Justin@athensnews-courier.com

TANNER – Through out the year’s, Tanner has traditionally had a solid running game. The primary reason for this is because the Rattlers always have good athletes lining up in the backfield.

Last year, Tanner featured three of the best running backs in the area, but lost all three to graduation. The big question this year was who would step up and duplicate the success last year’s running backs produced.

Tanner coach LaRon White was holding his cards close all summer, but after the Rattlers’ 28-6 win over Clements in the season opener the answer was clear.

Enter Tim Mason, Tanner’s new senior running back.

Mason transferred back to Tanner for his senior year after leaving in elementary school for Austin. He has averaged over 150 all-purpose yards in both of the Rattlers’ wins and has scored four touchdowns.

“Tim (Mason) has done a good job running the ball for us,” White said. “Overall, I’ve been pleased with our running game.

“Our offensive line has done a real good job blocking and our running backs have had some success.”

Even though Mason has had some success early in the season, he’s still not completely satisfied.

“You can always do more,” he said. “The main thing is that we continue to get better each week.”

One of the main reasons Mason has had so much success running the football is because of the blocking he’s getting. With senior George Adams at fullback and the Rattlers’ offensive front being one of their most talented units in years, Mason has had running room all season.

“The biggest thing is everybody is doing their job,” Mason said. “Our offensive line has stepped up both games and George (Adams) does a great job as a lead blocker.”

With Mason churning out good performances every week gives Adams even more motivation to make sure the Rattlers’ tailback has a hole to run through.

“When you’ve got a good running back like Tim (Mason) who can keep is footing and make people miss, it makes you want to come out and make things happen,” he said. “But we’ve still got a lot of football to play and a lot of offensive weapons to use.”

In years’ past, Tanner has typically lined up in a spread offense, but the personnel the Rattlers have this year is allowing White to try a few new offensive sets. In both games, Tanner has lined up with the quarterback under center.

“We finally have an offensive line that allows us to line up in an I formation,” White said. “This way we can show several different offensive looks and use different sets in different situations.”

With Tanner hosting Red Bay Friday night, White knows he is going to need to be as versatile as possible.

“Coach (Dale) Jefferies is a good coach who always has his team ready to play,” White said. “If anybody knows what we’re going to try and do it’s Red Bay.

“We’ve had some good games over the years, with us beating them a few times when we shouldn’t have and them beating us a few times they shouldn’t have. This should be a real good game.”