Heritage coach Tim James will look to rebuild the Generals, who went winless last season.Heritage Generals
Coach: Tim James (13-37 in five seasons here; 67-64 in 13 years overall)
Last year: 0-10, 0-5 in 7B-AAAA
'13 dreams: The good news for the Generals is that they've rallied from these depths before under Coach James, who had to replace more than 30 graduates last season. The bad news is the veteran coach must replace what little offensive production the team had last year. James won't evaluate this year on wins and losses. He wants to see more competitive fire from his team and some leaders to step up. The most noticeable change is the new spread offense under coordinator Jeremy New, a change expected to make the best use of new quarterback Dylan Bice.
13-for-13 contenders: The 6-foot-3 Bice, only a sophomore, will be counted on to move the sticks in the controlled passing attack, and he has a pair of rangy receivers in Christian King (6-2, 190) and Tyler Meroney (6-4, 175).
Number of interest: 15 - Seniors on the roster, 20 fewer than the program graduated two years ago.
13 years ago: The year 2000 was a big one for James, who was in his final year as an assistant coach at East Ridge before taking the head job. It was also the year he became a father.
Program superstition: The relatively young program hasn't developed any superstitions just yet, but they enjoy a pregame routine called the Generals March. A player or group earns the right to carry a ceremonial sword and lead the team through the Jeff Sims Memorial and down through the stands onto the field.
1-through-3: Sophomore quarterback Dylan Bice
Q. What did you learn from last season that can help you this year?
A. We had a couple of close games last year, and those can help us because we can play with those teams. We're young, mainly sophomores and juniors, so we have to move forward. An 0-10 season will really push you to get better. Nobody wants to go through that again.
Q. You have a new offensive coordinator, and the plan is to throw the ball more. For a quarterback this is good news, right?
A. It's awesome. We're getting to throw it this year, so I like it. Everybody believes in it and we all like it. There's a lot to learn, but we've done well in the 7-on-7s. We've got great receivers, so I think it's going to be good for us.
Q. What are your realistic expectations for this year?
A. I could see us winning at least four games and maybe more. To do that we've got to play as a team this year.
2013 Schedule
Aug. 30 Ringgold
Sep. 6 at Lakeview-F.O.
Sep. 13 Cass
Sep. 20 at Pickens County
Oct. 4 Northwest Whitfield*
Oct. 11 LaFayette*
Oct. 18 at Southeast Whitfield*
Oct. 25 Dalton*
Nov. 1 at Ridgeland*
Nov. 8 Region play-in
*Region 7B-AAAA game
2012 Stats
Passing C-A-I Pct. Yards TDs
Jacob Carter 32-89-9 36% 502 1
Rushing Att. Yards Tds
Caleb Dietz 98 541 1
Ketwun Burns 64 314 2
Receiving No. Yards TDs
Seth Hickman 10 283 0
Caleb Dietz 6 76 0
Roster
1 Blake Burch Junior
2 Gage Hall Sophomore
3 Brady Sambles Senior
4 Brandon Dorn Junior
5 C.J. Bendall Junior
6 Austin Rector Junior
7 Christian King Junior
8 Tanner Nance Freshman
9 Khalyahl Hood Sophomore
10 Damian Goins Senior
11 Jordan Burse Sophomore
12 Eric Goins Sophomore
13 Cody Gann Junior
14 Reed Coulter Sophomore
15 Drew Sherrill Sophomore
16 Blaine Loveless Junior
17 Josh Turner Senior
18 Dylan Bice Sophomore
19 Michael Lewis Junior
20 Sam Faragalli Sophomore
21 Tyler Childers Junior
22 Grant Gunter Junior
23 Michael King Sophomore
24 Chase Shelby Sophomore
25 Colby Wood Senior
28 Lorenzo Hood Sophomore
29 Hunter Harris Sophomore
31 Dylan Graham Junior
33 Nick Thurman Junior
40 Andrew Chavez Sophomore
41 David Besh Junior
43 Brock Elam Sophomore
47 Tyler Phillips Sophomore
48 Devin Dean Junior
50 Cristian Gonzalez Sophomore
51 Nick Garner Sophomore
52 Austin Crane Senior
53 Joseph Millwood Sophomore
54 Brandon Morrell Sophomore
55 Dillon Sisk Senior
56 Austin Alexander Junior
57 Anthony Weldon Sophomore
58 Caleb Waldrep Senior
59 Chris Johnson Sophomore
60 Garrett Brown Sophomore
61 Reagan Dyer Sophomore
62 Christian McDade Sophomore
63 Devin Burkhart Senior
64 Jacob Riggs Junior
65 Will Pettigrew Junior
66 Chandler Faragalli Senior
67 Ryan Deason Senior
68 Gavin Gilbert Sophomore
69 Brian Davenport Freshman
71 Wheeler Owens Sophomore
72 Jonathan Keown Senior
73 Tyler Hall Senior
74 D.J. Luster Sophomore
75 Justin Locke Junior
76 Luke Shehee Sophomore
77 Caleb Ernsberger Senior
78 Isaac Miller Junior
79 Josh Perry Senior
80 Spencer Gladsen Junior
81 Tyler Meroney Senior
85 Hunter Lewis Sophomore
93 Adam Alhyege Sophomore
95 Ahmad Salma Sophomore
98 Jacob Bonine Sophomore