The season officially began for the LaGrange High defense last week.

At least Grangers’ defensive coordinator Donnie Branch thinks so.

Branch has grown accustomed to guiding stout defenses as the unit’s long-time coach, but it wasn’t until LaGrange’s 35-0 win over Central-Macon last week that he felt the Grangers (3-1) played a complete game defensively.

Never mind that the defense has forced 14 turnovers in four games, despite having to replace nine of 11 starters from a year ago.

It doesn’t even matter that the unit has scored four touchdowns, including two last week.

“Personally, last week was the first week I saw a glimmer of what we can do,” Branch said. “Not because we shut them out, but the fact that we played good team defense. It’s almost like the season started last week for the defense.”

Branch is hoping for more of the same this Friday when the Grangers face Shaw at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus in the Region 2-AAA opener for both teams.

The Raiders (0-4) have played one of the state’s toughest schedules, and started the 2008 season 0-5 after a 33-10 loss to the Grangers.

That didn’t stop the Raiders from reaching the second round of the Class AAA playoffs, however.

“I’m figuring they’re going to be a lot better than people think,” Branch said. “They look like they always do – they’re really good. We have to approach it like they’re really good.”

Shaw brings an up-tempo, spread offense to the table, which always gives Branch and most defensive coordinators nightmares when preparing for it.

The Raiders scored just seven points in their first three games, however, but that’s due largely to mistakes and turnovers from the offense against good teams.

Branch isn’t banking on Shaw making those same mistakes at home in the region opener.

“I always think that this is the week they won’t make those mistakes,” Branch said. “Their quarterback (Chris Baker) is very athletic, their running backs have good speed and they have a big offensive line.”

Defending the spread is “always a challenge” for Branch, mostly because it emphasizes one-on-one situations in space.

Sometimes those match-ups pit fast offensive players against not-so-fast defenders, making it difficult to stop.

“I wish they’d outlaw the spread,” Branch joked. “It’s very tough to defend against. What happens is, they can have one guy who’s better than one guy, and they can exploit it. If someone runs the I-formation and pounds it in there, the best team usually wins. Here, you get folks spread all over, so you have to play great team defense.”

LaGrange has been helped by defensive players scoring touchdowns, namely senior defensive back Josh Manning.

Manning has notched two long long interception returns for touchdowns the last two games, including an 80-yarder in the Central-Macon win.

Defensive lineman Rhyian Patterson also returned a fumble 10 yards for a score in last week’s win.

“Up until last week, we needed to (score touchdowns) because we weren’t playing very good defense, at least up to our standards,” Branch said.

The defense might have to carry the load this week, as two of the offense’s best players could be sitting on the sidelines.

Quarterback Jamius Gunsby is “questionable” after hurting his foot last week, and running back Ocie Salter is only “about 80 percent” healthy despite getting some carries last week.

Both players were on the practice field Wednesday, though.

“It’s scary when your two most explosive offensive players are limping around,” Branch said. “It means you have to play good defense.”

The Shaw game is not only important for region standings, but also because it’s a rivalry game.

Branch said he and the other LaGrange coaches are friends with the Shaw coaches, although they won’t be rooting for each other on Friday night.

With Shaw’s history of good football teams, Branch is expecting a fight.

“We have a lot of respect for Shaw,” Branch said. “I ignore the 0-4 and remember over the years. They’re good to us until proven otherwise.”