BROOKLET—Southeast Bulloch coach Pat Collins knows a thing or two about the rivalry between his Yellow Jackets and his former Screven County Gamecocks.
    Boiled down to a cliché, Collins reminded his team that Screven County puts their pants on one leg at a time, just like the boys from Brooklet. Only Collins didn’t boil it down to a simple cliché or bit of “coachspeak.” He made it more substantive.
    Collins was uniquely suited to the task, having coached at Screven County from 2006 to 2009.
    “This is a rivalry because of proximity and there is also a historical rivalry,” said Collins. “These two schools have played against one another going back to the beginning of football at Southeast Bulloch and in Sylvania. So many of the men who farm in Screven County have a close relationship with the agriculture industry around Brooklet. The two communities are pretty close.”
    The ties between the two schools are closer than usual these days, though. Not only does the head coach have close ties with the Gamecock program, but SEB quarterbacks coach Chris Pye played quarterback for Screven through 2007. Ends coach John McAfee was on the Screven County staff with Collins.
    Even the coach’s son, center Will Collins, played in the Screven County system until he was in the eighth grade.
    “He went to school with a lot of those boys, played football with those boys and attended church with some of them,” Pat Collins said.
    On the Screven sidelines, former SEB assistant Luke Parks adds a little Yellow Jacket flavor to the Gamecocks, too.
    “The game is not about us,” Collins was quick to point out. “It’s just unique that four of us [at SEB] have a knowledge of their players and their community. But the game is about two schools and two programs, and the game is important for both schools.”
    The team that comes out of tonight’s game victorious is back at .500 on the season. The losing squad will be in a deep 1-3 hole, not impossible to dig out of but certainly problematic.
    So Collins reminded his players how much the teams have in common. Similar offensive systems. Similar goals. Players who face each other in multiple sports and competitions.
    The psychology helps deal with Screven’s recent control of the rivalry.
    “Screven has dominated this rivalry recently and I’ve been on both sides of the fence,” Collins said.
    For the Yellow Jackets to be successful, they will need to be effective on first downs. Offensively, Collins says SEB will stay conservative on first down in an effort to execute the offense well enough to make second down more manageable. In the 24-0 loss to Bleckley County last week, SEB managed just 3.5 yards per first down. Collins wants to see more.
    On defense, the Jackets will key on Screven’s Jeremy Johnson on inside runs.
    “He sets up everything they do,” Collins said. “His internal runs set up their perimeter runs with Darius Wright. That, then, sets up their play-action passing.” If the Jackets can keep Screven from getting big gains on first down, Collins hopes to take some of the Gamecocks’ weapons away. Both Johnson and Wright rushed for over 100 yards in a win last week.
    Screven also benefitted from 31 penalties a week ago. Southeast Bulloch comitted just one penalty in their loss.
    “We have to stay ahead of the chains,” Collins said. “No lapses on first down. Mental lapses, concentration lapses and certainly no turnovers.”
    If the Jackets do that and go on to win, he’ll likely put his after-practice speech away somewhere special to use again down the road.