High-scoring Lassiter in hurry to move on

In 2007, his final season at Hoover, Propst hired Lindsey to be his offensive coordinator. Both coaches came to Georgia in 2008 and have turned around struggling programs using the spread offense.

“That’s kind of neat that we end up both in the quarterfinals against each other in our second year,” Lindsey said. “My experience at Hoover was huge, just being in a big-time, nationally ranked program. I learned how to manage coaches and organize a program. He had run it on a big stage and been successful.”

But it was not Propst who taught Lindsey the offense. He had been using it as head coach of smaller schools before going to Hoover.

Lindsey resists the idea that Lassiter’s success is because of any lack of familiarity with the spread offense in Georgia, where run-based schemes such as the Wing-T remain popular.

“I don’t think that’s got anything to do with it,” Lindsey said. “In my opinion, we’ve got the best quarterback in the state. That will always make a good coach. It has more to do with players than the system.”

Mason has passed for 4,266 yards to go with the 54 touchdowns, and both are state records. The previous records were 3,710 and 48. Mason’s top receivers are wideout Griffen Roelle (70 catches, 1,162 yards, 15 touchdowns) and freshman running back Tyren Jones (66-853).

Lassiter’s opponent last week, South Gwinnett, also ran the spread but had no answer for the Trojans’ version of it. They allowed 42 points in the first half of a game that ended 70-49.

“There are a lot of teams running some variation of spread,” Lindsey said. “We just happen to have some really good players right now. As the playoffs go, we’ll play better teams and players. If they execute, one bad night could lead to disaster. It’s going to come down to players making plays.”

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