Courtesy of Nick Simon and the Times-Georgian
(Franklin, GA) — Physicality, stinginess and a penchant to make the right play at the most opportune time have been characteristics that have defined the Heard County High School football defense in their march towards Wednesday’s Class AA state championship showdown with Rockmart.
It goes without saying that the members of the Braves’ ‘D’ are charged up for the opportunity to deliver one more all-out performance on the state’s grandest stage of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“It feels good,” senior linebacker Andrew Leak said about earning a championship opportunity. “We’ve been working hard and we know it’s not going to be an easy game. We have to stay focused and stay ready.”
Leak and his fellow HC defenders have stymied their competition throughout the 2018 season, limiting opponents to just 13.8 points per contest.
Things weren’t perfect at the beginning of the regular season, however, as the team gave up a combined 66 points in back-to-back blowout losses to defending state champion Hapeville Charter and Rockmart, the team that they’ll square off against for the title at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
Hitting that rough patch, senior safety and University of Tennessee verbal commit Aaron Beasley is grateful that the team was able to put that behind them and wreck shop all the way to Atlanta.
“We overcame a lot of adversity at the beginning of the season, so it feels good to make it here,” Beasley said on Wednesday. “We still have to finish it off and win the state title.”
Following the blowout loss to Rockmart, the Heard defense managed to shut down Central, Spencer, Temple and Jordan to set up a brawl with Callaway in the annual “Pulpwood Classic” rivalry on Oct. 19.
Down 10-7 late against the Cavaliers, the Braves came away with a critical three-and-out that allowed quarterback Alijah Huzzie and the Braves offense to march down the field and punch in the game-winning score.

A staunch Brave defense has led the way for the Braves during an 11-game winning streak (Photo: Jeff Napier)
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