Peachtree Ridge's front line disturbing offenses
09/28/2006
By Brandon Brigman
Staff Writer
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Cameron Heyward draws the most attention on the Peachtree Ridge defensive line. Whether it's colleges seeking the 6-foot-6, 285-pound defensive tackle's services or opposing offenses game planning on how to stop him.
"Cameron is a tree trunk in the middle and attracts a lot of attention up front with double teams," Peachtree Ridge head coach Blair Armstrong said.
All the attention geared toward Heyward could be the reason why his three other teammates are having such great seasons on the defensive line, or it could be all four are just that good.
Heyward, Britt Crowell, Trey Tripp and Aaron Blue make up the fearsome foursome of the Peachtree Ridge defensive line.
The front four is a big reason why the Lions are off to a 3-1 start and have shut out opponents in those three wins.
"Our front four is pretty aggressive," Armstrong said.
Heyward leads the way up front with 33 tackles, four sacks and one interception. Blue has 25 stops and four sacks, Tripp has recorded 22 tackles and Crowell has 10 tackles.
"Our defensive line sets the tempo for the game," defensive back Phillip Davis said. "If we stop them with the run, it makes it easier in the passing game."
Peachtree Ridge is playing just its fourth year of football and the defense recorded the first shutout in team history in a season-opening 28-0 win over Shiloh. The Lions followed their first shutout with their first back-to-back shutouts the following week with a 9-0 win over Grayson. Peachtree Ridge added another goose egg last week with a 28-0 victory over South Forsyth.
"Just getting one (shutout) is huge nowadays," said Armstrong, whose team has the No. 1 scoring defense in the county. "There are so many factors that go into a game that we are just fortunate to have three."
While every week's goal is to get a shutout - because after all if a team doesn't score on you it can't beat you - the Lions' defense has extra incentive not to give up points.
"That's definitely our goal," Davis said. "Coach (Carl) Cole our defensive coordinator said before the season that for every point we gave up we would have to run sprints. So every time in a game when a team is driving on us we'll say 'Suck it up, you don't want to run on Monday do you?'"
The only time the Peachtree Ridge defense has had to run this season was after the Collins Hill game. The Eagles managed a field goal and two safeties to give the Lions their only loss of the season in a 7-3 defeat.
Not only was that the only game the Lions have allowed points, it's also the only game Peachtree Ridge has not forced a turnover.
"We pride ourselves on turnovers. We feel like if we force turnovers we'll win," said Davis, whose team has forced 16 turnovers this season, including six against South Forsyth last week.
"Against Collins Hill we had no turnovers and we lost. We try to create turnovers to give our offense a chance to score."
Peachtree Ridge has six starters returning from last year's defense, so it's no surprise that the Lions would be good. With the Lions' front four taking on blocks and creating plays it has created opportunities for other players on the defense.
Linebacker Breland Trahan leads team with 57 tackles (second-best in the county), Michael Davidson has 47 tackles and Dustin Gibbs has 46 stops.
"They really play so well as a unit," Armstrong said. "We've got talent in all three levels."
Defensive back Kavoski Simpson leads the county in interceptions with four to compliment a secondary that has allowed only 137 yards passing this season. Davis, Derrick Bryant and Brandon Sanders have also played strong roles on the Lions' defense.
"We're not the biggest, but we're a scrappy group of kids," Davis said.
