There are just 35 days left until the kickoff of the 2016 high school football season -- 17 days until the first practice in pads -- 10 until the first fall conditioning practices may commence.
But make no mistake, the 2016 season got underway months ago -- not in the record books, but in weight rooms, sand pits, and practice fields throughout the state. And teams from throughout northeast Georgia are now in the final stages of preparations that began almost as soon as the 2015 season ended.
With that in mind we spent the last few days catching up with programs around our area to get a feel for how spring practice went, how the summer is going, and what coaches believe the fall will look like. We call it the series "Two-a-Days" in honor of the grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall. And for the next two weeks, AccessWDUN will get you prepped -- twice a day -- for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia. We present them in alphabetical order, starting with Apalachee and touring all over the place before ending back up near the start in Winder-Barrow.
We're already hunkering down in anticipation of kickoff; we hope this helps to get you in the mood too...
FANNIN COUNTY
Fannin County sat 4-3 heading into the final month of the season in 2015 needing just one win to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Instead, a double overtime loss to West Hall started them on a three-game losing streak to close out the season to watch a promising season fizzle out. They dropped the finale to Franklin County on a last-minute touchdown by the Lions.
Coach Jim Pavao told AcessWDUN's Jeff Hart that finding that motivation to help them put all that behind them will be a big key for the Rebels in the 2016 campaign.
QUESTION: I’m sure the end of the 2015 season left a bitter taste in y’alls mouths losing two games by four points or less. How are you using that as motivation as you move forward this offseason?
ANSWER: That was a tough way to close it out. Really all we needed was to win one game and we’re in the playoffs. It was a disappointing finish for sure. What we have been focusing on this offseason is finding a way to close out games. We had the lead in all three of those games at the end of the season but didn’t finish strong. But that being said, it’s a new team and we’re in a new region so really right now we’re just trying to get ready for that first game [at Gilmer, Aug. 19]. But a key for us will be finding a way to win those close games. That has been our Achilles Heel the last couple of seasons. We have the talent to compete; we just need to finish strong.
Q: Y’all had no trouble scoring points last year averaging 32 points a contest behind rising senior QB Brad Davis. But the defense allowed 29.6 ppg, including yielding 118 points over the final three weeks. And, you will have a young secondary in a region that is offensive-minded, especially through the air. How key is rebuilding the secondary in a hurry?
A: We lost three seniors (in the secondary) that started two years each for us so that will be an area that we will need to find guys that can do the job. Every team in our region has a good offense so finding a way to slow teams down and get that one big stop will be important. East Hall, Dawson County, Union County, they all throw it a lot so we’re going to have to ask our guys to grow up quick back there. We think our offense will be able to score some points and if we can do that that will take some of the pressure of the young guys on defense. It all works together. But we like what we’ve seen so far and hopefully we’ll keep improving and be ready when the season starts.
Previously in Two-a-Days: EAST JACKSON
Up Next in Two-a-Days: FLOWERY BRANCH
