No. 7 McIntosh County Academy looks to build on record season in playoffs

Nov. 10—The Buccaneers aren't satisfied with the best regular season in school history.

No. 7 McIntosh County Academy is looking to put itself in the state championship conversation in Class A, Division II as it starts its postseason run against Wheeler County at 7:30 p.m. today at The Ship.

With an eight-game winning streak to close out the regular season, the Buccaneers have won nine games heading into the playoffs for the first time in the program's 42-year history, but MCA head coach Bradley Warren knows the past is meaningless this time of year.

McIntosh has played down to its opponents at times this season, and that is not something the team can afford to do as it looks to build upon its fourth consecutive postseason appearance.

"It's a one-game season now, and we're just taking it one season at a time," Warren said. "We had a good practice this week, so we're excited about that. We're ready to play, I hope. If we bring our A-game, I feel like we'll be tough."

The Buccaneers have become one of the toughest teams in the classification with a gritty, physical squad that wins by controlling the ball and playing suffocating defense.

McIntosh County Academy averages 26.1 points and 248.1 rushing yards per game out of its wing-T offense led by tailback JaReese Campbell. Campbell has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in four of the past five games — running for 91 yards in the lone exception — upping his season total to 796 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games.

But Campbell hasn't been alone. Deondray Bacon has rushed for 594 yards and eight touchdowns, Laderrious West has 518 rushing yards and five touchdowns, and DeMonte Stokes has chipped in 403 yards and four scores on the ground as well.

That grinding ground game has helped the Buccaneers limit opponents to 12.1 points per contest — the fourth-fewest in the classification. But MCA's defense is plenty tough in its own right, led by linebacker Lake Linton, who has made a team-high 93 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, two sacks, and a fumble returned for a touchdown.

The unit has also proven rather opportunistic, securing nine interceptions and nine fumble recoveries in the regular season, which could be key against a mistake-prone Wheeler team.

"They're a younger team with a couple of key seniors, and when they're on, they're pretty good," Warren said. "They drove a couple of nice touchdown drives against Wilcox County in the teeth of their defense. They can be tough, they've made some mistakes that have hurt them.

"We're getting prepared for everybody's best ballgame. We think we'll see their best effort. We've got to be prepared for that."

It has been an up-and-down season for Wheeler, which has been unable to gain much traction in either direction. The Bulldogs haven't won or lost more than two games in a row all year, and they've alternated wins and losses over each of its past six games to enter the playoffs at 5-5, averaging 20.3 points and allowing 26.3 per contest.

Wheeler beat No. 9 Georgia Military Prep 42-14 in its opener, and it won 21-7 over No. 10 Montgomery County, but each program ultimately finished the regular season unranked as the No. 4 seeds in their respective regions.

Coming off a bye, a well-rested McIntosh County Academy will be a different challenge.

"The bye week has helped us, and I think everybody knew it because we were in two physical ballgames, one against ECI and one against Portal," Warren said. "Having that off week has been good to us. We're nearly at 100 percent."

Winning the school's first region championship since 2008 has set the Buccaneers up to host at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, which hasn't always been a good thing in recent years. McIntosh is 0-3 at home in the playoffs since Warren returned to the program in 2019 and 1-0 on the road.

However struggles at home weren't exclusive to the playoffs — MCA was 6-9-1 at The Ship over the previous three season with a .500 record or worse in each season. But that has changed this season with the Buccaneers currently a perfect 5-0 in front of the home crowd.

There is a buzz in Darien as McIntosh County Academy embarks on its playoff run.

"We're bringing in some commerce, bringing in a lot of excitement," Warren said. "I've seen some of the stores and businesses decorate up. They're excited. Our kids play pretty tough at home, so we're glad to have a home-field advantage. That's for sure."