Luck of the Irish?

By Clint Thompson

November 20, 2008 08:05 pm

— THOMASVILLE — Under the leadership of Roger Holmes, the Dublin Fighting Irish haven’t needed much luck.
That may change tonight at the Shamrock Bowl.
The Region 3 champs host the Thomasville Bulldogs and their seven-game winning streak in the second round of the Class AA playoffs.
“There’s not any dominant football teams that we’ve had to line up and play against this year that’s probably in the caliber of Thomasville,” Holmes said.
Though the Irish sport 10 wins and a nine-game winning streak, their offensive production has slipped over the latter part of the season. They notched just 13 points against Jefferson County in the regular season finale and 17 last week against Central-Macon in the first round of the playoffs. It’s a far cry from the team that averaged 51 points a game in 2005 and 45 per game in 2006.
“We’ve had a successful season,” Holmes said. “I don’t think our football team is anywhere near the type of football team we’ve had in the last four or five years.
“We’re not as athletic. We’re not as big or physical up front, especially on the offensive side of the ball, as we have been in the past.”
Part of the hindrance to Dublin’s normal offensive firepower is the lack of experience returning in the backfield. Untimely injuries also helped the Irish’s scoring production slip to 28 points per game.
“We didn’t have any running backs returning,” Holmes admitted. “I think if you counted up the number of carries that we had coming back off last year’s football team, if you exclude our quarterback, we had a grand total of nine carries.
“We’re physically kind of beat up and banged up right now and I don’t think this football team has ever clicked offensively this year,”
It’ll be a tough challenge if Dublin wants to improve this week. Thomasville has yet to allow more than 15 points in any game this year and has shut down high-powered offenses like Cairo, Brooks County and Fitzgerald.
“From a defensive standpoint, I don’t think we have played anybody, defensively, this year that’s in the caliber of Thomasville,” Holmes said. “Their up-front people are extremely quick. Their linebackers run downhill and are very physical. Their DBs are probably the fastest group of DBs we’ve had to play against.”
During Holmes’ impressive seven-year run with the Irish, Dublin has had several tough encounters with Region 1, most notably in 2005 when Cook upset Dublin 20-14 in the second round. Holmes expects nothing different tonight.
“We’ve always had to match up with Region 1, obviously, at some point if you go through,” Holmes said. “I don’t think there’s any question, anybody that’s going to be successful in the playoffs, you’re going to have to go through Region 1. If you’re able to win a ballgame against a Region 1 team, then you’ve got a chance to get on deep in the playoffs. If you don’t, then that Region 1 team is probably going to be there in the end.”

IMPRESSIVE RUN: In seven seasons as Dublin’s coach, Holmes has compiled a 73-17-1 record and tied for a state championship in 2006.

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