Lee County vs JH Rose – By The Numbers

Lee County will travel to JH Rose High School in Greenville this Friday night for an opening round game in the State 3AA Football Championship.   Both teams finished unbeaten in the shortened spring football season and both are ranked in the top 15 teams in the State in the latest MaxPreps 3A poll.   WFJA has looked at all the numbers for each team this Friday and offers our observations on the game.

Records

Lee County – 7-0 Overall, 5-0 in the Tri-County 3A Conference

JH Rose – 6-0 Overall, 5-0 in the Eastern Carolina 3A/4A Conference

Maxpreps Ratings

Lee County – Team Rating 23.7, Schedule Strength -8.4

JH Rose – Team Rating 29.4, Schedule Strength -4.4

Results

Lee County Beat:

*South Granville – #45 in 2A poll with a 5-2 record – Score 27-6

*Overhills – #42 in 4A poll with a 3-4 record – Score 30-27

*Union Pines – #69 in 3A poll with a 4-3 record – Score 56-14

*Harnett Central – #83 in 3A poll with a 2-5 record – Score 38-0

*Western Harnett – #108 in 3A poll with a 0-7 record – Score 54-6

*Triton – #67 in 3A poll with a 4-3 record – Score 52-7

*Southern Lee – #106 in 3A poll with a 2-5 record – Score 67-16

JH Rose Beat:

*New Bern – #37 in 4A poll with a 5-1 record – Score 54-7

*Fike – #55 in 3A poll with a 2-4 record – Score 40-20

*DH Conley – #34 in 3A poll with a 5-2 record – Score 42-14

*CB Aycock – #102 in 3A poll with a 1-6 record – Score 58-14

*Southern Wayne – #109 in 3A poll with a 0-6 record – Score 52-0

*South Central – #60 in 4A poll with a 3-3 record – Score 28-26

Scoring Offense

Lee County (7 games) – Scored 324 points (46.3 ppg)

JH Rose (6 games) – Scored 274 points (45.6 ppg)

Scoring Defense

Lee County (7games) – Allowed 76 points (10.9 ppg)

JH Rose (6 games) – Allowed 81 points (13.5 ppg)

Rushing

Lee County – Team Rushing Total – 882 yards (126.0 ypg)

Top Lee County Rushers – TJ Johnson 80 carries for 525 yards, JoJo Jennings 27 carries for 193 yards

JH Rose – Team Rushing Total – 890 yards (148.3 ypg)

Top JH Rose Rushers – Michael Allen 21 carries for 235 yards, Klavon Brown 36 carries for 220 yards

Passing

Lee County – Will Patterson 98 of 151 for 1636 yards – 20 TDs – 3 INTs

JH Rose – Wade Jarman 141 of 194 for 1944 yards – 22 TDs – 13 INTs

Receiving

Lee County Top Receivers – Tyric McKendall 28-564-10 TDs, Kenyon Palmer 24-412-6 TDs, Eli Garrison 13-149-1 TD, Jackson Lamb 12-247, 1 TD

JH Rose Top Receivers – Kevin Hamilton 38-469- 5TDs, Danny Sadler 29-324- 4TDs, Kendariuos Gettis 15-442- 5 TDs, Jayden Grimes 11-196- 2 TDs

Top Defensive Players

Lee County – TJ Johnson 49 tackles, JoJo Jennings 44 tackles, Delmaz Jennings 42 tackles/10 sacks, Derran McKoy 31 tackles/10 sacks

JH Rose – Phillip Walter 56 tackles, Jamarie Loftin 46 tackles 1.5 sacks, Julian Long 40 tackles/2.5 sacks

Our Observations

In what looks to be a strong first round matchup in the 3AA East, JH Rose and Lee County will begin battle at 7:00 for a spot in the 2^nd round this Friday night.  There are some interesting matchups with these two unbeaten teams that on paper look remarkably similar.   Both teams were outstanding in their own conferences and rolled up similar amounts of points and yardages for the season.   The defenses of Lee County and JH Rose have both given up less than 11 points per game and have been really good against the run.   It should first be said that our WFJA staff has seen all Lee County games in person and JH Rose only on video.   Statistics offensively are similar as well with only a few statistics that stick out.

Expect to see Rose use the entire field offensively on Friday night.   Their best athletes are in receiver positions and will get the ball often.  Kevin Hamilton, a 6’4” receiver, touched it 38 times as a receiver and 6 more as a running back with 7 more receivers hauling in 8 or more catches.   Most of those catches are shuttle passes in the backfield to an in-motion receiver trying to reach the corner.  More passes than not are usually near or behind the line of scrimmage with a goal of getting the ball to their best athletes.  Quarterback Wade Jarman can pass downfield as well, but his 13 INTs is a glaring statistic.  Defensively, JH Rose has shown a lot of blitz against teams in the regular season and their defense will remind those at the game a lot of Lee County.  

Lee County’s offense has made great improvement in the 7-game season.  While scoring 30 & 27 points the 1^st 2 weeks was good enough to win, we have seen the offense become a well-oiled machine, one that scores in a variety of ways and has its own playmakers that can get it done.   Lee County will use the shuttle pass as well and will also try to win races to the sideline.  But the Lee County passing game seems to be more complete – and certainly more reliable – with only 3 INTs on the season.    Lee County averaged over 50 points per game the last 5 games and were able to stay reasonably rested despite playing 3 games in the final 9 days of the season.

Defense again will be the key to Friday’s game.   Both will be trying to stop high-powered, athletic offenses that have put up plenty of points this season.   Both defenses have been good and defensive numbers from the two teams look like a mirror of each other.   Defense on the corners will be a huge key this Friday night.   Landon Johnson and Derran McKoy will be charged with holding the corners and keeping plays inside.   

When the season started, we often wondered how the Lee defense would be this year after significant graduation losses.   It’s hard to believe I’m saying this, but this year’s team has put up better numbers against the run and have scored 7 touchdowns on the season on defense.   This is a quick, strong, defensive front for Lee County and if last years run through the playoffs taught us anything, defense wins games.

There’s not a ton of information available for special teams but certainly to be noticed, Rose QB Wade Jarman is also their punter, and you can expect both teams to kickoff short and away from any return.   Lee County’s kicking has been solid with Landon Johnson punting, and Kennedy Hernandez as kicker/PAT.

I like the Yellow Jackets in this one, although this could be called a toss-up.  The battle – like all playoff games – will be won at the line of scrimmage.   I like Lee County’s chances, but it will take a great effort and less mistakes than JH Rose to move on in the playoffs.  Lee County has played with discipline all season and that usually helps at playoff time; as penalties, turnovers, and field position all matter at this time of the year.

Join WFJA at 6:00 Friday night for the Steve Burdeau Coach’s Show and our live pre-game from JH Rose HS at 6:30.   WFJA Sports will bring you the live action at 7:00 on 105.5 FM and will also stream online at: www.wfjawwgpradio.com.