GAINESVILLE — Nothing is more satisfying than beating your arch-rival -- unless perhaps beating your arch-rival while snapping an 11-game losing streak to said rival.
Prior to Friday, Chestatee football had just one victory over North Hall in program history -- a 17-10 win in 2005. (The War Eagles also hadn't won a season-opener since 2011.)
That all changed on Friday after Chestatee's 42-12 smackdown of the Trojans at War Eagles Stadium.
Now the War Eagles (1-0) will try to avoid a letdown as they prepare for East Hall on Friday. The Vikings (0-1) are sure to be primed after scoring 55 points in a loss (72-55) to Habersham Central in their opener.
Second-year Chestatee coach Shaun Conley took time out on Monday to talk with AccessWDUN’s Jeff Hart about how last Friday’s win will, or could, affect his team as it looks for a second straight playoff berth and first winning season since 2013.
QUESTION: After a couple of days to reflect, how big a win emotionally was Friday for the kids and the program?
ANSWER: It was a huge win for our program. We hadn’t beaten North Hall in a while but, more importantly, really, is that we opened the season with a win. That is what we talked about all offseason was opening the season strong. The kids were extremely excited about beating them, but for me and the coaches it’s really just about that next game. People talk about the rivalry but for it to be a rivalry both sides have to win some games. Now maybe we can start to make it one. It was probably more emotional for the fans than it was for us because we’ve just been trying to get the kids to think about the next game and not get to caught up in it being North Hall.
Q: With that in mind, there was a huge community turnout on Friday and they were into the game from the opening kickoff. What was Monday like around campus?
A: Monday was awesome. We didn’t have a lot of the student body around because of the eclipse, but there were still some ‘Chestatee football’ shirts being worn and just a lot of smiles. The faculty and administration from (Principal) Ms. Jarrard and (athletic director) coach (Ben) Corley on down have been so supportive. I think everyone here wants a winner in every sport and all of the coaches at the school are trying to give (the fans) that. It’s a remarkable community and really most everyone has been supportive. The atmosphere was just phenomenal on Friday. They were loud and supportive and it was just awesome. It was great to see and we were very appreciative of that.
Q: (Senior running back) Nick (Lyles) and (senior quarterback) Storm (Yarbrough) really set the tone with the opening drive (80-yards in four plays, capped by a 32-yard screen pass from Yarbrough to Lyles). Both had outstanding seasons a year ago. But, how much better do you think they can still get?
A: Well with only a year in the system for both of them, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Both of those guys have made tremendous strides in such a short period of time. I think because of just his athletic ability the sky is the limit for Nick. Storm is just now grasping the entire system, and I think you saw on Friday what he can do. Last year Storm would look to one or two guys. We have about five or six guys this year, and he is finding them and utilizing the weapons we have better. Guys like Jacob Goodall (8 carries, 25 yards, 4 receptions 103 yards), and (freshman) Christian Charles (2 rec. 61 yards, 1 TD) both had solid games. I think Nick and Storm and the attention they will get will open things up for the other guys to start shining through. But I don’t think still that we’ve turned the corner on what we’re capable of doing.
Q: The defense was again supposed to be the Achilles heel coming into the season. You said during Fall camp that it would be a work-in-progress. Talk about their effort (holding North Hall’s ground game to just 4.7 yards a carry) against that rushing attack, which is tough to slow down.
A: Our defensive staff -- Artie Ulmer (coordinator), Van Samples, Tyler Pineda, John Brimer -- has worked their tails off to put the pieces together. They’ve moved people from secondary to linebacker, from linebacker to defensive line, whatever they felt was needed in an effort to find the best fit for the kids and for the unit to be the best it can be. A lot of people before the season doubted our defense and that can make it tough when the kids hear that kind of stuff. It has been a work-in-progress. So for them to do what they did on Friday, I’m just super proud of all of those guys. It was a heck of an effort. But by no means have we turned a corner on defense either.
Q: What will be the biggest challenge moving forward after such an emotional win?
A: Honestly, I really don’t know, but we’re going to just keep doing what we do and try to get better each day and each week. We gave (the kids) until Sunday to enjoy what happened on Friday. It was a great feeling for all of us. But that door closed on Sunday. The North Hall game is over and we’ve moved on to East Hall. That is our focus right now and nothing more. We don’t want to be satisfied even though they just ended the streak. They need to want more now. We also didn’t want them to think the season was over if they lost. I think they’re a hungry group and I feel like they’re going to respond well.
