Football: Cherokee Bluff vs. Monroe Area, again?

Playing the same team twice in one season isn’t ideal in football. 

Of course, if you make it to the state title game, that could happen in any classification. Well, the Postseason Ranking System in Class 3A has totally blown the old way out of the water. 

Case in point: Region 8-3A. 

Jefferson, Oconee County, Monroe Area and Cherokee Bluff all landed in the same quadrant in the Class 3A bracket, which can be attributed to the Georgia High School Association’s Postseason Rankings System. 

To pile it on even further, Cherokee Bluff’s first-round matchup is against, yep, you guessed it, fellow Region 8-3A brother Monroe Area. You can hear the game live on AM 550 WDUN and stream online at accesswdun.com. 

One more tidbit of information for your coat pocket: If Jefferson and Oconee County win on Friday, they’ll face each other in the second round. 

Regardless of how the first round shakes out, the Bears (9-1, No. 8 seed) have already beaten the Hurricanes (5-4, No. 25 seed) this season — a 52-24 win on October 11 at Yonah Field in Flowery Branch. 

Bluff led 21-17 at the half but exploded for 31 second-half points en route to the win. 

But Bluff head coach Tommy Jones isn’t worried about that game and what the Canes did in October; he’s more worried about what they’ve been doing since October 11. 

“I told our kids on Monday that the margin of difference in games is razor thin,” he said. “Some people tend to look at the overall outcome and see a large victory, and, in reality, it’s the ability to make three or four plays in the course of the game that dictates that victory.”

In the coaching staff’s research over the last couple of weeks, Jones and his staff have identified some differences in Monroe Area since that October win. 

“Monroe Area is super talented,” he said. “They’ve made some significant adjustments since they played us. From a personnel standpoint, they're playing some of their better defensive linemen on offense, and now they're playing both ways. That's giving them a bump offensively. And they're doing some different things defensively and schematically than they did the first time we played them. So, we’re gonna have to execute really well.” 

That also brings up the point or the old saying in sports, “It’s hard to beat a team twice.” With all the personnel and schematic changes, it’ll be even more difficult to predict what the Canes will do on both sides of the ball. 

“There’s a reason why it’s hard to beat the same team twice in the season,” Jones said. “When the rankings came out, it was just go time. I think our kids are super excited about being in the playoffs. We have a very mature group, and I think they understand what’s at state here.” 

Jones hasn’t dwelled on playing the same team twice. He’s made it, as he says, “about us.” 

“I think you have to look at these games and say it’s always about us,” he said. “In our preparation, we obviously have to prepare for an opponent. But you want to make it as much as possible about our execution, approach, and the way we go about our business because those are the things that will carry over into having success on a Friday night.” 

Here are some facts: Monroe Area can score points but not so much on the region’s Big 3. The Canes averaged just 12.6 points per game against Jefferson, Bluff, and Oconee County, and Oconee County shut out the Canes. 

Meanwhile, defensively, against the same three, they gave up almost 37 points per game. 

That still doesn’t erase the fact the Canes have some pretty good athletes on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Frank Ross can get it done with his arms and legs, passing for 1,271 yards and 13 TDs and rushing for another 629 yards and six scores. Running back Jitt Carr is also pretty good, rushing for 1,080 yards and nine touchdowns. 

The Bears have experience on defense and have produced 43.5 tackles for a loss, 25 sacks, and 14 QB hurries. They’ve also forced nine interceptions and four fumbles. They also have four guys on defense that are familiar with the postseason in linebackers Conner Griffin (37 tackles, 11.5 TFLs. 6.5 sacks), Rylan Ackerman (37 tkls), and defensive backs KT Thompson (17 tkls) and Landon Kemp (35 tkls). The quartet of defenders have been key this season as well as defensive backs Colin Muyres (68 tkls), Tyler Underwood (49 tkls) and linebacker Caleb Cooper (47 tkls, 6 TFLs).

Jones feels pretty good about his defense heading into Friday night. 

Those guys played in a playoff game four years ago,” he said. So, your advantage is that you feel like you have a smart group. They’ve been around the block a few times, and so when you have a smart group, they can make adjustments fairly quickly. We know Monroe Area is extremely explosive, so a big key for us is to minimize their potential for making explosive plays.” 

Meanwhile, Cherokee Bluff has been really good this season. They averaged 36 points per game on offense and gave up 17.3. 

The offense, led by quarterback Brooks Brien (119-for-189, 1,999 yards, 21 TDs, 3 INT), two solid RBs in Conner Griffin (84-444 yards rushing, 1 TD) and Jacob Pirkle (122-636 yards, 7 TDs) and wide receivers KT Thompson (44-832 yards, 10 TDs), Malcolm Milsap (21-342 yards, 2 TDs), Dylan Haley (15-302 yards, 2 TDs), and Landon Kemp (20-301 yards, 1 TD) has had two weeks to prep for a playoff game, but only five days, thanks to the Hurricane Helene off week last week, to get ready for Monroe Area’s possible new-look defense. 

“Those guys have been getting a lot of reps over the last couple of weeks,” Jones said. “Because we didn’t know who we would play, we were trying to prep for a multiplicity of potential defenses that you could play, both front and coverage-wise. Right now, we’re trying to ensure we’re locked in and prepared.”

One of the improved areas of Monroe Area is the defensive line. Jones said they have one of the best boxes in the Class 3A. So, that’ll put some strain on his offense line. Jones said to minimize plays for losses against the Canes’ D-Line, his O-Line will need to play fast and physical. 

“When you play fast, you have a chance to minimize negative plays and a chance to create creases,” he said. “We're not the biggest bunch in the state of Georgia, but we got a lot of guys that just play their tails off, and they're going to have to continue to do what they have done up to this point Friday night.” 

Embarking on what is the first of its kind in the modern day of the GHSA football playoffs isn’t exactly history a team wants to be part of unless they win. But it's the hand both Cherokee Bluff and Monroe Area have been dealt. 

Nevertheless, the Bears hope to go 2-0 in one season against Monroe Area.

“We have a ton of respect for Monroe Area, their players, coaching staff, and what they can do,” Jone said. “So, it's just a matter of going out and having to play again. I think it was Dan Quinn that said the only fight that matters is the one you're in right now, this is the one we're in right now. So, 100% of the focus needs to be on the Monroe area.”