Reaction to Friday Night: North Augusta's star defense shined as bright as Jefferson County's Jenkins or Burke County's Mcgee

Chris Torres and Caree Collier warm up before Friday's game at Strom Thumond.

Friday night Jefferson County quarterback Jaden Jenkins was busy rushing for his team’s first four touchdowns in a win at Harlem. And Leon Mcgee ran for three of his own in Burke County’s triumph over Effingham County:

But it was North Augusta’s defense that seized all of the attention on the South Carolina side of the border when the Jackets didn’t give Strom Thurmond’s defense even a single hope for success Friday night.

The defensive unit for the Yellow Jackets, which gains more notoriety every week, took the field 6 times in the first half, once with its back against the goal line after what was almost a Strom Thurmond pick 6. On only one of those series were the Rebels even able to manage a first down without the help of a penalty. During that decisive half, the hitting by North Augusta's defense was so jarring, and the tackles in the backfield so many, that it was difficult to process live.

So after the game I reviewed the film to tally up an astounding half’s worth of defensive statistics by a fearsome foursome of Yellow Jacket defenders. The video below shows a sample of the 21 first half tackles, including 12 behind the line of scrimmage, by star stoppers Caree Collier, Chris Torres, Derian Gibson, and Charles Hammond.



North Augusta’s defense was featured Friday by the Augusta Chronicle’s David Lee, who broke down almost every position and noted the unit’s impressive performance against Grovetown when the Warriors’ offense was held to zero touchdowns and barely greater than 200 yards. David would probably agree that Friday’s performance was even more impressive.

The Rebels entered week 6 averaging 370 yards of total offense. North Augusta held the Rebels to 104 Friday.