Armuchee’s Trey Pledger works past Coosa’s Giorgio Fleetwood for a 68 yard touchdown during their game on Friday. (Ryan Smith / RN-T.com)
Only one, however, will leave them feeling satisfied.
Rather than gaining the 7-AA South crown by virtue of a tie-breaking system, the Indians want to win it outright — a goal they can obtain by beating Rockmart tonight.
“We don’t want to back in there,” said Armuchee coach John Mullinax. “Yes, we’ve put ourselves into a good scenario as far as the tie-breaker goes, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to win it on the field.”
With a victory tonight, Armuchee (7-1, 4-0) would complete an undefeated run through the subregion and clinch a berth in next week’s region championship game.
Should the Indians lose, they would still win the title if Pepperell defeats Model. (In that scenario, there would be a three-way tie for the top spot — and Armuchee owns the tie-breaker over the other two teams).
“Obviously, we’ll take the subregion championship any way we can get, and we’ll be happy with it,” said Mullinax. “But we’ve worked hard to get in this position, and we want to finish it by winning on the field — not by having somebody else lose.”
Armuchee’s journey to this point has included numerous memorable moments, including a stunning victory at Pepperell and a last-second win over Coosa.
“We’ve answered pretty much every challenge that’s come our way,” said Mullinax. “But we’ve still got one more big one to answer (tonight).”
The Indians are facing a Rockmart team that has experienced a hot-and-cold season. It has featured a long-awaited win over Cartersville and a disappointing loss to Dade County.
Still, Mullinax says that some of Rockmart’s results are deceiving.
“I honestly believe they have the best defense of any team we’ve played all season,” Mullinax said of the Jackets, who shut out Model last week. “And you better believe this will be a tremendous challenge for our football team.
“Defensively, we’ll have to play assignment football,” he added. “And I can tell you right now, we’re going to have to play the type of defense we played in the second half against Pepperell to have a chance to win.”
Mullinax said his team, and the entire Armuchee community, is amped up for tonight’s contest.
“As a player, if you can’t be ready for this game, you ought not to even be playing football,” he said. “I believe there will be a great atmosphere. The school and the community are very excited about the possibility of winning a subregion title.”
Such excitement has been a long time coming for the Indians, who had been the perennial cellar-dwellars in the region prior to last year’s 6-4 turnaround season.
This year, they’ve taken it a step further. They’ve surpassed all expectations, maybe even their own.
“For us to have a chance to be 8-1 heading into (the region championship game) is unbelievable,” said Mullinax. “Our goal all season was to make the playoffs, no matter what seed we got. Now, we’re hoping to be playing for a region title.”
NOTES: Armuchee owns the tie-breaker over Pepperell and Rockmart based on “the combined records of defeated opponents.” In other words, the teams that Armuchee have beaten have a better combined records than the teams that Pepperell and Rockmart have defeated.
Our jackets are in the top of the game in defense and getting there in offense. They make lots of errors. We always have to play the officials in our away games too. We beat the officials and armuchee tonight. I seen lots of penalties that needed to be called and we got plenty called on us. Rockmart may be the 3rd seed but they're clearly the team to watch. These kids have lots and lots of pure talent for the game of football. We they come together and play as a team it is like no other team i have ever seen.
if we renovate barron stadium this town will make millions by hosting band competitions, championship football, soccer lacross, and track and field events. sure youll spend a ffew extra bucks but it will help the community in the long run.