NOTE: There are only 28 days left until the start of the 2015 high school football season -- both around the state and right here in northeast Georgia. With that in mind, AccessWDUN is already in full preparation mode. Over the next three weeks we will give you a sneak peek of what’s in store for 2015 with our "Two-A-Days" series. We will bring you two key questions -- and answers -- for each program in our coverage area, twice a day. Each morning will start a new program, with another highlighted each afternoon. And at the end of each week we will also provide some video footage and commentary from area coaches. Programs will run in alphabetical order.
It’s hard to believe just four seasons ago White County posted a 3-7 record. Since then Bill Ballard has built the Warriors into consistent winners and playoff veterans.
Right now, however, Ballard and his staff are focusing on building both for the short and long term.
The Warriors return just a handful of starters from last year’s playoff squad and will rely on several new faces to provide meaningful minutes. Yet Ballard has been impressed by what he’s seen from his charges so far this summer, including from some younger players, and he believes the team has the make up to take some huge strides in 2015.
QUESTION: You have a young squad, but where will you look for leadership and, who do you think will rely on early in the season?
ANSWER: We have six guys that have played in a varsity game going into this year, one of them being our kicker, Bradley Hurst. He should be solid early. He’s worked hard and had a really good year for us last year. He’s going to kick and punt for us, and we feel like he’s an asset going into the season. We have some linemen back -- Parker Dorsey, James Young, Riley Moulton, Crawford Abernathy. Those guys have some experience and those are some guys we’re counting on to lead the team early in the season. They’re on the offensive line, most of those guys. We’ll hopefully be able to grow up early in this year. We’ve got a good, strong sophomore class. And I feel like if we can past those first couple of games -- we scrimmage Lumpkin, then we play Pickens, then Jackson (County) comes up, and then we go to Pace Academy, and Pace Academy made a deep run in the playoffs last year. Then Buford comes to us -- so we’ll have those four games. Then we have an off week. It’s real important that we develop our identity as a team through those first games heading into the off week. I made a comment to the players that the only thing we have in common with last year’s team is the uniforms. We have to develop our own identity as a team, and that will be done in those games that won’t have a lot of implications as far as playoffs go for us. We’ve got some time to grow up on the field, and it’s going to take some of that because the speed of the game for the young guys is going to be much faster. I could see a good learning curve this year; we grow up and then we learn a little bit and we grow up a little bit more. We’ll see more improvement as the season goes than a team that might be as good as they’re going to get by the third game if they had a bunch of seniors.
QUESTION: Have you reached the point now after being there for four years where you can rely on the system to build the next team and not have to worry about too much of a drop-off from year to year?
ANSWER: I think so. We want to be there; we have a big goal to be there. When you’re in a mountain school, you’re going to have up-and-down deals with classes. We really feel like we’re taking steps to create a mentality of winning, and I think that’s not only happening within the football program but program-wide here in White County -- within our AP program, athletic program in general. We’re trying to get our kids in our community to believe they can be successful, and that starts at the top with (Superintendent) Dr. (Jeffrey) Wilson and (White County Principal) Mr. (John) Osborne. They do a lot to help us achieve the goals we’re trying to achieve here. That’s taking place at White County right now, and it’s a neat thing. We’re making great strides in every area, academically and athletically.
-- NOTE: That's almost the end of our Two-A-Day series -- we have a video recap coming Monday from week three. But don't worry; we are just four weeks removed from the start of football and less than four weeks from the kickoff of the 2015 Friday Game Night preview, which will include all the info you need regarding the upcoming campaign. Look for it in mid-August.
