How Mt. Juliet football evoked Justin Fuente, Kirby Smart to turn Bears around
Five straight losses at the end of the 2021 season was so unenjoyable for Trey Perry and Mt. Juliet's football team that the Golden Bears coach began work to correct mistakes in his program a few days after his team's loss to Columbia in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Perry adopted methods from Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente and Georgia coach Kirby Smart to find out what made his team tick and then improved his team's chemistry. The results were resounding Friday night after Mt. Juliet knocked off rival Green Hill 26-19 for the Region 5-5A championship.
Mt. Juliet (8-2, 6-0) will host Lincoln County in the first round of the 5A playoffs next week.
"You steal your best ideas from other people," Perry said. "But from Georgia, Kirby Smart went to a sports psychologist between the SEC championship game and the College Football Playoffs and he basically said 'I know we have the players to get this done, but how can I do better?'. They got topic and then the team got in small groups. The players and coaches got to know each other on a personal level and that matters late in games. It builds trust. That trust showed with us."
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Influenced by Fuente, Perry had his team and coaching staff fill out personal goal forms prior to the season to see where he could find similarities in the direction of the program.
Perry's approach had little to do with scheme, plays or execution. He was trying to reach the emotional side of a team that had cracked after a 28-27 loss to Station Camp in Week 7 of last year.
"I could tell that maybe the chemistry was just off when I got here," said sophomore quarterback Tyler Travers, a transfer from Pope John Paul II. "I could tell that the players were still trying to learn to play together. Those group meetings we had just bonded us. A lot of things got aired out in the offseason and it really just settled the team down."
Travers was thrust into the starting role at quarterback after Griffin Throneberry was injured in the first game this season. The Bears also lost their top defensive lineman, junior Evan Parsons, for the season and had to manage through at least six other starters that have missed time at various points this fall.
"I have to give my sophomores and juniors a ton of credit because they had to step up," Perry said. "We had no choice. And our seniors had to lead them. It was a collective effort from top to bottom."
The game turned when Mt. Juliet's Dearrius Morton blocked a Green Hill field goal attempt and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown with 8:27 left in the game. The Bears were nursing a 13-12 lead when Morton came up clutch to extend the lead. After a Hawks fumble, Morton scored on a 5-yard run to give Mt. Juliet (8-2, 6-0 Region 5-5A) a 26-12 cushion.
Morton — who also had a key second-half interception — had 64 yards rushing and a touchdown, and teammate Jon'Mikael Crudup added 17 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown. The Bears also got a 94-yard kickoff return on the game's first play from Osize Daniyan, and the defense forced three Green Hill turnovers. The Hawks (6-4, 4-2) travel to Page in next week's 5A first-round.
The win avenges Mt. Juliet's 25-21 loss to Green Hill (6-4, 4-2) last year. Green Hill, which won the region title last year, is in its third year of existence. Most of the upperclassmen population came from Mt. Juliet.
"This turnaround for us was about focusing on us," Perry said. "That's it. What could Mt. Juliet do to get better. I tip my cap to our coaching staff because we didn't waste any time with the time we've had with our players going back to last November.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Mt. Juliet football evoked Kirby Smart to turn Bears around
