SCOUTING REPORT : by William Huff | photos : file
Rogers looks for repeat from 2022
THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL
YELLOW JACKETS
Region 1-6A
SCOUTING REPORT : by William Huff | photos : file
Rogers looks for repeat from 2022
running back Trey Brenton takes the handoff from quarterback Kris Wilhelm during the spring scrimmage over Perry .
THOMASVILLE — As coach Justin Rogers enters into his second year as head coach of the Yellow Jackets , he is contending with new problems to solve . While last year Rogers was dealing with the typical first-year coaching struggles , the team did have consistency with Sam Brown at quarterback and the now-Colorado Buffalo Ricky Fulton in the back field . Now , in year two , Rogers and his staff may be more comfortable going into the season , but they have a lot of production to replace .
“ Going into year two you have a lot more familiarity with things with day in day out operations here . I think our players here understand how we want to go about doing things ,” said Rogers . “ On the flip side we graduated some really good players and so , we are having to replace quite a bit of production on offense . I mean you ’ ve got the single
season passing record in school history that we have to replace . You ’ ve got the season record holder for most yards in a season that we have to replace . You ’ re talking about the history of a school that ’ s been obviously successful with two record holders . So , there is a lot of production on offense that we ’ ve got to replace there and you ’ ve got the region player of the year on defense in a region that was really good that we ’ ve got to replace . So , going into year two from that stand point is not as good .”
On the offensive side , TCC will slot in sophomore Jaylen Johnson at the quarterback position in place of graduate Sam Brown . Brown left some big shoes to fill , but Rogers and his staff are committed to making it an easy transition for Johnson .
“ He ’ s a young quarterback and we ’ ll grow up with him ,” Rogers said .
“ You know , he ’ ll play totally different by the mid point of the season , game five and six , than he will early on and so , we ’ ll have to build the offense around him and grow around his comfort level as he goes . But he ’ s got the tools , he ’ s got the skills to get it done . I think he ’ s going to be a really good quarterback . It ’ s going to take some time and some reps .”
In order to help their young quarterback , who has had a fantastic summer of 7-on-7 work , the Yellow Jackets will have to rely on the run game early . This may sound odd as Ricky Fulton , one of the top running backs in the state , is now gone . However , Trey Brenton and AJ Clark are ready to take Fulton ’ s place . The Yellow Jackets prefer to run a two-back system . This will allow the Yellow Jackets to ease the pressure on Johnson while also not putting too much on a single running back .
“ I think we ’ re really good at the running back position ,” said Rogers . “ I think we are deep there . I think we ’ re going to have to lean on that run game and both of those backs early on to take some pressure off of Jaylen .”
However , the passing game is important and no receiver will be more important this year than tight end Malachi Thomas . Though Thomas was used more as a protector last season , he will have a new role to step into . Thomas has had a magnificent summer and is arguably TCC ’ s biggest threat in the passing game .
“ He ’ s going to have to take on a bigger role in pass catching this year ,” Rogers said . “ So , we ’ ll have to find ways to get him the ball in space and throw him the ball because Malachi is
18 2023 SOUTH GEORGIA FOOTBALL