Jackets drop to 1-2 with loss to Woodland in OT
Rockmart will have a week off before entering region play against Armuchee on Sept. 15.
Rockmart has this week to regroup and find direction for the team after a heartbreaking loss on the road again in Bartow County.
The Yellow Jackets fell to the Woodland Wildcats in a 31-30 overtime loss on Sept. 1, dropping to 1-2 on the season as they get a break ahead of their first region contest at Armuchee.
Head coach Biff Parson said the team will have the chance to regroup following the loss, where he said mistakes took away from the team’s overall yardage in the form of penalties, which tallied up higher than 200 yards.
“At the end of the day we didn’t do a very good job of block and tackling, and we’ve got a lot of work to do on defense,” Parson said.
The night wasn’t all bad. Parson said Zabrion “Z.J.” Whatley racked up more than 100 yards of offense, but those weren’t official numbers without the film to back it up. Parson said it was still under review by press time.
“Whatley’s been very consistent with us week to week,” Parson said.
He added that quarterback Dylan Bailey’s two touchdown passes to Reed Couch were also bright spots on the night.
What to do now following the loss is another story.
“They (the kids) were disappointed, the coaches were disappointed, and I’m sure the fans and community were disappointed too” Parson said. “The same time, we have seven more games to go, and with this off week we’re going to figure out who we are as a team and get through the region and win a championship. That’s what really matters in the big scheme of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
The good news for Parson is with the off week for the Jackets, they can look at whether the right players are fitting into the right position, and look at what’s working and not on the field via film.
Rockmart first travels to Armuchee for their upcoming Sept. 15 contest, followed by their first home game of the season hosting Dade County on Sept. 22 as the region schedule continues.
The Jackets round out the month of September heading to Chattooga for Week 6 of the season.