Briarcrest validates ranking with easy victory
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Briarcrest football coach Brian Stewart says his team just wants to be mentioned in the same breath with the top programs in town. If the Saints keep playing like they did Friday, they certainly will be.
Jake Powers scored three touchdowns and helped lead a lights-out defensive performance as the 11th-ranked Saints celebrated their first week in The Commercial Appeal’s Dandy Dozen with a 37-14 victory over No. 10 St. George’s.
“They’re a heck of a team,” Stewart said. “They’re the defending state champions (Division 2-A) and they’ve got four D-1 guys. I’m just proud of the way we came out and controlled things up front.
“This was a big game for our kids. It’s a rivalry game and they were excited to play. Our kids have a lot of confidence.”
Powers scored on runs of 1, 5 and 5 yards as the visiting Saints (2-0) controlled the game after Shon Wooten brought the opening kickoff back 95 yards for a score to put St. George’s ahead 7-0. The Gryphons (1-1) didn’t get back in the end zone commercialappeal. com/preps. Associated Press
Southeastern Conference quarterbacks take plenty of heat off the field, and this year will probably take even more on it.
The league is loaded with star pass rushers, some of them highly rated NFL prospects, even if the SEC is short on established passers.
The SEC’s top 10 sack leaders return. Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, Alabama linebacker Tim Williams and defensive end Jonathan Allen, Tennessee end Derek Barnett and Ole Miss end Marquis Haynes all are back after reaching double digits in sacks last season.
That surplus of talented, hard-to-block edge rushers is nothing new considering the SEC has had 36 defensive linemen or linebackers selected in the first round of the NFL draft over the past decade, many of them outside linebackers and ends.
So maybe Williams, Alabama’s quarterback-harassing outside linebacker, can follow Von Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in 2011. Perhaps Texas A&M’s Garrett can come close to Jadeveon Clowney’s status as the top pick two years ago.
“If you can do it in the SEC, you can do it anywhere,” said Charles Harris, Missouri’s latest in a line of stellar pass rushers. “That’s how I feel.”
Of the five sack leaders all but Williams ranked among the nation’s top 20 in sacks per game, and he was a specialist on a deep front seven who played limited snaps.
“Only played on third down,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said. “Never had another role on the team.”
OK, few teams have that luxury. But Williams, whose role is expected to increase