BY ELI HUDSPETH
FOR THE OBSERVER
SMITHS STATION —
The Bryant Garrison era is officially underway at Smiths Station.
Taking charge of a new program presents many challenges for a head coach, and things started off rocky for Garrison and the Panthers in their season opener last weekend.
Coming from 4A Slocomb over the offseason, Garrison’s first test at the helm of the varsity football Panthers was anything but an easy prospect on paper. Smiths Station and its hopeful on-looking fans played host to 5A powerhouse, Pleasant Grove, Friday night at Panther Stadium.
“There’s not really a change, football is football,” Garrison said of making the jump from 4A to 7A. “It’s just on a different level. Just a lot more athletes, a lot more players. I coached in Gwinnett County for a while, so I’ve been on big boy football for a while.”
To begin the game, back to back false starts, a sack and an overthrow led to a Smiths Station punt on the opening drive. However, Pleasant Grove immediately gave Smiths Station another chance by roughing the kicker on the ensuing punt. Senior running back Quenton Brooks would make the most of this opportunity, scoring on a 39-yard touchdown run, giving the Panthers their first and only lead of the game at 6-0.
A fumble, pick-six, three and out and another pick six made up the next four Panther outings on offense. Making matter more difficult, the Panther defense struggled to slow the Pleasant Grove offense as well. The Spartans kept their foot on the gas for the remainder of the first half, capitalizing on Smiths Station’s mistakes. Just as the halftime whistle was nearing, with the Spartans having opened up a secure, 41-6 lead, a fumble on the exchange between the Pleasant Grove quarterback and runner — which the Panthers fell on — gave Smiths Station a chance to score and build momentum before the break. However, the team failed to capitalize, and the Panthers ultimately limped to the locker room, looking for answers, trailing 48-6.
Coming out of the break refreshed, the woes would continue for the Panthers in the third quarter. The offense went ice cold, and the defense failed at stopping Pleasant Grove’s run-pass option offense.
“We just didn’t play well tonight,” Garrison said. “Couldn’t execute, and shot ourselves in the foot. That’s on me. We’ve gotta fix those things, and we as coaches have to put our kids in better positions to be successful. We couldn’t get off the field on third down tonight, and we really couldn’t get anything offensively. Credit to them, though. They’re a really good football team, with really, really good coaches. They’ll probably go deep in the playoffs again. They’ve got a really good chance and they’re doing a really good job over there.”
With the game far out of reach, the fourth quarter was a bright spot for the Panthers. A blocked punt recovered by Smiths Station led to a second rushing touchdown for Brooks — the final Panther score of the contest. Pleasant Grove had control from start to finish and did not let up, resulting in an opening-season, 54-14 loss for Smiths Station.
“Well, it’s one game; One game can’t define your season,” Garrison said. “The team that showed up tonight wasn’t the team we’re trying to build here — in all aspects of it, it’s not just on the scoreboard, it’s the way that we competed or really played sloppy at times. That’s not us. That’s not who we’re going to be. We’re going to strap it up and we’re going to come back to work on Sunday. Most of your improvements come from week 1 to week 2. Obviously, we didn’t have a jamboree to prepare and get some of those mistakes out of the way, but kids gotta understand you gotta be ready to play every single night.”
Things won’t get easier for Garrison and Smiths Station going forward. The Panthers take on Central-Phenix City (1-0) in a 7A Region 2 road matchup Friday, Sept. 1. “There’s no ‘gimmes’ on the schedule, and you have to bring your A-game every single night,” Garrison said.