New-look Raiders looking for first win

MOUNT AIRY - New Habersham Central football coach Gene Cathcart knew there would be growing pains. But he was hoping they wouldn't hurt so much.

The Raiders come into Friday night's Region 8-AAAA game 0-2 with the prospect of trying to get their first win of the season against perennial power Cedar Shoals.

The Raiders will play host to the Jaguars at 7:30 p.m.

"It's definitely going to be a challenge for us," Cathcart said. "They have a lot good athletes over there and they looked sharp the other night. Hopefully we can get a few things corrected and have a chance."

Cedar (1-0, 1-0) won its only game 22-0 over Rockdale County last week.

Habersham looked better last week in a 30-17 loss to Loganville, where they mounted two comebacks before running out of gas in the fourth quarter. They were trounced by Heritage in their opener 49-28.

"I thought we improved from the first game and hopefully we've improved since last week," Cathcart said. "But I couldn't be more proud of a group of kids than I already am with these guys. They're working very, very hard and are picking things up quickly.

"We're young but I think we're going to be very good by the end of the year. Everyone needs to be just a little patient and things will work out."

Cathcart knows how to win. He was the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Greenwood high in South Carolina before coming to Habersham via Presbyterian (S.C.) College. While at Greenwood, they won back-to-back state titles at the Class AAAA classification.

"It takes time to build something and we have a solid nucleus here. Once we get everything into place, I think we'll be a tough team to beat. And then maybe we can start our own tradition of winning," he said.