Quarterfinals: Bulldogs ready for speed and more speed

Here's a look at North Gwinnett's quarterfinal match-up tonight in Suwanee and what the Bulldogs face in Camden County...

-- CAMDEN COUNTY at NORTH GWINNETT

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Tom Robinson Memorial Stadium, Suwanee
CAMDEN COUNTY: (10-2, No. 1 seed Region 3-AAAAA) Defeated Lowndes 10-7 in the second round.
NORTH GWINNETT: (12-0, No. 1 seed Region 7-AAAAA) Defeated Woodstock 24-0 in the second round.
LAST MEETING: First meeting between the two teams.
PREVIEW: They don’t come much bigger than this. North Gwinnett can take a big step toward reaching a second Class AAAAA championship game with a win tonight. Camden County, meanwhile, can take another big step toward defending its crown if they prove road warriors in Suwanee.

“We’ll have earned it if we make it to the Georgia Dome,” North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire said. “But that’s the way it should be this time of year. We just hope we’re not done yet and have some more football to play beyond Friday.”

The Wildcats aren’t the most imposing looking team getting off the bus, but rest assured that coach Jeff Herron’s team is both fast and physical -- especially on defense, where Camden County is allowing just 9.1 points per game.

“They’ve got speed everywhere,” Sphire said. “Their linemen weight about 230-240 pounds, but they can run down running backs. Most of their guys also play some offense, but they’re defense first players. They hang their hat on defense.”

The Wildcats feature linebacker Glenn Mack, along with senior defensive end Matt Jackson and sophomore noseguard Devlyn Cousin.

North Gwinnett also boasts its share of speed, but Sphire said his team will rely on spreading the ball around to try and keep Camden off balance.

“We’ll have to be effective in the pass game,” Sphire said. “They don’t face many spread teams, so we hope we can be successful where we need to be.”

That means junior quarterback C.J. Uzomah will need to be on top of his game against a pressure-oriented Camden squad. The 6-foot-5 junior, who is an effective runner and passer, is still getting back to full speed after sustaining an injury late in the regular season, though Sphire says that Uzomah is almost 100 percent.

“He’s getting better and better,” Sphire said. “He’s pretty much full capacity now, and we can do what we want on offense.”

The Bulldogs will also need big games from receiver Cordero Dixon and running backs Joe Jones and Raahmil Brantley, as well as offensive linemen Juwuan James (a Tennessee commit) and Austin Shepherd (Alabama commit) if they hope to approach their season average of 32 points per game.

Meanwhile, North Gwinnett’s defense, which has dominated at times this season (9.5 points per game), will look to slow down Camden’s wing-T offense (40.8 points per game).

Middle linebacker David Park will continue to play a key role, as will veteran defensive ends Jon Gibson-Green and Ayo Ojolola -- who starred in last week’s win, returning a fumble 92 yards for a touchdown. Free safety Will Compton has also been a force in the secondary.

“We have to win on first down and try to make them uncomfortable in second- and third-and-long situations,” Sphire said. “Playing against a wing-T offense like this, we’ll also have to focus on playing around the line m ore and not rushing upfield.”

Camden is led by halfback Ean Days, who had 75 yards on 17 carries in last week’s win and has 117 carries for 1,122 yards and 16 touchdowns so far this season. Darius Sullivan also features in the backfield, as does senior fullback Aundre Johnson (averaging nine yards per carry with seven touchdowns so far). Junior Joel Ruiz starts at quarterback and has thrown for just 304 yards and six touchdowns so far, though he hasn’t been intercepted and averages 16.9 yards per completion.

If the game comes down to special teams, it could be a standoff, as both teams pride themselves in this department. Both have strong kickers in Camden’s Matt Ehasz (45-yard field goal in second round) and North Gwinnett’s Jeff Hatley (35-yard field goal in the second round).

KEY MATCH-UP: North Gwinnett’s offensive line versus Camden’s defensive front seven. If the Bulldogs can buy Uzomah time, they will stand a good chance of reaching the Final Four.
WINNER PLAYS: Winner of Lassiter versus Colquitt County game.