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Georgia: Trojans aim for Bremen
Gordon Lee and Trion enter this high school football season with expectations of having better seasons than the year before. They know a little improvement can go a long way in Georgia’s Region 6-A.
AT A GLANCE
Team on the rise: Gordon Lee returns several talented linemen from last year’s team, as well as 1,000-yard rusher Jacob Groce. Much like 2007, the Trojans have a rugged schedule. However, a repeat of six losses would be a letdown.
Team on the decline: Since longtime Bowdon coach Dwight Hochstetler is 14 wins away from 300 for his career, it’s uncharacteristic that the Red Devils were a combined 8-14 with quick playoff exits the last two seasons.
Nightmare schedule: Gordon Lee opens at larger schools Ridgeland and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. Also among its first five are games against Fyffe, a Class AA school in Alabama that was unbeaten a year ago until the state final, and longtime rival Trion. The Trojans face Bremen and Darlington in consecutive weeks in late October.
Dream schedule: As if Bremen’s chances at repeating as region champion wasn’t good enough based on the talent it has coming back, the Blue Devils play Gordon Lee, Darlington and Bowdon at home.
Best game: Although Darlington at Bremen on Oct. 10 could ultimately decide the region championship, Trion at Gordon Lee the week before is the biggest Region 6-A game of interest in the Times Free Press coverage area. The Trojans ended a commanding run by Trion with a 13-6 victory in 2005 and haven’t lost in the series since.
Biggest shoes to fill: Trion’s Cain Smith was one of the Bulldogs’ running backs and excelled on defense. Last year he made 90 tackles, intercepted three passes and recovered two fumbles.
Playoff bound: Bremen, Gordon Lee, Darlington, Bowdon
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Bremen: The Blue Devils won the region championship and were 9-3 last season. They return nine seniors who were starters on a team that reached the second round of the state playoffs.
2. Gordon Lee: The Trojans went from losing 49-20 to Bremen in 2006 to losing 21-14 last year. It would be hard to believe they could win the region without winning at Bremen on Oct. 24.
3. Darlington: The Tigers have had 13 consecutive playoff seasons and are expected to have athletic players at several positions. However, much of that talent is young.
4. Bowdon: Don’t expect the Red Devils to be a pushover this year despite little success the last two years and not much experience returning defensively. Junior quarterback Avery Cheeks reportedly performed well in spring practice.
5. Trion: The Bulldogs have a new stadium as they usher in their 75th season of football. They think they can be a playoff team. If they get some timely breaks and capitalize on them, they can.
6. Walker: Even though Walker drops from Class AA, the Wolverines are coming off a season with six more losses than victories and will be adjusting to the philosophies and schemes of a new coach.
7. Mount Zion, Carroll: The Eagles, moving from Region 5 and playing a Region 6 schedule for the first time, were 1-9 last season. Most starters return on each side of the ball, but most of them are the same athletes. The junior class is a strength.
A key issue for Gordon Lee will be settling a quarterback competition, but the good thing is that senior Brad Culbreth and junior Josh Weller both are quite capable of feeding the ball to hard-charging tailback Jacob Groce out of the I formation.
Trojans coach Kevin McElhaney is counting on steadiness in both veteran lines, and junior linebacker or defensive back Austin Goodlet is expected to be among those benefiting from the play up front in the 50 defense.
Gordon Lee slipped from an 8-2 regular-season record in 2006 to 5-5 last year. Yet the Trojans won a first-round playoff game last season, which they failed to do the year before. The last two seasons they’ve finished runner-up to Bremen.
“I’d like to think we’ll be playing for a region championship,” McElhaney said. “It’s definitely been within reach the last two years. I feel with our senior-dominated line, if we can stay injury free, we could be playing for it.”
Trion needs help in a wider variety of areas, not the least of which is tackling. Senior Zach Wallace was hurt in the spring but is expected to anchor the offensive line this season.
“We need some more depth on the line,” first-year Bulldogs coach David Humphreys said. “We’ve got six or seven guys there. During the fall we’ve got to find a couple more to help us.”
The key ball-handlers are expected to be quarterback Daniel Prince, running back Ryan Wilson and wide receiver Ethan Robinson. Wilson is a junior.
Prince and Robinson are among 13 seniors on the squad of 58. How quickly the players can adapt to Humphreys’ philosophies and designs will go a long way in determining whether the Bulldogs can improve on last year’s 2-9 mark.
Bremen won nine games and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs last year, and the Blue Devils’ returners include their 2007 passing, rushing and tackling leaders. Quarterback Clayton McIntosh threw for 553 yards in a ground-oriented offense that was paced by Marcus Coggins’ 949 yards. Linebacker Jay Stansberry is a 6-foot-4, 260-pounder who was in on 105 stops.
Darlington and Walker have dropped from Class AA to join the league — Darlington’s Tigers from Region 7 and the Wolverines from Region 6.
Darlington is coming off a 9-3 season and has dependable players in two-way lineman Ethan Ray (6-2, 240) and center Cleve Jackson (6-0, 245). The challenge will be finding athletes to produce in place of all of last year’s statistical leaders.
Ben Williamson is a first-year coach at Walker, which was 2-8 last season. The Wolverines had winning seasons the previous two years, albeit a combined 12-9.
Steve Rice is a 6-3, 195-pound senior leader who can line up at tight end or linebacker but may end up at quarterback. Classmate Brian McPherson (6-1, 180) is a receiver who could thrive in the newly installed spread offense. Linebacker Davis Feder (5-10, 215) is a captain as a junior.
Bowdon needs its line play to come around if it is to approach a return to its glory times. The Red Devils were 12-2 as recently as 2005 but are coming off a 3-8 season after going 5-6 the year before.
Key returners include running backs J.J. Beasley, who missed seven games last year with an ankle injury, and Ivan Glenn, who ran for 516 yards. Glenn is also a linebacker, as is Jordan Loveless, who made 70 tackles as a sophomore last season. He’s expected to share time with Glenn at fullback.
Mount Zion, Carroll, won its last game in 2007, avoiding a winless season. It must compensate for an undersized offensive line as it tries to make an inroad in this region.
The Eagles return their top three tacklers. Linebacker Aaron Gore, now a junior, led with 85.
Quarterback Christian Heard is also a junior. He threw for 1,352 yards last season and completed 57.6 percent of his passes. Orlando Perkins is a senior running back coming off a season of 799 rushing yards and a team-high eight touchdowns.
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