RINGGOLD, Ga. - Zaine Burton knows there are still those who doubt the legitimacy of the Heritage High School football defense.
After all, just a year ago the unit allowed 30 or more points in five of its last six games. That the Generals won eight games, including a first-round playoff upset at Stephens County, was a testament to a high-scoring offense.
Heritage (9-1) will host a Class AAAA first-round game tonight against high-scoring Troup County (8-2). It's another chance for Burton and his teammates to prove the 2017 defensive numbers don't lie. The Generals' first-team defense has allowed just more than 10 points per game, an improvement its leader says was born out of hard work and a little anger.
"We got tired of being that kind of team that just scored a lot of points and couldn't stop people," the 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker said. "Our defense the last few years was OK with just trying to slow teams down.
Heritage linebacker Zaine Burton's 89 tackles this season include 11 sacks, and he's eager to add to that total tonight as the GHSA playoffs begin."This year we decided to just hit teams in the mouth and score some points ourselves."
The starting defense has, in fact, scored seven touchdowns, nearly as many as it has given up, and has forced 21 turnovers.
The defensive makeover began with a vigorous offseason in the weight room and some tweaking of the unit by coordinator Jeremy New and his staff. That included moving Burton from boundary outside linebacker to the field side, where he would be free to make more plays.
It has resulted in a breakout season in which he has recorded 89 tackles, 30 tackles for loss and 11 sacks to go with three forced fumbles. Even in the Generals' lone defeat, 35-14 to undefeated Ridgeland, Burton had 17 tackles.
Zaine Burton (7) plays defense for Heritage. The Heritage Generals visited the Northwest Whitfield Bruins in GHSA football action on October 6, 2017."Coach New and Coach (Chris) Hight did a great job with moving Zaine," Heritage coach E.K. Slaughter said. "They recognized he could be more valuable chasing down plays and getting after the quarterback. The position move required that he be more football intelligent to recognize guard pulls and everything else, and they worked hard with him on that."
Burton admits the mental part has made the biggest difference for him. Instead of reacting to a play that's already developing, this year he's already on the move in anticipation of where it's going.
"The key for me this year is just putting in the hard work and having great coaches like Coach Hight and Coach New and for them staying on me all the time to keep improving," Burton said. "Reading (offensive) guards has been the biggest difference for me. If you read the keys right, they will lead you straight to the ball."
Tonight against a pass-first Troup team, the reads may not be as important as just getting after quarterback Montez Crowe, who has thrown for 3,200 yards and 35 touchdowns. It's a challenge Burton said he's excited to tackle.
"They throw it all the time, which just means more opportunities for sacks," he said. "I will be cut loose Friday. If we stop their basic stuff and keep hitting them, we can win."
Slaughter agreed, saying the pressure, or lack thereof, likely will determine the game's outcome.
"I think we can do some things to make things difficult on them," he said. "If we don't get pressure it's over, but if we do, we can win the game. The balance between getting pressure and getting burned in the screen game is the key."
A strong game individually could help Burton's goal of playing collegiately after his recruitment process has been slow to develop.
"I am surprised he doesn't have bigger offers," Slaughter said. "He's got one official offer from a school in Florida, and I'm hoping his recruiting pops after the early signing period. People just wanted to see how he reacted to the new position, which allows him to be more marketable.
"I would say he's done well."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.