Houston County's opponent in the third round of the GHSA Class AAAAA playoffs might be a relatively young program, but it's no stranger to success.
Allatoona is in its eighth year of existence and its sixth season playing football at the varsity level, all under head coach Gary Varner. The Buccaneers have advanced to the quarterfinals in four of the past five years, playing in the semifinals for the first time in program history last season, when they fell to eventual champion Northside 30-21.
"We've had some good success," Varner said. "(Allatoona) is in a nice area. The kids really work hard, and there's a lot of community support, which is nice. My staff has been with me the whole time, for the most part, which is a big advantage now. I don't think people predict a lot from us a lot of times, but the kids just play hard and kind of overachieve, I think."
This year's edition of the Buccaneers (11-1) enters Friday's contest on an 11-game winning streak after dropping its opening game. Allatoona outscored Starr's Mill 23-7 in the second half a week ago to cruise to a 30-14 win.
Offensively, the Buccaneers incorporate a ground-heavy attack out of a traditional I-formation that averages 296.5 rushing yards per contest. Allatoona doesn't throw the ball often but shows a knack for the big play, led by the arm of quarterback Brandon Rainey, who averages more than 18.0 yards per completion.
The Buccaneers have good size on the perimeter, as well as at tight end, where Vanderbilt-bound senior Turner Cockrell offers a 6-foot-5 target.
"We're run first and then play-action-pass type of stuff," Varner said. "We feel like, for the most part, that if we can get the advantage of running the ball well, that we can catch (opponents) overplaying the run, and then we can pass the ball pretty effectively when we do throw the ball."
One key piece likely missing from the Allatoona offense will be running back Russell Halimon, who is committed to Arizona. The senior is expected to miss his third straight game with a right knee injury after rushing for 1,543 yards.
"He's probably not going to be able to play," Varner said. "He got hurt before the playoffs started and just hasn't come around yet. We've played two games without him, and it's probably going to be a third, but it will be a game-time thing."
The Buccaneers have responded well to the loss of Halimon as several players have stepped up in his absence.
They rushed for 417 yards in an opening-round playoff win over Winder-Barrow and followed that performance with a 239-yard output against Starr's Mill. Brandon Archibald led the Buccaneers with 189 yards against Winder-Barrow, but it was Charles Anderson who paced the attack a week ago with 101 yards on 13 carries.
Those two will look to have success against a Houston County (11-1) defense that Varner believes is hard-hitting and athletic.
"They're very physical and very fast on defense, which kind of jumps out at you," Varner said.
The Bears' size on offense against what Varner described as an undersized defensive unit for the Bucs also gives him concern. Allatoona runs a base 3-3 stack and can utilize different blitz schemes with zone concepts behind that.
"Offensively, they're very explosive," Varner said. "Their line is very big, and they just do a good job of protecting what they do. The size at receiver and the skill positions is pretty unusual for high school."