Challengers abound as Ridgeland looks to defend 6-AAAA title
The Ridgeland Panthers didn’t win all their Region 6-AAAA contests last fall, but they won the games when they had to.
A thrilling 48-42 shootout victory over Northwest Whitfield in the first region contest of the season would turn out to be the tipping point that utlimately gave the Panthers the title. Both teams finished with 5-1 region marks, but Ridgeland would use the headto-head tiebreaker to claim the crown.
Ridgeland, Northwest and Pickens were all tied in the standings late in the season, following the Dragons’ 35-34 upset of the Panthers in Jasper. That lead to some controversy about just what the region’s tiebreakers were. However, the controversy was rendered null and void when Heritage took down Pickens on the final night of the regular season. The Generals would go on to earn the No. 3 seed in the state playoffs, while Pickens was relegated to fourth.
Now a new season has dawned and all eyes will be on the Panthers, who will wear the bull’seye as defending region champions.
Northwest lost almost its entire receiving corps, but still has MTSU-committment Luke Shiflett at the controls. Heritage has plenty of skill players, but will have to break in a new quarterback with the graduation of record-setting trigger man Corbee Wilson, and Pickens brings back a wealth of talent behind quarterback Jacob Brumby.
But the region race may include more than just four teams. While Gilmer doesn’t quite appear to be up to par with the rest of the region, LaFayette and Southeast both return plenty of experience and both teams are hoping to take that next step and get into the postseason hunt.
Here’s a look at the rest of the teams in Region 6-AAAA. More detailed previews of Ridgeland, Heritage and LaFayette can be found throughout this year’s Pigskin Preview.
Northwest Bruins Head Coach: Josh Robinson (7th season, 41-23) Last Year: 8-4 overall, 5-1 region Last Five Years: 35-19 (1-3 in state playoffs) Last State Playoff Appearance: 2016
The Bruins advanced to the second round of the state playoffs last season and will bring back arguably the region’s top quarterback in senior Luke Shiflett. Shiflett was named the Region’s Athlete of the Year last season after throwing for 2,330 yards and 24 touchdowns against just eight interceptions. He also ran 142 times for 741 yards and nine more scores.
But Shiflett will have to break in a whole new corps of receivers as his top four targets from a year ago graduated, including All-Region first teamers Jay Jones and Will Blanchard, who combined for 23 of Shiflett’s TD passes and nearly 1,900 of his passing yards.
However, the running game appears to be in good hands as bruising junior Dominique Sistrunk (1,073 yards, 15 TD’s) returns, along with senior Sebastian Orozco, who missed the last half of 2016 with an injury. Seniors Tanner Floyd, Hunter Reece and Ryan Weeks will help anchor the offensive line.
Senior Jon Tant, a first team All-Region defensive end, and Seth Godfrey, a first team AllRegion defensive back will lead the defense, but the Bruins will miss graduated middle linebacker Jon Conner. Senior Chase Burton will bookend the front four, while senior Trey Ramsey will be counted on for leadership in the secondary as Northwest looks to extend their current streak of 13 consecutive non-losing seasons.
Pickens Dragons Head Coach: Chris Parker (6th season, 32-21) Last Year: 5-6 overall, 4-2 region Last Five Years: 32-21 (0-3 in state playoffs) Last State Playoff Appearance: 2016
The Dragons are shooting for a fourth straight trip to the state playoffs, although they are still in search of the program’s first-ever state playoff victory, a drought that dates back to the beginning of the program in 1957.
Offensively, the pieces are in place to make a run at a region title, a feat they came close to achieving last year. Returning senior quarterback Jacob Brumby (1,708 yards, 11 TD’s) was a first team All-Region pick last year and he has found himself firmly on the college recruiting radar.
Brumby will have plenty of weapons at his disposal, including junior receivers Zach Goss and Trevon Hawkins, who both earned 6-AAAA second team honors last fall. Senior running back Dylan Huffman was an honorable mention pick in 2016 and look for sophomore athlete C.J. Streicher to be an even bigger factor in the offense as he is capable of playing multiple positions.
However, the defense will have to deal with the loss of several significant names, including defensive linemen Alex Pittman and Nick Southern and linebackers Michael Cain and Will Wotring, who all picked up All-Region honors a year ago. That defense allowed just 16 points a game in the Dragons’ five wins last year, but gave up just shy of 38 a game in their six losses, including 59 to Jefferson in the first round of the playoffs.
Gilmer Bobcats Head Coach: Casey Wingard (2nd season, 0-7) Last Year: 0-10 overall, 0-6 region Last Five Years: 29-25 (1-3 in state playoffs) Last State Playoff Appearance: 2014
After the best three-year stretch in the program’s history (2012-2014), which saw them win 25 games and make the playoffs three straight seasons, the Bobcats have hit some hard times, going 4-16