Laney's offense decides to 'Wing' it

Most would think Laney and Wing-T offense go together like ketchup and salad.

But the Wildcats have toned down their aerial attack this year to some degree. That was evident in a 43-0 win last Saturday.

"We just felt like this was a personnel deal this year," Laney coach Eric Parker said. "We just have Wing-T running backs on this team. It just fits us,"

Last year's class of five state championships in the Georgia High School Association playoffs featured three teams that ran a lot of Wing-T sets. So it works.

Another thing is Laney's high-flying aerial shows through the air have used Wing-T principles in the primary blocking scheme.

"I'd never ran it anywhere I had been at," Parker said. "(Former Josey coach) John Starr was somebody I talked to about it. Coach (Roger) Holmes at Dublin was somebody I talked to constantly about it. So much I would say our version on the Wing-T offense looks more like his than any other version."

But this team still hasn't forgotten how to put the football in the air.

"We won't ditch our spread and shotgun stuff," Parker said. "We've made a commitment to do a good job in the Wing-T but if we get down fast or have a two-minute situation we can go to it and I think be pretty effective."

Parker noted the play of freshman defensive lineman Eugene Moore as a nice surprise. Laney's linebacker rotation of Maurice Murray, Johnny Overstreet, Sam Roberts, Mike Smith and Seth Williams all looked solid. Overstreet, the leader of the bunch, is the only senior.

SPARTAN EFFORT: Another freshman who delivered for Glenn Hills against Josey was defensive end Jerrico Brown.

"That joker is one aggressive young football player," Glenn Hills coach Felix Curry said.

Brown (5-11, 190) nabbed three sacks and forced two fumbles against the Eagles.

"He plays on a different level than his peers," Glenn Hills co-defensive coordinator Emery Williams said. "That's for sure."

MARSH WATCHING: Josey defensive end Lawrence Marsh didn't disrupt many plays against the Spartans. But he still had an impact.

"He caught one of our kids blocking on offense and caught him and drove him straight to the track." Curry said. "We knew he was in there. He is a presence."

The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Marsh led the area with 15 college scholarship offers going into the year.

MISSING OUT: North Augusta senior Richard Bush is out with an injury and will miss Friday's game against Strom Thurmond.

Bush's insight about missing the game shows how important the game is this year to North Augusta.

"That was the game of the year for me," Bush said. "It was the one I had been waiting for. That game was going to set the tone and the momentum for our whole season. I wanted to be a part of that."

BEARS STILL WORRIED: Burke County coach Steve Summers will hear nothing of Lincoln County being down this year before this week's game.

"Folks have got to remember Lincoln lost to Greene County last year too," Summers said. "Then they bounced back and held us to like 56 total rushing yards the next week. Lincoln County is still a fine team. It's going to take four quarters of good football for us to have a chance to win."

The Red Devils beat Burke 7-6 last year in Waynesboro.

"I see the film and it's a team with good strength and good size going against another team with good strength and size," Summers said. "It will be a tough game."

GOOD FORTUNE: South Aiken didn't see the best of West Florence last week for four quarters. West Florence sat its top tailback, starting receiver and top tight end for the first quarter for violating team rules.

South Aiken led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter in a 17-14 victory.

"I don't know how much that would have mattered," West Florence coach Trey Woodberry said. "South Aiken is a good team. We lost the game more on special teams than anything else."

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.