The question mark, at least to those outside the Mill Creek football program, hasn’t been that much of a question after all.

Three games into an undefeated start, the defense has delivered, much like it did last season for a state semifinal team. The production may look surprising, particularly after graduating the entire front seven and all but two starters from last year, but the coaches felt good about the unit going into the season.

They knew the talent was there and didn’t plan a drop-off from a 2015 defense that posted six shouts, allowed 10 points per game and held opponents to an average of 30.2 rushing yards.

“They‘re getting better with each game,” Mill Creek head coach Shannon Jarvis said. “Even in the first game (a 34-27 win over Colquitt County in the Corky Kell Classic), I really liked our speed of play. That’s what they’ve done each week. Last Friday night (against Dacula) is where they became more gap sound and played that way throughout the whole game. I’m really happy with the way they played the option. … In reality, nobody was surprised by how well the defense has played. We had high expectations privately, behind closed doors.

“We thought it could be a great defense. Athletically, we felt like they could be as good as last year. The whole defensive front seven has played well and obviously that was a question mark. But we thought they could be as productive (as last year) and they’re proving it on the field that our thoughts were correct. It really didn’t surprise us.”

While the Colquitt opener was a slightly high-scoring, Mill Creek did shut out Colquitt for a half. It also held the Packers to a considerably lower output than when the two teams met in last year’s state semifinals, a 52-31 Colquitt win.

The Hawks followed it up by holding Stephenson to seven points in Game 2, then shut out rival Dacula last Friday. Dacula entered the game after a 321-yard rushing effort the previous week against Central Gwinnett but managed only 17 yards against Mill Creek, which gives up just 24.3 rushing yards per game this season.

Moses Allen (19 tackles, two sacks), Ryan Cox (17 tackles, two for losses, three sacks, two quarterback hurries), Ayoola Ogun-Semore (21 tackles, three for losses, one sack) and David Milon 17 tackles, one sack) have stepped up as playmakers on the revamped defensive line. Jake Stewart (22 tackles, three for losses), Demetrius Rias (22 tackles, three for losses), Victor Heyward (15 tackles, three for losses, one sack) and Shaka Heyward (17 tackles, three for losses) also have excelled as new, full-time starters for a defense that returned only two true starters, Jamar Hall and Jonathan Gipson in the secondary.

Up next for that group is a road game Friday against Archer in a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinals.