, 2 TD), and senior Eli Harris (31 rec., 385 yards, 5 TD).
The last time the Tigers played a balanced offense, they dropped a 31-21 decision to Hebron Christian for their only loss of the season. The Blue Devils only loss came in a 55-35 loss to Madison County and the Red Raiders’ triple-option offense.
Both coaches understand the defensive challenges that await.
“We're playing one of the best offensive teams in the area this week. They got a lot of weapons,” Hollars said. “They've got two quarterbacks that can sling it. One of those two can really run it as well, and they've got excellent speed out on the perimeter.
“They’ve got as good of receivers as anybody I've seen in a long time. They've got three receivers they can get the ball to, and they may have the best tight end around. They’re very explosive. This group is better than the one we saw with Hebron, in my opinion.”
“It’s all about discipline,” Jarvis said of the Commerce rushing attack. “(Against Madison) we did not play well with that. I think we had 12 3rd downs of five or more yards that we gave up first downs on. You’ve got to stay disciplined and do your part.
“(Commerce) has big play capabilities obviously with Daniels and Wiggins, who can break a trap and he can go 80 yards with it in a heartbeat. So they have big play capabilities.
“Allen, the quarterback, as soon as you don't account for him, he ends up getting a huge play 20 or 30 yards downfield, so he's a savvy player as well. We know the challenge that they're gonna bring.”
With the explosive nature of both offenses, the defenses perhaps are being overlooked. The Blue Devils held Rabun County to three touchdowns below its season average. Commerce has held four of eight opponents to their lowest point totals of the season to this point.
“We take a lot of pride in our defense, trying to be a physical football team and fly to the football,” Hollars said. ‘The last few weeks we've been able to shore some things up.”
“Last week was one of the better defensive games that I've been a part of in my coaching career,” Jarvis said. “And really, the credit goes to the kids. We had no no misalignments in the game. But truthfully, we've only done it one game. We’ll need another strong effort like that this week.”
Both coaches made no bones about trying to keep the momentum moving forward as they approach the end of the regular season. Elbert County has won six straight. Commerce is working on a five-game win streak.
“We’ve been playing pretty well and you definitely want to keep that going, especially this late in the season. Big games are won by executing,” Hollars said. “So we need to be physical and block and tackle and take care of the football. Those are things that win football games.”
“We're still working to be the best versions of ourselves,” Jarvis said. “If we don't replicate (last week) on Friday, then what we did last week won’t mean as much.”
