Everything came together for the Lawrence County Cougars last season.

Led by the likes of T-Tez Cole, Charl’Tez Nunnery and the ever-elusive Quitten Brown, the Cougars went on a tear through the district, going undefeated in 4A Region 6 play en route to a berth in the South State Championship game.

Their defense was stout, allowing just 17.6 points per game and their offense was just as good, if not better, scoring 42.9 points per game on opponents in the regular season.
They may have seen their championship hopes derailed by eventual state runner-up St. Stanislaus, but second year head coach Jaymie Palmer felt his team had a lot to be proud of.

“Our best linebacker got hurt in the first quarter of that game and it affected our scheme on defense. But all in all we had a really good year and I was proud of our kids,” he said.

Cole may have been a once-in-a-generation, almost irreplaceable talent, but the Cougar faithful can rest assured that plenty of firepower still remains on both sides of the ball for the team heading into the 2016 season.

“We are far from dry,” Palmer said when asked of the talent pool he would possess this year. “We literally may have about five juniors on the team.”

The Cougars will likely be young on both sides of the ball this season with four sophomores on defense and three on offense.
However, both sides will be led by some proven, reliable talent.

Palmer said his team intends to run multiple sets on each side of the ball
The Cougars’ offensive attack will more than likely center around quarterback Nunnery and running back Brown.

Nunnery was just as deadly running the ball as he was passing during his team’s run last year. The senior threw for 1,283 yards with 12 touchdowns and rushed for 961 yards with 15 touchdowns.

The two-headed monster of a backfield is rounded out by Brown,  the 4A Athlete of the Year. The 5-foot-9, 195-pound dynamo was an absolute terror for defenses last season. He rushed for 2,012 yards and 32 touchdowns and topped the 100-yard mark in 10 games.

Unfortunately, the team will be without their star running back for the first few games of the season due to a torn ACL. Palmer said he expects him back by the third or fourth game of the year.

Luckily, Palmer and the Cougars will have a solid stable of running backs to carry the load in Brown’s absence. Expect senior running back Josh Knight to see significant carries during that time frame.
Palmer also has a duo of freshman running backs in Perez Tyler and Antwan Pittman who he feels have the chance to be very special in the future.

“Those guys are the real deal. I think they could very well be SEC running backs. They just haven’t been in the fire yet, so we plan to get them in a little to see what they can do,” he said.

Despite all the talent in the backfield, Palmer said the receiving corps could be his team’s best position. They will be anchored by senior A.J. McLaurin and Kendarius Feazell. All-Area selection Marcus Atterberry will line up at tight end.

On defense, linebacker Azar Myles will head the attack. Myles finished second on the team last season with 137 tackles. He also had two sacks.

The defensive backs will look to the ball-hawking safety Kemarcus Brown (95 tackles, two interceptions) for guidance and leadership.

Lawrence County will start its season Aug. 18 in the Kick-Off Classic at Co-Lin, where they will face Magee.