There are just 27 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2018 high school football season. But make no mistake, preparations for the upcoming campaign got underway months ago in weight rooms, sand pits and practice fields throughout the state. And teams throughout northeast Georgia are in full countdown mode.
With that in mind we spent the last couple of weeks 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 the series "Two-a-Days" in honor of those old-school grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall, asking each area coach two key questions about the state of their respective programs.
Over the next two weeks, AccessWDUN's Friday Game Night will get you prepped for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia. (Teams run in alphabetical order)...
HABERSHAM CENTRAL
Despite a 2-8 record in 2017, the Raiders were among the top 10 leaders in offense in Class 6A behind dynamic playmaker AJ Curry. However, they also were one of the hard-luck teams in the area dropping six games by just 18 points. AccessWDUN caught up with Habersham coach Benjie Harrison, who talked about "small details" and who they see taking the controls of their high-flying spread attack..
QUESTION: Coach, last year had be frustrating in that 6 of your losses were by just 18 total points. How have y'all addressed finishing close games during the offseason?
ANSWER: Losing is hard anytime, but to lose the way we did probably made it that much tougher. We have tried to put an even stronger emphasis on the small details of everything that we do. To lose the the games we did the way we did, show how small the margin is many times between winning and losing. We also have tried to do things whether it be in practice or the weight room that put an emphasis on finishing. When you put yourself in a position to win late, you have to find a way to do that. Hopefully we have accomplished that this off-season and summer.
Q: QB AJ Curry had a breakout year in his only season in Mount Airy. With him now graduated, how is the battle for that spot shaping up at this point?
A: We feel good at QB. Tre Luttrell is coming along very nicely. He is an extremely competitive young man who is very talented. He does a great job of understanding what each play is trying to accomplish and leading the team. We also feel good about Ryte Woodruff. He has been in the offense now for two previous years and has a great grasp of everything we are doing.
- Previously in Two-a-Days: GAINESVILLE
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: JACKSON COUNTY
