Wake ‘em up: Veterans could make a statement vs Jones County

Veterans (2-0) has made it clear this year is about business. They haven’t done anything extra to make it known either, no talk, just ball. The Veterans Warhawks made easy work out of West Laurens last week in a 35-0 shutout win and look to do something like that again this week against Jones County (0-2).

Led by Head Coach Milan Turner, who has one of the top-five winning percentages amongst active GA head coaches with at least 100 wins, Veterans is looking to put their stamp on the 5A classification; and this game against Jones can begin to wake people up.

Though Jones County is 0-2, those first two losses came against Grayson and North Gwinnett, two of the top tier football teams in the state of Ga. Last season, Jones finished 12-2 and made it to the semi-finals of the 5A state playoffs before losing to Buford. So, this may be a team Veterans could face again in the postseason.

There’s no doubt the matchup between these two on Friday will be an exciting battle.

Veterans comes in as an all-around well-balanced team with truly no weak point in either facet of their game. But their defense, in particularly the secondary, carries the team’s chip on their shoulders and they’ll matchup against Jones County’s offense.

Jones is an air-it-out offense under former Warner Robins head coach, Mike Chastain, but their 3,000-yard passer from last season graduated. They returned a 1,000-yard rusher and a near 1,000-yard receiver, so there are still weapons for Veterans to key on during this game. Veterans’ defense will be tested, and another outstanding performance will build their reputation as one of the top defenses in 5A.

Last week against West Laurens, Veterans didn’t allow more than 100 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers to bring their team total to six turnovers with just seven points allowed against them throughout their first two games. While Jones County tries to find a way through the Warhawks’ defense, they’ll also need to draw up some ways to stop a Veterans’ consistent offense.

The offense’s engine is the senior triple-threat of quarterback, Blake Ethridge, running back, Lebron Fields and receiver, Nate Boehm. They lead the attack, but Veterans is deep with athletes all over the field, so they’re versatile in what they can do.

This is a statement game for the Warhawks. A convincing win can wake up the people who are sleeping on Veterans. This is also a good preparation game for the type of competition they’ll see against the teams in their region like Coffee, Ware and Warner Robins.

The game is Friday, Sep.18 on Freedom Field at 7:30 p.m.

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