CLEVELAND — Bill Ballard had a feeling his young White County football roster might take a few lumps in 2015.
This season, the Warriors hope to dole a few out.
A year older, wiser and -- perhaps most telling -- stronger and faster, White County believes it can take big strides forward and perhaps rekindle the state playoff streak that ended at three straight last campaign.
"Last year we couldn't finish a few games physically -- we were playing so many sophomores, and they have a hard time finishing against seniors," said Ballard, whose Warriors return almost their entire starting defense and plenty of talent amongst their offensive skilled players. "We were tested last year, and we're expecting big things, especially defensively. Hopefully we'll be better."
With just four region contests in the newly-shaped Region 7-AAAA, White County also hopes to use its intriguing non-region schedule to gain even more confidence and experience -- which could be a must in a region that includes metro-Atlanta powerhouses Blessed Trinity (Class AAA runner-up in 2015) and Marist (Class AAAA quarterfinalist in 2015).
"We're still young if you look at the class structure on the roster; we've only got three seniors on defense," Ballard said. "So hopefully we can continually grow."
With a deep and experienced offensive backfield and some speedy receivers, the Warriors hope to show more of their triple option offense, including more shotgun sets with converted running back Kaleb Crain taking over at quarterback. He will be aided by talented sophomore Sevaughn Clark, who will play receiver and could also take a few snaps, as well as backs Nasser Clark, Ky Crowe and Desmond Lowery.
Meanwhile, the defense hopes to hit the ground running after graduating just one key starter in safety Adam Johnson. And while White County did graduate All-State kicker Bradley Hurst on special teams, it does have a talented junior taking over in Brett Bardenwerper, whose older brother, Mark, was a standout for the Warriors.
WHITE COUNTY: NEED TO KNOW
- MASCOT: Warriors
- TEAM COLORS: Navy, White and Vegas Gold
- CURRENT REGION: 7-AAAA
- HEAD COACH/RECORD AT SCHOOL: Bill Ballard, sixth season, 28-26
- 2015 RECORD/ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 3-7
- KEY LOSSES: Saf Adam Johnson, OL/DL Parker Dorsey, TE/DE Crawford Abernathy, OL/DL James Young, QB Dane Quinn, RB Clancy Loudermilk, PK/P Bradley Hurst
- OFFENSIVE STYLE: Triple option -- The basics of White County’s attack stay the same: pound the ball on the ground and then hit for big plays through the air and a more experienced group of players should allow for more variation this season.
- KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: 5 returning starters -- Jr. QB Kaleb Crain, Sr. RB Nasser Clark, So. ATH Sevaughn Clark, Jr, RB Desmond Lowery, Sr. RB Ky Crowe, Sr. OL DJ Dover, Sr. TE Sam Smith
- DEFENSIVE STYLE: 50 -- The Warriors will look to stuff the run first and return plenty of experience from top to bottom.
- KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS: 10 returning starters -- Sr. DL Will Havlen, Jr. DL Josh Munson, Sr. LB Trevor Morgan, So. LB Jay Leposke, So. Saf Sevaughn Clark, Jr. LB TJ Ballard, Jr. LB Desmond Lowery, Sr. LB Nasser Clark
- SPECIAL TEAMS: Jr. PK/P Brett Bardenwerper, Sr. KR Malik Cannon
- STRENGTH: Offensive skill positions/defense -- The Warriors have plenty of talent and weapons at running back and quarterback and some speedy receivers. Meanwhile, the defense returns almost completely intact from a season ago -- only the players are bigger and faster than a year ago.
- QUESTION: Special teams -- Bardenwerper comes from a great lineage of kickers but has yet to perform consistently in a game situation (he did drill a field goal against Buford in his only previous start two years ago).
- KEY GAMES: White County faces a series of border battles against rivals and hopes to be hitting its stride by the time it takes on oldest foe Lumpkin County in Game 2 (Aug. 26). The contest against arch-rival North Hall comes midway into the season and will give the Warriors a great measuring stick. White County opens the region season against Class AAA runner-up Blessed Trinity (Oct. 7 at home), while traditional power Marist ends the regular season (Nov. 4, away).
- TRENDING: The Warriors took a step back due to youth in 2015, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in four years. Those same young players are back this year and should be better both for the experiences of last season and hard work in the weight room and track and field program. White County has experienced just three losing campaigns over the past 10 seasons, and the ingredients seem to be in place to get back to their winning ways. With just five teams in Region 7-AAAA, the question is can the Warriors upset one of or both of the big metro Atlanta private schools on the schedule?
2016 SCHEDULE
Aug. 19 at Franklin County
Aug. 26 at Lumpkin County
Sept. 2 vs. Habersham Central
Sept. 9 at Rabun County
Sept. 16 vs. North Hall
Sept. 23 at Dawson County
Oct. 7 vs. *Blessed Trinity
Oct. 21 vs. *Chestatee
Oct. 28 at *West Hall
Nov. 4 at *Marist
*- Indicates region contest
(All kickoffs scheduled for 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
