There are just 26 days left until the kickoff of the 2016 high school football season -- 8 days until the first practice in pads -- and just 1 until the first fall conditioning practices may commence.
But make no mistake, the 2016 season got underway months ago -- not in the record books, but in weight rooms, sand pits, and practice fields throughout the state. And teams from throughout northeast Georgia are now in the final stages of preparations that began almost as soon as the 2015 season ended.
With that in mind we spent the last few days 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 it the series "Two-a-Days" in honor of the grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall. And for the next two weeks, AccessWDUN will get you prepped -- twice a day -- for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia. We present them in alphabetical order, starting with Apalachee and touring all over the place before ending back up near the start in Winder-Barrow.
We're already hunkering down in anticipation of kickoff; we hope this helps to get you in the mood too...
WEST HALL
The Spartans under Tony Lotti have gotten things turned around with three straight playoff appearances after going 11 seasons without making the playoffs. However, they will enter 2016 with several key questions, especially in the all-important kicking game. They do return some experience in some key skilled positions but overall depth may be an issue.
They also will have little time in working the kinks out as they open against 2012 state champion Gainesville in the two schools’ first meeting since 2011. AccessWDUN sports writer Jeff Hart found coach Tony Lotti during a scrimmage with North Forsyth and asked him how they are preparing for a new region and a tough schedule.
QUESTION: You had a stellar kicking game top-to-bottom the last few seasons with punter Anthony Lotti (Wisconsin-signee), kickoff specialist Cesar Villa, and field goal kicker Israel Lopez. But, Lotti and Villa have graduated. How are things coming in finding replacements in those key areas?
ANSWER: Anthony had a net average of about 43 yards and could flip the field for us at anytime. That is big in close games. Cesar did an excellent job of putting the ball in the end zone on kickoffs. We’re regrouping a little bit in this area but we feel we have some guys that can step up. We’re looking at (junior) Gavin Armour, who has worked hard and built some leg strength and improved his technique overall, at punter. We like his progress so far. Israel [a junior] also has been working on his leg strength to drive the ball on kickoffs and he’s making progress as well. You know me, I'm big on the kicking game because it's just such an important part of the overall process as far as wins and losses so it’s been a big area of emphasis for us. I think we’ll be in a good position by the time the season starts.
Q: A tough schedule awaits and a new region where most of the schools you will face will have numbers on y’all. Depth is an issue for most programs. But, y’all return several key players in some skilled areas. How do things look heading into the opener with Gainesville?
A: Well, when I took this job numbers were a problem, but we’ve been building those relationships and I really feel we’re getting to the kinds of numbers to sustain a successful programs for years at a time. We lost some key guys but we also return a lot of experience from last season, including the quarterbacks. Jake Satterfield and Cam Shirley both are back and all of the wing receivers and our secondary is back with seniors Ashun and A.J. Favorite anchoring those guys. Our offensive line has some depth with three guys -- junior Josh Taylor and seniors Michael Kidd and Damien Fouts -- giving us some good experience up front. The key will be how they handle the mental part of the season. We're coming right out of the gate with an extremely tough opponent in Gainesville. I put together a tough non-region schedule to get us ready to compete in the region, which is extremely difficult. It's all about competing in the region and getting into the playoffs. That’s our goal again this year.
Previously in Two-a-Days: UNION COUNTY
Up Next in Two-a-Days: WHITE COUNTY
