Football: Coach anxious about Rabun Co. following Dragons’ huge victory

JEFFERSON coach T. McFerrin didn’t get to revel in his Dragons’ 31-0 drubbing of no. 5 Washington-Wilkes very long.


In fact, this week’s game against Rabun County (4-1, 2-0) had the veteran coach apprehensive rather quickly.

“Here I go again now — I’m just worried sick about them already,” McFerrin said. “I’m losing sleep on them already. They’re so good on offense. They really execute well and they’re scary.”

Jefferson (4-1, 2-0) makes the long road trip to Rabun County this Friday for a battle of teams tied atop the Region 8-AA standings.

Dragon linebacker Kody McDonald said his team will take the same mentality into Friday’s game as it did into this past week’s colossal matchup with Washington-Wilkes.

“We’re going to treat it the same as this week,” McDonald said after the victory. “It’s another region game. Of course it’s going to be hard.”

Jefferson has now won four straight games — including victories over two ranked teams — since a stunning loss to Commerce back on Aug. 31.

Offensive lineman Collin Anthony said he feels the team has “really grown” since the game-one disappointment at Commerce. The team is now coming off its most impressive performance of the year with its 31-point demolition of Washington Wilkes. They key, Anthony said, is to remain humble.

“Just try not to get a big head about you kind of like they did,” Anthony said after Friday’s game, referring to Washington-Wilkes. “They came in riding high. They were 5-0. We’ve just got to keep being the way we are. We’ve just got to keep our cool and just take it one game at a time.”

Jefferson again faces a team putting up a lot of points. Rabun County is averaging 34 points a game, which ranks second in 8-AA.

The Wildcats are coached by Lee Shaw, who built Flowery Branch into a state power during his 10 seasons there. Shaw is the father of University of South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw and Jaybo Shaw, who played quarterback at Georgia Southern and is now an assistant coach at Rabun County.

“They’re really a good offensive team,” McFerrin said. “The quarterback does a really good job of reading the zone read. He’s a good runner and a good passer.”

McFerrin said Rabun County’s offensive front is also good and calls receiver Charlie Woerner “outstanding.” Woerner is the nephew of former UGA football standout Scott Woerner.
Rabun County is also sound defensively, running a 4-3 scheme and giving up only 14 points per game.

“They’re just well coached,” McFerrin said. “They have a sound defense. They’ll mix coverages up.”

Jefferson and Rabun County do have one common opponent — Commerce.

The Tigers beat the Dragons 22-7 and ran for nearly 400 yards in the process. Conversely, Rabun County lost by a point, 18-17. The Wildcats missed a field goal that could have won the game.

“The scary thing is that they played Commerce a whole lot better than we did,” McFerrin said. “That’s what I’m telling our players all week long.”

McFerrin said his players can’t rest on their laurels from last week.

“What we’ve got to convince them of is that was a great win but that’s over with now,” McFerrin said. “Now this is a new week and we’ve got a new challenge. We’ve got to be ready to play this week like we were last week.