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'Emotional' Vikings ready to take the next step

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter
Posted 7:02AM on Wednesday 15th November 2017 ( 7 years ago )

RABBITTOWN — Austin Parker and Tripp Rider have never known anything but black-and-gold.

The East Hall seniors have been in the Vikings football program so long, they remember when the prefered offense was the triple-option.

“The triple-option, man, remember that?” Rider recalled as he chuckled at Parker.

“That’s what we ran like back in elementary school,” Parker said. “It was pretty fun. But I like what we do now.”

What the Vikings do now is score -- usually early and most definitely often in one of the most prolific spread offenses in the state in any classification.

Starting quarterback Parker has become so adept in the offense that he leads all of Georgia in passing yardage after last week’s 50-36 win over Morgan County during which he tossed six touchdown strikes as part of just under 500 yards through the air. Rider caught one of those touchdown passes.

While the numbers Parker and the offense (489 points, 44.4 points per game) maunfacture captures the attention of most of the state -- and Class AAA in particular -- they cared for just one thing: postseason success.

The victory in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs was the first for an East Hall team since a 33-6 win over North Clayton in 1993 and snapped a six-game postseason losing streak.

East Hall principal Jeff Cooper, now in his 11th year, also is a lifelong Viking. Except for his four years as a standout baseball player for the University of Georgia, he has always donned the black-and-gold as a player and later baseball coach at the school.

So last Friday night, as the clock wound down on the Vikings’ upset of the Region 8-AAA champions, Cooper said it was hard not to think about all of the adversity Vikings players and fans had endured over the past 24 seasons.

“There’s no doubt that the program since (1993) has struggled at times, but we’ve also made some progress,” Cooper said. “There were times when I thought we had a chance, but we just never could get that (playoff) win. We’ve had some really good players come through here so I was thinking about some of them as well.

“I think everyone was extremely excited, especially after the way the game started. They really played well after that first quarter.”

East Hall trailed 20-7 early but then scored 24 unanswered points to claim a lead it never relinquished.

Vikings coach Bryan Gray, now in his 11th season, took over the program the same year Cooper became the top administrator. Amd the significance of the win wasn’t lost on the coach either.

“There was just pure joy because of what we had accomplished,” Gray said. “These kids are all so close. They play other sports together so to see them be able to achieve this as a unit made it a little more special for me.”

Parker said Monday and Tuesday around the halls brought with it a different atmosphere.

“There were a lot of people, students and faculty, coming up to us and congratulating us a lot,” Parker said. “We’re used to that but it felt different since it was a playoff game. That’s been cool.”

The Vikings came into the 2017 playoffs as the No. 4 seed out of Region 7-AAA. Rider said despite the low seeding it was a much different attitude than when they hosted a first round game in 2015 as sophomores. The Vikings dropped that game 49-28 to Sonoraville as a No. 2 seed.

“I think we were a little more nervous then (in 2015) because for a lot of us it was the first time,” Rider said. “This time I think we were much better prepared because we had been there before.”

A 59-0 loss to No. 2-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian earlier this season -- just one of two contests in which the Vikings were held to fewer than 42 points in 2017 -- also yielded some valuable lessons.

“GAC controlled us from the beginning because we didn’t come out and do the things we do,” Parker said. “We definitely learned a lesson in that game. We have to come out and take control. We know it’s going to be a tough game, but we definitely feel we can win this one if we just focus on playing our game.”

Nerves may also be to blame for last week's slow start -- though they were banished fairly quickly and impressively.

“I think we were confident from the beginning, not like when we were sophomores,” Parker said. “They jumped on us quick but once we started to play and just trusted each other to do the things we do, we got going. We were excited afterwards but there was also a feeling of relief that we had gotten past (not winning a playoff game)."

"There was so much emotion on the field after the game," Rider said. "We took 24 hours to enjoy it and what we accomplished. But we also knew it was time to put that behind us and get ready for the next one."

The Vikings (7-4) face a much different opponent on Friday in the second round in Westminster (6-5). The Wildcats like to pound out time-consuming drives on the ground in a more pro-set style offense. Morgan County employed a spread attack similar to East Hall, which played into the hands of the Vikings, who like a high volume of possessions.

“This a much different matchup for us,” Gray said. “They will try and slow the game down on us and keep the possessions to a minimum. It will be strength on weakness for both teams really.

“They have the size up front against our defense, but we’re a lot quicker in our skilled positions in our offense, which should play to our advantage. It will come down to whoever executes the best.”

Rider felt that plays right into their hands.

“We’re executing real well on offense right now. When we do that no one can stop us,” he said. “Our offense is going to have to click again and our defense will need to be opportunistic like last week.”

With one playoff win now under their belts, Rider and Parker are both hoping that a continued run will help bring the program out from under the large shadow of the basketball program. Cooper thinks they may already have done that.

“I can see where the outsiders would think this is a basketball (school) when you see all the success the basketball team has had in our history,” Cooper said. “But I don’t think the kids or coaches now think that way.”

“Our goal even as far back as sophomores was to put the program on the map,” Parker said. “This is our chance to start the next chapter for East Hall football.”

“If we can keep winning it will leave a building block for coach Gray and the rest of the staff to use,” Rider said. “Our goal was to get back in (the playoffs) this year and go far. But that was just one game.

“We can’t stop now. As a team we’re glad to help the program take that next step. But I don’t think we’re done just yet.”

EAST HALL at WESTMINSTER
-- WHAT: Second round Class AAA state playoff football game
-- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
-- WHERE: Alfred E. Thompson Stadium, Atlanta
-- RADIO: 102.9 FM
-- EAST HALL (7-4, 4th seed Region 7-AAA): Defeated Region 8-AAA champion Morgan County 50-36 last week
-- WESTMINSTER (6-5, 3rd seed Region 5-AAA): Defeated North Murray 37-7 last week
-- NOTABLE: First-ever meeting between the two teams.

East Hall's Austin Parker (3) hands off to Cambren Harrison during a game earlier this season.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/11/605834/emotional-vikings-ready-to-take-the-next-step

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