'Pancakes' feed Haralson County's successful run

TALLAPOOSA, Ga - Everyone loves a good pancake, especially Haralson County head football coach Scott Peavey.

"We have a very unique offense," Peavey said of his Haralson County Rebels. "It all stems around what we have up front. Our offensive line is real aggressive and really tough. We had 24 pancakes last week- I mean they're physical."

Haralson County's powerful offensive line

A pancake block might be tasty to coach, but opposing players who find themselves flat on their backs after being run over by the Rebel line would beg to differ.

"We haven't thrown a pass in the last couple of weeks, so we're all run. Most of the runs are to the right and we just kind of do what we do," said Peavey. "It's not a gimmick- you know everybody's so spread oriented now. Everybody else is trying to figure out how to get more guys out wide while we're trying to see how we can get another guy in the box. The best thing about what we do offensively is that our defense doesn't have to play much defense because we're a ball control team. To win the game last week we had an eight minute and 40 second drive in the fourth quarter."

Rebels running game dominates opponents

Haralson County (6-0) won't be confused with a traditional football power. Last season the school made some noise when tailback Treylon Sheppard set the single-season state rushing record. Sheppard graduated and now plays for Cumberland University. The small high school located in Tallapoosa, just miles from the Alabama state line, has won only 34 percent of its games over 52 years, and they've never made it out of the first round of the playoffs.  

"The superintendent came up to me and said this is probably going to be the biggest game in the history of the school and it's probably true, you know. This is a place that hasn't had a lot of football success, so for our fans to support us the way they have it's just been fantastic. Hopefully we bring a lot of cowbells and it will swing the odds in our favor because North Murray is a really, really good football team." 

Friday night's clash with the Mountaineers (6-1) is for first place in Region 6-AAA. North Murray appears to be the more talented team on paper, and with a signature win over traditional power Calhoun under their belt, they'll be the favorite to stay undefeated in the region.

"We don't have many kids that could start for North Murray, but we'll have a chance to compete with them because of what we do," Peavey said.

Haralson County head coach Scott Peavey addresses team after a game

But, before the huge home game, the Rebels and their fans will host another raucous event on campus. Good Day Atlanta's Paul Milliken and his spirit team will set up shop in Tallapoosa Thursday morning for a live pep rally to be broadcast beginning in the 8 a.m. hour of the show.

"I think everybody is bursting at the seams just to get some recognition," said Peavey. "You know everybody's hard work is paying off and hopefully that will continue."

Haralson County fans set their own record, casting 10,109 total votes on the High 5 Sports Facebook page to secure the first ever Team of the Week honor for the Rebels, that marks the highest individual school vote total so far in 2019.