Blessed Trinity To Play Semifinals Despite Players, Coaches Loss

Editor's note: Written by Mike Blum.

ROSWELL, GA — After an exceptional run of eight seasons since taking over as Blessed Trinity’s head football coach in 2011, Tim McFarlin began the 2019 season with serious questions about both his team and his coaching staff.

Coming off back-to-back Class AAAA state championships, the Titans had to replace a senior class led by five players who were largely responsible for the consecutive state titles, while having to replace almost his entire defensive coaching staff.

“I did not know what to expect,” McFarlin said after his team’s third straight dominant performance last Friday night in the quarterfinals of the AAAA playoffs. “We had some heavy losses,” referring to both his players and defensive staff.

McFarlin turned to a familiar figure to take over his defensive unit, as Leo Barker joined the staff as defensive coordinator. Barker served as defensive coordinator at Roswell under McFarlin when the Hornets shared a state title in 2006 and lost to the eventual state champion in the quarterfinals the next year before taking over as Roswell’s head coach when McFarlin took a brief sabbatical from coaching.

The Titans had to replace five players who had all been integral parts of the team since their freshman seasons, with three of them full time two-way starters and the other two among the team’s defensive stalwarts. All five – RB/LB Steele Chambers, WR/CB Ryan Davis, QB/S Jake Smith, LB J.D. Bertrand and DL J.R. Bivens – have all gone on to college at the Division 1 level, and the senior class coming in behind them had enjoyed little success in the 8th, 9th and 10th grades.

The cupboard wasn’t entirely bare for the Titans, who returned a solid nucleus of players on both sides of the ball. The most pressing concern for McFarlin was finding a replacement for Smith at quarterback and an injury to the projected starter did not help matters.

Junior Duncan Reavis, who McFarlin said preferred to play defensive back and wide receiver, assumed the role of starting quarterback, and according to his coach “took control” of the situation.

“The guys in the locker room believe in him,” McFarlin offered. Reavis hasn’t put up particularly impressive stats, passing for just 885 yards and five touchdowns and rarely keeping the ball on running plays. But given the talent of the two main players he hands the ball to, Reavis hasn’t had to be the focal point of the offense.

Elijah Green, who backed up Chambers at tailback last season, moved into the starting role and has rushed for 1228 yards and 16 touchdowns despite missing four games, averaging 8 yards per carry and almost 140 yards per game.

During Green’s absence, freshman Justice Haynes took over at tailback, and in those four games, amassed 800 yards rushing with eight touchdowns. The two now share the tailback position, with Haynes rushing for 1554 yards, a 9-yard average and 17 TDs.

As a team, the Titans average 290 yards rushing per game, and have two more capable ball carriers behind Green and Haynes if needed.

Although they don’t throw much, the Titans have been able to pass effectively when they’ve had to, most notably in a 20-19 win over region foe Denmark when Reavis was 10 of 15 for 200 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Reavis, aided by an experienced group of receivers, also passed for touchdowns in BT’s overtime wins over region opponents Flowery Branch and Marist.

Carson Harof is the leading receiver with modest 24 catches and tight end James Bryant has made the most of his 13 receptions, averaging 18.5 yards per catch with four touchdowns, including a 58-yarder in last week’s 31-0 win over West Laurens. Harof, Bryant and Quinton Reese, the team’s third-leading receiver, all start in the defensive secondary on a team where many of the key players go both ways.

The Titans also have some experience in the offensive line, led by senior center Jackson Filipowicz. Austin Burns is the only other senior up front, joined by juniors Ty Furnish, Landon Byars and Johnny Ryan.

The Blessed Trinity defense has been outstanding in the playoffs, allowing a total of 17 points in three games, two of which came against outstanding offenses.

Replacing the five key senior starters from last season was no easy feat, but the Titans returned more front line players on defense than they lost, and like the offense, has gotten a boost from a precocious freshman.

The secondary of Harof, Reese, Bryant and junior David Coltrane has survived some big time passing attacks, and junior linebacker Jackson Hamilton, who has started since his freshman season, is essentially a fifth defensive back against pass-oriented opponents.

Linebacker Ryan Dupont, a major contributor last season as a sophomore, leads the team in tackles and has gotten some recent help from freshman Mavrick Torrico, who has taken over for injured starter Ryan Attaway.

Returning starter Grayson Gilder is the Titans’ main man up front, with fellow senior Regan Smith starting inside and senior Nick Pereboom and junior Michael Mitchler on the outside. None of the Titans’ playoff opponents have mounted a semblance of a running game, and BT will be playing in the semifinals against another team with a dangerous passing game.

The Titans play Friday night at unbeaten Woodward Academy, which knocked off No. 1-ranked Cartersville 31-28 last week in Cartersville. Prior to that game, the War Eagles had been tested only once all year, a 13-10 win over Blessed Trinity the third week of the season. Woodward won that game with a field goal in the closing seconds and rallied from a 28-14 deficit against Cartersville, scoring the winning touchdown with a minute to play.

Since the early loss, the Titans (12-1) won one region game by one point and two in overtime, displaying an ability to thrive under pressure.

“This has been one of my most enjoyable years coaching,” McFarlin said. “Watching the guys do something they were not expected to.”

McFarlin pointed to a late drive that produced the winning touchdown in the final minute against Denmark, followed by the overtime wins against Flowery Branch and Marist as the key moments of the season.

“There was not any one moment,” he said when asked when he knew this team was special. “It was moments after moments when I saw how the kids played in those situations.

“That’s the beauty of this team. They have not had the luxury of being able to look past teams. The last two years was like an anchor. We were picked to win it and needed to win it. This team approaches things differently. We know going into a game we have to play our best game.”

That’s been the case the last three weeks. The Titans will need their best game for a fourth straight week to again play for a state title.