Coach Caleb Bagley is in his second season as head coach for the Coahulla Creek Colts, located in Northern Whitfield County. The Colts broke a long losing streak last year and maybe on the verge of turning the corner. We caught up with Coach Bagley to talk about the growth process of his team and to learn his thoughts on the 2019 Colts. Tune in and listen as Coach Bagley joins the show.
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Michael Collins takes over as the new head coach of the River Ridge Knights. Coach Collins was most recently the Head Coach at Wheeler and also spent time coaching at Chamblee and Pebblebrook. As Coach Collins takes the helm, we asked what are some of his biggest challenges in year one.
“Trying to get players in the best positions to maximize their talent,” he said.
The Knights will look to Chase Begin to take the reigns under center. Aiden Ali could emerge as one of the top threats in the passing game while Kofi Reeves Miller and Amehre Morrison figure to help steady the rushing attack for the Knights.
Defensively, Kofi-Reeves Miller will be called upon to provide leadership for the Knights this season.
River Ridge will have their work cut out for them as they play a very challenging Region 6-6A.
There are no particular games circled on the schedule. Coach Collins looks to have his Knights focused on the one-game at a time cliché.
What will a successful season look like for the River Ridge Knights?
Collins simply said, “If we show daily improvements.”
**Incase you missed it, you can check out our podcast interview with Coach Teter Here: Sequoyah Chiefs Podcast
Coach James Teter has led the Sequoyah Chiefs to the playoffs in 6 of the last 7 seasons. In 2018 the Chiefs had perhaps one of the best seasons at Sequoyah; advancing to the Quarterfinals for only the second time in school history. As the Chiefs prep for the 2019 season, Coach Teter talked about the team’s biggest challenge this season.
“Filling in all of the spots from graduation. We lost a lot of key players from last year’s team. Many of which played for 3 years,” he said.
He continued by saying, “Finding those replacements and building some depth have been the biggest issues this offseason.”
While the Chiefs will be looking to fill those voids, the cupboard is not completely bare in Hickory Flat. The Chiefs will return 3 starters on the offensive line (Nick Balance, Wyatt Hampton and Connor Johnston) that helped pave the way to 235 yards rushing per game in 2018. Sequoyah returns fullback Jaden Mitchell, who was third on the team in rushing last season with 414 yards and 7-TDs. Look for the junior to get more touches this season. Colin Koprowski will take over at quarterback. He will have two play making receivers in Myles McGee and Christian Hodgins. Last season McGee was second on the team in receiving with 21 receptions for 362 yards and 5-TDs.
While the Chiefs also lose a lot on defense, they do return their top tackler in linebacker Grant Gibson. Gibson tallied 120 total tackles (71 solo) last season. Christians Kirby will He will join Gibson at linebacker. Up front, Connor Johnston and Damian D’Alessandro will anchor the defensive line and McGee (56 total tackles in 2018) will line up in the secondary for the Chiefs.
We asked Coach Teter if there were any games that were circled on the schedule.
Teter said, “With the number of player that we lost from last season every game is the most important one on the schedule. We will truly work one game at a time and learn and build off of it.”
Finally, we asked Coach Teter how the Chiefs will define success in 2018.
“With us being so young experience wise success will not be measured by wins and losses but our teams ability to grow and work together throughout the season. If luck has it and we learn from the first half of the season then I think we will be able say we were successful and hopefully make a run at the playoffs,” he replied.
Coach Brent Budde enters his 10th season at the helm for the Woodstock Wolverines. Despite his youthful looks, Budde is one of the most tenured coaches in the county. The Wolverines are coming off of a season which they struggled to find consistency on offense due to injuries. As Woodstock turns the page to 2019, we asked Coach Budde what the biggest challenge would be this season.
Budde said, “Loss of offensive production to graduation.”
The Wolverines lost their starting quarterback to injury and then to graduation last season. They will also be looking to replace their top two running backs. Meanwhile Walker Ormsby did get some valuable experience late in the season under center. Potential stars for the Wolverine offense include Brooks Bortle, Wes Bruno, and De’Andre Turner.
Perhaps the most skilled group for the Wolverines will be their secondary. All-Region selections Andrew Bartolero and David Daniel return to the Wolverines secondary.
Daniel has received major interest from Power-5 schools such as Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Florida State.
The Wolverines defensive front returns bookends Willie Grier and Brett Stefan, while Camden Vaughn is back in the secondary at safety. Last season Vaughn led the team in interceptions.
We asked Coach Budde if there were any particular games that were circled on the schedule this season.
“Every game is important,” Budde said, “especially the region games.”
So how will the youthful Wolverines define success this season?
Budde said, “Be the BEST team that we are capable of becoming.”
Coach Dave Svehla enters his 9thseason at the helm for the Etowah Eagles. Last season he and the Eagles extended their playoff streak to six consecutive appearances.
