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Published Tuesday, November 18, 2008 in Sports

The 'D' stands for dominating in Newnan defense

By Tommy Camp

The Times-Herald

Just how good is the Newnan Cougars defense?

Cougar fans will most likely find out Friday when Tift County comes to town for the second round of the state playoffs.

The Blue Devils will challenge the Cougars physically perhaps like Newnan has not been tested this year.

But regardless of what happens Friday, this year's Newnan defense has been the stingiest in NHS history.

They are, in fact, the stingiest in the state of Georgia having allowed just 28 points all year.

Outside of LaGrange and Riverdale, in the first six minutes of the Cougar-Raider game on Oct. 10, no one has challenged the Cougars offensively all year.

LaGrange scored the most points on the Cougars, 10, in the first game of the season while Riverdale put nine on the board, all of them on its first two possessions.

Chapel Hill managed a second quarter field goal and Lovejoy scored a meaningless touchdown after the game had long been decided.

But no other opponent has managed to cross the Cougar goal line.

Newnan has registered seven shutouts including the last five games in a row.

Both are NHS records.

But how was it accomplished?

"I think our defensive coaches have done a great job," said head coach Robert Herring.

"Coach (Mike) McDonald and his staff have put our players in positions where they can be successful."

McDonald handles the inside linebackers as well as his co-ordinating duties. LaVarrett Pearson coaches the secondary, Ken Kesselring the defensive line and Jeff Bryant the outside linebackers.

"They're a close knit group," Herring continued. "They work together extremely well.

"And coach McDonald has turned his players loose. They play aggressively and they run to the ball exceptionally well."

The list of heroes this year is long.

Dustin Russell, Leland Russell, Jamal Ransby, Alex and Alec Ogletree, Adam Strakose, Will Koran, Braland Geter, Durlandis Hill and a host of others have risen to the occasion on numerous occasions.

Part of their success also lies in the fact that most of them played on the unit last year that limited opponents to 96 points during the regular season, the first since the 1992 team to hold their opposition under 100 points.

Cougar fans got an early glimpse of what the year would hold on opening night against LaGrange.

The Grangers took the opening kickoff and drove from their 22 to the Newnan 31, but missed a long field goal after the Cougars stiffened in a scenario that future opponents would experience a number of times.

LaGrange's second quarter 80-yard touchdown drive in 10 plays was the longest sustained scoring drive of the year against Newnan.

But that was it.

The Cougars forced three punts in the third quarter and gave up a field goal in the closing minutes when the game was safely in the win column.

Chapel Hill was stymied after recovering a Newnan fumble at the Cougar 26 in the first quarter, but Jamal Ransby intercepted a pass in the end zone, the first of five for him this year, to thwart the threat.

The Panthers put together an impressive drive late in the first quarter and early in the second to get to the Newnan six for their field goal, but the Cougars shut them down after that.

Chapel Hill never crossed the 50 in the second half.

Lovejoy was swamped completely.

Alec Ogletree blocked a punt that Christopher Robinson recovered for a touchdown in its 41-point first quarter and the Wildcats never got closer to the Cougar goal than their own 42 in the first half.

Lovejoy's lone touchdown came in the third quarter against the Cougar reserves after recovering a fumble at the Newnan 26 and with the help of two long penalties.

Morrow and Creekside never got into Newnan territory until late in those games.

Riverdale had the most sustained success against Newnan, but it all came early.

The Raiders scored on a 67-yard run on the sixth play of the game and then, after Newnan had forged ahead, came back with a lead-taking field goal after a 75-yard run put them at the Cougar five where Newnan held, forcing the three-pointer.

But Newnan blanked them the rest of the way. In fact, those nine first quarter points were the last scored against the Cougars, 23 quarters ago.

Riverdale had 156 yards on the ground in the first quarter, but only 63 the rest of the night.

The Riverdale win demonstrated another quality of the Newnan defense.

"Our coaches and our players adjusted to what they were doing and played great after those first two possessions," Herring said.

Newnan had two exceptional stands against Westlake, stopping the Lions on downs at the Cougar 12 in the first quarter and on downs again at the 35 in the second period.

Pebblebrook and Mundy's Mill were dominated and the Cougars turned in their most dramatic moment against East Coweta.

In the second quarter of what was a 0-0 game, EC got the ball at the Newnan 23 following a bad snap on a punt attempt.

The Indians drove to what came down to a fourth and inches at the Newnan goal line, but moved before the snap on the crucial fourth down play and were penalized out to the five.

Newnan partially blocked the field goal attempt to maintain the shutout.

Against Johnson in last week's playoff opener, Alex and Alec Ogletree each returned interceptions for touchdowns and Alec blocked a punt and scooped up the loose ball and ran 23 yards for another TD.

For the year, Newnan has allowed three touchdowns, two running and one passing and three field goals.

In fact, the Newnan defense has scored more touchdowns than it has given up, two on interceptions and two on blocked punts.

The Cougars have given up just nine points in the first quarter, all by Riverdale, 10 in the second on LaGrange's touchdown and Chapel Hill's field goal, six in the third quarter on Lovejoy's TD and three in the fourth on LaGrange's field goal.

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