Trion High School head coach Justin Brown demonstrates a move as defensive line coach Jason Lanham looks on during practice in Trion, Ga.TRION, Ga. – Justin Brown is a first-year football head coach but admits he’s quite old-school.
Brown’s 8-2 Trion Bulldogs are a reflection of their coach, and though they don’t do anything fancy, a defense-first philosophy gives them a realistic shot at the program’s first state playoff win since 2002.
“My thinking is, if you keep people from scoring, you have a chance,” the former Trion player said. “Our staff this year has done a great job of putting people in the right places and making sure they know their assignments. We’re a little deeper on offense, and that’s allowed us to sub out more with our two-way players on that side. We rarely sub on defense.”
The Bulldogs, who travel to Irwin County (7-3) in the opener of the Class A public school playoffs Friday, have given up just over 100 yards a game rushing and 75 passing and are allowing 10 points per game. They’ve forced an average of two turnovers per game and have allowed very few big plays.
All this without a player with more than 75 tackles and a unit that’s gotten little hype.