A long, hot summer is staring us in the face. But football fans take heart: There is no such thing as an offseason in high school football anymore.
The prep season now stretches from the end of August into December (including the state playoffs) -- and yet that's only a small portion of what goes on in a year's cycle for area gridiron squads.
Equally important is the weight training, spring practices, summer conditioning and 7-on-7 passing and linemen camps that fill the schedule.
Doubt it? Just listen to what Dexter Wood -- former Buford football coach and current Wolves athletic director -- had to say about the Buford football team's work in the summer.
"I think that's where so much of the foundation for our success is laid, and it's where we've improved the most as an athletic department," Wood said. "We do so much of the big work and heavy lifting in the summer."
That from a program that has won seven state crowns over the past 10 seasons. In other words, if you're not working hard around the clock, you're falling behind.
No sooner had the 2010-11 school year finished than north Georgia's varsity standouts and hopefuls alike were beginning the summer ritual of the 7-on-7 passing and linemen camps that dot the summer football calendar. (The 7-on-7 competitions feature quarterbacks, receivers and running backs matching up with defensive backs and linebackers in trying to pass up and down a shortened field -- allowing teammates to develop understanding and timing with each other -- while linemen camps feature a number of one-on-one competitions and drilling.)
Flowery Branch High has already impressed at one such showcase, winning Thursday's battles at the Mark Richt 7-on-7 and line camp in Athens.
The Falcons -- who finished second in Region 8-AAAA last season -- went 7-2 during the day, defeating Callaway in the title game. Area programs like Gainesville and North Gwinnett also competed, and the University of Georgia will hold another one-day competition for another set of high school teams on Friday in Athens.
All of it will build toward the beginning of summer and the commencement of the 2011 season -- which will begin for most teams on Aug. 26 (though a number of area programs will kick off a week earlier on Aug. 19).
While that may now seem a long way off -- and it certainly will to those players slogging through workouts and pass routes on sweltering June and July days -- it's, relatively speaking, just around the corner. And we have plenty to whet our appetite and keep us thinking football in between. With that in mind, let's take a peak at what the 2011 football schedule has in store for us in north Georgia.
Of course there are a number of huge showdowns on the slate -- which was released in its entirety by the GHSA a few weeks ago and can be found by clicking here. For instance, even without knowing exactly how each team will look come August, you can be certain that every Gainesville and North Hall fan knows the two arch-rivals will face off on Sept. 16 at City Park in Gainesville.
Likewise, Flowery Branch backers will have their season-ending battle with Clarke Central circled on their calendars as Nov. 4 after the Gladiators denied the Falcons their first-ever region crown last season with a defeat on the last day of the regular season.
Down the road at Buford, the Wolves will open the season -- and a quest for a fifth straight state title -- on the early side, traveling to face Blessed Trinity on Aug. 19 in Roswell. Buford next plays host to Gainesville on Aug. 26 in what will be the Red Elephants' season opener.
Gainesville, which is coming off three straight region championships will then turn around and play host to White County on Sept. 2 at City Park (before taking on North Hall the following week). The Warriors are coming off an impressive season, and many in Region 8-AAA and north Georgia will be intrigued to see how White County responds with new coach Bill Ballard at the helm.
The Warriors supplanted North Hall in Region 8A-AAA last season, and the Trojans will be focused on regaining their place atop the subregion (and region) standings after not claiming a league title since 2007. The Trojans will open their season with two intriguing battles, traveling to face Jefferson on Sept. 2 at Memorial Stadium. The Dragons will be fresh off their traditional rivalry with Commerce -- which will be without Steve Savage at the helm for the first time since 1988. On Sept. 9, North Hall will travel to Atlanta to face a strong St. Pius squad that ended the Trojans last playoff trip in 2009.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg -- a look at each key game of 2011 would take up the entire web site and will have to be saved for the fall preview section -- yet it should make for plenty of debates at the coffee shops and lunch counters of north Georgia, as fans do their own sort of preseason preparations.
Thursday
May 15th, 2025
8:09AM
