A tale of two halves: Confident Austin offense ready for Clay Chalkville challenge
· Yahoo Sports
Nov. 5—Sometimes it's not about how you start, but how you finish.
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That's a motto that can be applied to plenty of different aspects of life, and football is no different. Austin quarterback Donovan Jarman can attest to that.
Back in the second-largest classification for the first time since 2017, Austin came into the season with high expectations. However, through the first half of the year the Black Bears didn't look like the team many expected as they began the season 1-3 with all three losses coming by 17 points or more.
Jarman, who was starting for the first time in his career, was experiencing struggles right along with his team as he passed for less than 400 yards with just one touchdown and five interceptions through the first five games.
But again, how you respond is more important than how you start.
Over the last five games, Jarman has been one of the area's best quarterbacks, passing for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns with just two interceptions. Unsurprisingly the Black Bears have won five of their last six games and are averaging 36 points per game over that span.
"Honestly I've just gotten better with experience," Jarman said. "The more I've been able to play, the better my decision making, my accuracy and everything has gotten. I feel a lot more confident and that's letting me take advantage of all the talented players I have around me."
Austin head coach Jeremy Perkins didn't sugarcoat how difficult playing quarterback for the Black Bears can be. The offensive system is extensive and there is usually always a learning curve for first-year starters.
Unlike other quarterbacks that were starting for the first time at Austin in the past though, Jarman didn't have the luxury of spending years learning the system. The senior spent the last three years playing at Decatur and didn't transfer to Austin until the beginning of 2026, meaning he had a lot to learn in not a lot of time.
"There's a lot more to playing quarterback than the naked eye observes and especially in our offense we ask our quarterbacks to do a lot," Perkins said. "It's not just catching the snap and handing control of the ball to somebody else. Our quarterbacks have to understand defenses, understand protections and understand where the ball needs to go, when it needs to go there and how it needs to get there. All those things take time."
"Usually our most successful quarterbacks have been second-year guys, and Donovan is not only a first-year guy, but he didn't get here until January. I think the game is slowing down for him and it's shown in him playing his best football over the last few weeks," Perkins said.
As Jarman has grown more confident, that has allowed Austin to take advantage of an explosive receiving corp that was dormant through the first half of the season.
Sophomore Alvin Jones came into the season as the team's leading returning receiver but through the first eight games had just 12 catches for 145 yards and no touchdowns. Over the last two games he's caught seven passes for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns.
"We were just trying to do whatever we could to help the team. We went to work every day developing that connection with (Donovan) and it's shown the last few games," Jones said. "I feel like me and the other receivers (Tyler Sales, Bricen Harris Ja'Keveion Griffin) were the best kept secret in North Alabama. Now we're getting to show what we can do."
It's a big deal for the Black Bears that they're offense is clicking at the right time because they'll need it with the challenge they face this week.
Two weeks ago, Austin had a chance to clinch Class 5A, Region 7 with a win at Russellville but fell 45-35. Because of tiebreakers, the Black Bears dropped from first all the way to fourth and now this week must hit the road to take on Clay Chalkville, last year's state champion in Class 6A, for the first round of the playoffs.
The Cougars feature an explosive offense that is averaging 48 points per game which is 11th in the entire state and Austin knows if it wants a chance at an upset, the offense will have to put up plenty of points to match.
Fortunately for the Black Bears, their confidence is at an all-time high.
"We have to have the mentality that every time we touch the ball we're going to score," Jarman said. "(Clay Chalkville) is really good, so it's important for us to not just score points, but help out our defense with possession time and just keep them on the sideline as much as possible."
While the task of upsetting the defending champion on the road may seem daunting, Clay Chalkville's loss last week to Central Phenix City in which the Red Devils scored 64 points offered a blueprint of how to do it.
"The key to winning is you have to neutralize their strength, which is their defensive line. It'll be the best defensive line we've seen all year and all four of those guys are violent and disruptive," Perkins said. "The thing that Central was able to do was get a hat on a hat. You're not going to blow them off the ball, but if you can occupy them and not let them wreak havoc in your backfield, then you have a chance."
"Running the ball is going to be important. If we can control the clock, stay in medium and short yardage situations and take advantage of our RPOs then we feel good," Perkins added. "We don't want to ask our defense to have to be on the field for 60 or 70 snaps and ask our quarterback to have to drop back and throw 30 times."
As Austin prepares to make the trip on Friday to kick off the postseason, nobody is giving the Black Bears much of a chance. That's just the way they like it.
"I don't think anybody believes we can win, but we do and that's all that matters," Jones said.
— [email protected] or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2