Some of the key returners for the Eagles offense this season are running back Nick Maddox, lineman Porfirio Acosta and quarterback Dalton Miller. Maddox was an All-Region selection in both 2017 and 2018. Acosta also garnered an All-Region selection, while Dalton Miller returns as the starter at quarterback.
Defensively, the Eagles will again be paced by All-Region linemen Raymone Devezin. Joining Devezin up front will be Cole Milovanovic.
As with last season, we did not have a chance to talk to Coach Svehla, however, we know that his teams are always tough and always play hard. The Eagles seemed poised to compete for another playoff run in 2019, especially with the return of Maddox and Miller on offense.
**Incase you missed it, you can check out our podcast interview with Coach Williams Here: Creekview Grizzlies Podcast
Coach Trevor Williams takes over as the new head coach of the Creekview Grizzlies. Coach Williams inherits a Creekview team that had the most success in terms of wins in school history. We asked Coach Williams what his biggest challenge would be coming into 2019.
“Replacing 26 seniors from a 12-1 team,” Williams said.
Coach Williams continued by saying, “We have a lot of young guys who will be asked to step up and fill big roles. I think Brody Rhodes, who played a lot last year, is poised to have a big year for us.”
Probably the biggest name on offense for the Grizzlies is “Big” John Williams. The Clemson commit was recently named pre-season All-State and was an All-Region selection in 2018. The Grizzlies also return both quarterbacks from a season ago in Brody Rhodes and Ethan Dirrim. Last season, the duo combined for 1,467 passing yards and 16-TDs. Dirrim also rushed for 844 yards and 7-TDs and also caught 21 passes.
The Grizzlies return also return a host of receivers looking to fill the void left by Paxton Nayman, Cade Radam, and Jacob Pfundt.
The defense might have been hit hardest by graduation. Lake Bowman does return at linebacker. As Coach Williams mentioned before, he will be counting on a lot of young guys to step on defense.
We asked Coach Williams if there were any games circled on the schedule this season.
Williams said, “Every one of them. When you coach a sport that only guarantees 10 opportunities, you cannot afford to look beyond the first game and then look to the next one.”
We asked Williams how the Grizzlies would define success this season.
He said, “We define success as giving great effort and a constant pursuit of improvement in all that we do.”
Last season, Coach Josh Shaw guided the Cherokee Warriors back to the post season. Yet the Warriors graduated a strong group of leaders from last season’s team. We asked Shaw about the challenges and to give us his thoughts on the 2019 Warriors.
“Overcoming our youth as we will possibly start 6-7 sophomores. They are extremely talented but it will take some time adjusting to the speed & physicality of 7A football,” said Shaw.
Another challenge Shaw mentioned was having a first year starter at quarterback.
Shaw was complimentary of his team and added that, “We have a great group of kids that are a lot of fun to be around.”
2018 All-Region selections Brady Bocherer and Devin Ellison return at receiver for the Warriors. These were the top two receivers for Cherokee in 2019. Landon Ergle, who moves over to receiver from quarterback will add depth to the receiving corps.
Justin Blalock returns to anchor the offensive line while Keith Adams Junior looks to play a bigger role in the Cherokee rushing attack this season.
On defense, it will be TJ Parks anchoring the line up front. Parks recorded 4 sacks a season ago. Brandon Byrd and Nate Muse return at linebacker while All-Region selection Patrick Dahlen returns to the secondary. Dahlen picked off 5 passes last year for the Warriors.
Which games are circled on the calendar for the Warriors?
“Any regions game because those are the ones that determine the playoffs,” said Shaw.
We asked Coach Shaw how the Warriors will define success this season.
He replied, “Stick with the 3 T’s…Together, Toughness, Turnovers. If we do that great things will happen!”
Coach Chad Phillips and his Starr’s Mill Panthers enter 2018 as the 3-time Region Champion. The Panthers return some key pieces to the 2019 team including running back Kalen Sims. Coach Phillips talks about his team and some of the challenges they face as the 2019 season get’s under way. Will the Panthers be able to defend their region title. Find out Coach’s thoughts as we talk Starr’s Mill Football.
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Sean Thom takes over as head coach for the Lassiter Trojans. As with most head coaches in year one, Coach Thom is trying to change the culture at the East Cobb high school. He inherits a program that won only on game in 2019. Be sure to tune in as we learn a little about Coach Thom and get some inside from the Head Coach’s perspective of the 2019 Lassiter Trojans.
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Trevor Williams begins his inaugural season as head coach for the Creekview Grizzlies. Williams played at Sequoyah returns to the county for his first head coaching job. In today’s episode, we talk about some of his expectations and learn a little about the 2019 Grizzlies. The Grizzlies lost a lot to graduation, but that just means there is plenty for someone to step up. Join us as we get to know Coach Williams and the 2019 Grizzlies a little better.
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