Mill Creek begins region play this Friday against Norcross, the fifth ranked team in AAAAA. Norcross (1-1) finished 2007 with a 10-2 record and a region championship. The Blue Devils hope to win a third consecutive 7-AAAAA title this season.
Mill Creek head coach Shannon Jarvis said his team has work to do to prepare for Norcross.
“Last week at practice, our kids knew we had to fix things that we saw against Dacula,” he said. “I think our kids are ready to go to Norcross and play well Friday night, but we know what we’ve got to fix. I know our kids are going to show up Monday and go to work to get it fixed and get ready.”
Though the Hawks are playing well, the team has yet to reach their full potential, Jarvis said.
“You don’t want to peak too early,” he said. “Our kids know we can play a lot better and that’s the good thing. We’ve got another level we can play at. I think our kids know that and our fans know that.”
If the Hawks beat the Blue Devils, it will be Mill Creek’s first 3-0 start.
“It should be a great game against Norcross,” Jarvis said. “It’s a great way to start the region out. It should be the best game in the region next week.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Norcross.
Not the Knights’ Night
From the opening kickoff, it looked as if it would be a very long night for the Black Knights.
Mill Creek returned Central Gwinnett’s kickoff to midfield. The Hawks made it all the way to Central’s 18-yard-line before the drive stalled. Mill Creek walked away with three after a 37-yard field goal by Brian Heinze.
After a quick three and out by the Black Knights, Mill Creek went to back to work and this time ended the drive with a seven yard touchdown run by Tyler Cierski. After Heinze’s extra point, Mill Creek held a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Unable to move the ball, Central Gwinnett was forced to punt again after three plays. Central’s bad situation took a turn for the worse when Mill Creek’s Ryan Cooke blocked the punt and ran it back for a touchdown giving the Hawks a 17-0 lead with 5:34 left to play in the first.
Still unable to make a first down, Central Gwinnett was forced to punt the ball away on its next possession.
After scoring on the previous three possessions, Mill Creek walked away empty handed for the first time in the ball game after an interception gave Central Gwinnett the ball near midfield.
Despite the excellent field position, the Black Knights were unable to capitalize on the turnover due to several costly penalties and were once again forced to punt.
Before the end of the half, Mill Creek would score again on a 28-yard field goal by Heinze. The Hawks led 20-0 after two quarters.
Looking for redemption, the Black Knights came out fighting in the second half. Central scored on its opening drive to make the score 20-7 less than a minute and a half into the third quarter.
The Hawks responded with a 61-yard drive, but a bad snap on third down at the three-yard line brought up fourth and eight. The Hawks brought in the field goal unit and Heinze delivered another three for Mill Creek.
If there was any thought that the Knights would go down without a fight, that idea was quickly dispelled when Central made a gutsy call on their next possession to attempt a fourth down conversion deep in their own territory. The risk paid off as the Black Knights made first and ten at their own 39-yard line.
Unable to pick up ten in the first three downs, Central attempted to convert on fourth and three. The Black Knights picked up first down yardage and then some running the ball all the way to the Mill Creek 11. Chris Boggs ended up being the only thing standing between Central Gwinnett and a touchdown.
Refusing to quit, Central again attempted to pick up a first down on fourth and 16. The third time was not the charm as the Black Knights turned the ball over on downs just before the end of the third quarter.
Neither team was able to score again until late in the fourth.
With 2:49 left in the game, Mill Creek’s Ramael Wilson ran 38 yards for a touchdown. Heinze finished the night 3-for-3 on PATs to give the Hawks a 30-7 lead.
Not content to let the Hawks have the final word, Central Gwinnett returned Mill Creek’s kickoff to the Hawks' 17. Two plays later, Central Gwinnett was in the end zone.
The final score was Mill Creek 30, Central Gwinnett 14.
End Analysis
Despite outscoring Central 20-0 in the first half and trailing 14-10 in the second half, Jarvis said he did not believe anything went wrong for Mill Creek after halftime.
“The credit goes to Central Gwinnett. They made some adjustments on defense,” he said. “I’m just really proud of our offensive line, they played extremely well.”
Jarvis said he was particularly pleased with quarterback Ed Russ. Russ, injured in the Parkview scrimmage, was able to resume his running game against the Black Knights rushing for 40 yards in eleven carries.
“Tonight you saw a little bit more of what he brings to the option game as far as a running threat quarterback,” Jarvis said.
While pleased overall with his offense, Jarvis said there were still some things that needed to be fixed. Of more concern is the Mill Creek defense, he said.
“Defensively, I thought we played great at times and then sometimes not. We had too many broken tackles and that’s the one thing I am concerned with,” Jarvis said. “Saying that, some of that credit has to go to Central Gwinnett and their backs. They ran extremely hard.”
As for special teams, Jarvis said he is still concerned about kickoff coverage.
“We’ve got to do a better job on kickoff coverage. We’re kicking it to the one, so we’d like to manipulate that a little bit. We’ve got to change our coverage and get things worked out a little bit,” he said.
By the Numbers
Overall, Mill Creek had 279 yards of total offense compared to 273 for Central Gwinnett.
Ramael Wilson led the Hawks in rushing with 124 yards on 14 touches. Tyler Cierski added 38 yards.
Zach Landis was the top receiver pulling in five passes for 65 yards. Wilson had 19 yards receiving.
Quarterback Ed Russ finished the night 11-for-17 for 94 yards with one interception.
Kicker Brian Heinze was 3-for-3 on PATs and 2-for-2 on field goal attempts.
Josh Hafner averaged 31.5 yards per punt in Friday’s game.
Defensively, Ricky Fawbush had six tackles and six assists. Casey Windom had six tackles, two assists and a pass break up. Chris Boggs had six tackles, an assist and an interception. James Powell was responsible for five solo tackles, five assists, two tackles for loss and a pass break up.
Looking Ahead
Jarvis said in order to beat Norcross, his team will have to be more physical on Friday.
“We’ve got to be able to tackle this week with (University of Maryland commitment) D.J. Adams at Norcross,” he said. “I can assure you they are going to give him some carries. We’ve got to make sure we show up and play physical.”
Jarvis said he will also work on keeping his players focused.
“Our goal this year is to win each game one at a time,” he said. “We feel we have a chance to have a pretty good team – not great or anything, just a solid football team and we’re not there yet. Our focus is about Mill Creek right now. We’re not going to do anything different because it’s Norcross. We just have to worry about Mill Creek and keep getting ourselves better.”
