NOTE: There are only 29 days left until the start of the 2015 high school football season -- both around the state and right here in northeast Georgia. With that in mind, AccessWDUN is already in full preparation mode. Over the next three weeks we will give you a sneak peek of what’s in store for 2015 with our "Two-A-Days" series. We will bring you two key questions -- and answers -- for each program in our coverage area, twice a day. Each morning will start a new program, with another highlighted each afternoon. And at the end of each week we will also provide some video footage and commentary from area coaches. Programs will run in alphabetical order.
Union County is coming off a historically good 2014, a season that tied a program record for most wins in a single campaign. But now the Panthers must replace a number of the standouts that helped build that 9-2 record.
Union County graduated 15 seniors from last year’s squad. Yet the Panthers also return several standouts -- including senior quarterback Joseph Mancuso and receiver Sam Gilbert.
At this point coach Brian Allison is spending time trying to decipher who the other stars will be, but a strong summer turnout has the coach optimistic about what lies ahead...
QUESTION: With a number of starting positions open what have you seen this summer? Do you feel like you’re making progress toward finding the next batch of standouts?
ANSWER: I think we’re still trying to find ourselves a little bit in certain areas. We’re still searching a little bit. I think we’ve got a chance down the road to be successful, but we’ve got, I think, three seniors starting on defense, and the rest of them are sophomores and juniors, so we’ve got a long way to go there. And we’ve got a couple of new offensive linemen that we’re trying to get ready. I think we’ve had a good summer, and I think we’ve got an opportunity to be successful, and I think we’ve got an opportunity to be competitive -- but I think we’ve got a long way to go.
QUESTION: What kind of senior season do you believe Joseph Mancuso is in for -- how has he improved? And who are some other players that you may be leaning on?
ANSWER: I think for Joseph maturity is the biggest thing. I think he’s starting to see things better, and he’s recognizing what the defenses are giving him. He still likes to throw that sucker deep, but he’s starting to understand what we’re trying to get out of it, and I think so far that’s been the main difference. ... Sam Gilbert is a returning receiver from last year that was a big-play guy for us and catches the ball well. He’s done a nice job. We’ve got a sophomore that we’ve been really impressed with this summer -- Cole Wright -- he’s also our back-up quarterback and will be working to be the quarterback next year most likely. And then we’ve had our kicker who played some receiver last year, just not a lot of it, he’s come out -- Knox Kiernan -- and shown some really good progress.
COMING UP NEXT: West Hall
