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Tigers vs. Tigers will decide sub-region title Friday
Those were the words W-W Tiger Head Football Coach Russell Morgan used to describe this Friday's game against Greene County. He's right, of course, and there is more riding on this game than any other the Tigers have played since the state championship last year. The winner of this game will be the 8-AA South sub-region champion and will be guaranteed a homefield advantage going into the state playoffs. The loser will have to win another game to enter the state playoffs and then will have to play on the road. The winner will face the No. 1 team from 8-AA North next week at home for the region championship. The loser will have to beat the No. 3 team from the north in order to finish third in the region. The winner's momentum could propel the team deep into the Class AA state playoffs. The loser could suffer a downward spiral marking the end of what had been a promising season. "There's no doubt it's the biggest game of the year," Morgan reiterated. "I know it's not Lincoln County, but this one is for the potential to win the region championship. The opponent for this all-important game is perennial rival Greene County whose season strikingly mirrors that of Washington-Wilkes. Both teams are 7-1 entering this contest and both have beaten other teams by similar scores. However, the similarity ends there. The two teams' styles of football are hugely different. Greene's whole offense centers around its quarterback. He is Josh Nesbitt and he is one of the top five or six college prospects in the country. He is a threat whether he's running the ball or passing but his preferred choice of attack is in the air. The other Tigers have been beaten by only Greater Atlanta Christian, who has been a top ten team all year. The score was 8-31. No other game for them has been even close. Greene's scores compared with those of W-W against common opponents are quite similar (See Region Scored & Schedules graphic on this page) but, as Morgan points out, "theirs are a little bit worse." But he thinks he knows the reason. "A lot of that is just the style of play," he said. "When you're lining up and throwing it every other play, it doesn't usually take quite as long to score. We are more of an 'eat-theclock, grind-it-out' team and it just takes a little longer. We are both good at what we do," he added. So just what does Greene County do? "They throw that football," Morgan said. "They will run it some but they will be in the shotgun formation the whole game." He indicated that Greene may line up "from time to time and run the ball at you but not very often." Nesbitt is the reason. He is No. 9 and he is the big show. "He can sling it," Morgan reported, "and if you give him a crack he'll take off running and you can't hardly catch him." Nesbitt is about 6-foot-2 and about 215 or 220, according to Morgan. "He is definitely the key to their offense," he said. He has verbally committed to Georgia Tech. But Morgan also reported that Greene has other players that also do a good job even though some may be overlooked for being in Nesbitt's shadow. Among them are: No. 11, Christian Harrison, and No. 1, Latavious Benford, who are the two main receivers. However, most of the night there will be four or five wide "so they do have other kids they will throw it to." No. 8, Marcus Foster is the main running back. Morgan says Foster "is a lot better running back than people realize because Nesbitt gets so much attention. But Foster is pretty darn good." they have had a week off to prepare and to heal up. The 2006 open date could not have come at a better time. "We spent a large part of last week the concern from the Morgan game turned out to be just some strained neck muscles and "he's been fine from that. That was probably more scary than serious because they took so much precaution and put him on the backboard - but he's fine," Morgan reported. Quarica Smith has had a banged up hand but luckily it's not his snapping hand. "We've been able, for the most part, to heal up," Morgan said. "It's hard to predict how the game will go because we are two such totally different styles of football," Morgan said. "Anything could happen - I could see it being a 7-10 ball game and I could see it being a 42- 35 ball game. We haven't had to play a full ball game since Thomson and Lincolnton, and they have had to since they played GAC." A lot of the game will come down to how well W-W can control Nesbitt. "He's going to hurt you somewhere sooner or later - you just hope its on a 15- or 20-yard run rather than a 60-yard run," Morgan said. Apparently, Tiger coaches have a plan for containing Nesbitt in place. "We just hope we can execute it," Morgan said. "We are pretty well prepared. It's just going to be a matter of getting it done." Reserve seat tickets for the game are on sale in the office at Washington Wilkes Comprehensive High School until 1 p.m. Friday.
For the next game (which will be at home, win or lose), reserve seat ticket holders are reminded to hold on to their tickets. They won't be good for admission but they will hold the reserved seats.
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