GAINESVILLE -- For years, Chestatee football fought toward a breakout season.<br />
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In 2012, the War Eagles got it, posting their highest ever win total and hosting their first state playoff game.<br />
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The question now for Chestatee is can the War Eagles maintain that surge and add to it?<br />
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Stan Luttrell certainly believes so.<br />
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Despite the graduation of a number of standouts from a season ago, the War Eagles head coach likes the make-up of his 2013 squad and says that -- most importantly -- his players believe in themselves.<br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/72420575" width="500" height="375" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/72420575">2013 Chestatee Preview</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/wduntv">WDUN TV</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br />
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"The best thing that came out of 2012 is that we gained some confidence that we could compete with people that maybe (our players) didn't think they could compete with in past," Luttrell said. "The confidence that comes with experiencing those victories carries a long way."<br />
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It most definitely carries weight with upperclassmen, and Chestatee will return a number of them -- 21 seniors -- and it is a group used to winning. In fact the senior class is largely composed of players that have posted a 15-3 record, including last season in varsity play and prior junior varsity competition.<br />
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"They're a good group, and they're looking for big things," Luttrell said. "We've had a great offseason and we're trying to build off the momentum created by 2012 and keep that moving."<br />
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To do that, Chestatee knows it must replace a number of key starters on both sides of the ball, especially at the offensive skill positions.<br />
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That includes a new starting quarterback and running backs -- with returning players making up roughly 1,000 of the near 4,000 yards that War Eagles backs rushed for last season.<br />
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Luttrell says there are plenty of talented, capable runners in the backfield this season, including Blake Buffington, Zac Cheshire, Tray Bryant, William Fayson and Kris Pierce, who will all battle for carries (returning standout A.J. Sijiye will miss the season with a knee injury). Quarterback Wyatt Burgess will also move into a starting role after seeing time during each of the past two seasons.<br />
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"(Burgess has) had one of the best summers of anyone," Luttrell said. "He's worked hard and matured. And we've got a slew of running backs in backfield. We want a 'next-guy-in' mentality. We want three guys to play two positions. There are no superstars right now, but they're all capable and waiting their turn."<br />
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Luttrell says the same is true for the War Eagles on defense, where "seven guys can step in and start at linebacker." <br />
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There is another factor that both offense and defense share: both will be anchored by stout lines of scrimmage.<br />
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Defensive ends like All-Region standouts Cody Humphries and Khalil Cantrell will play key roles, along with Rob Minor, Noah Baxter, Kurt Radford, Matt Pruitt, Brandon Brechter, Grayson Entrekin, Brett Anderson and Cody Kenimer.<br />
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"They're physical and quick. Our strength should be the line of scrimmage," Luttrell said.<br />
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Chestatee will also feature standouts in its secondary, including Buffington, Justin Spears and Tyree Robertson, who will combine with linebackers like Zach Boerger and Seth Strickland to bring pressure on opposing offenses. The unit has been driven by the memory of last year's first round playoff exit to LaGrange in which the visiting Grangers outscored the War Eagles 59-46.<br />
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"I think we can get a lot better on defense. We've got to get people off the field on third down. Go back to playoff game, we had them on third down 15 times and they only punted twice," Luttrell said. "We're still going to be aggressive on defense. We came across a slogan that fits us this summer: 'The best way to handle pressure is to apply it.' "<br />
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Over the coming weeks, the War Eagles hope to turn that pressure into success and another run to the state playoffs -- and perhaps beyond.<br />
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"Our guys were definitely excited to make the playoffs and host a playoff game. And we should expect that in this program now," Luttrell said. "We left last year knowing we should have won that (playoff) game, and if we had we feel like we could have made a big run."<br />
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In the next few days, the War Eagles will look to start another run.
