Chestatee will look to seniors to get back on track in 2019

GAINESVILLE — Scoring has not been an issue for the Chestatee program in the past two seasons. Stopping others have been.

Is an unstoppable force on offense better than having an immovable wall on defense?

No one really knows the ultimate answer to that for sure, and both strategies over the years have borne out to be true when adopted. But what we do know for Chestatee coming into the 2019 campaign is that the War Eagles will have to find a way to both improve on a minus-20 turnover ratio (27 turnovers, including 17 interceptions) on offense while also shoring up a defense that allowed the most points (561, 56.1 points per game) in Class 4A in 2018 if they are to be competitive in a brutal Region 7-4A.

Of course, it would be easy to look back on the 2018 season for Chestatee, which finished with a 1-9 record, its lowest win total since going winless in 2015, and say the defense was the biggest issue. But the War Eagles were breaking in a new defensive coordinator in Ben Corley, who employed a new system and moved players around to new positions like a chess master.

What the War Eagles will have is 16 returning seniors, “the most (seniors) I’ve had in a year since I’ve been here,” said fourth-year coach Shaun Conley, and 16 returning starters overall. They also will have one of the more dynamic offensive duos in the state in junior quarterback Christian Charles (1,781 yards passing, 1,446 rushing, 26 combined TDs) and senior receiver Seth Pressley (81 catches, 1,189 yards, 7 TDs) who both are expected to be even more polished in 2019.

For Conley, it appeared finding that immovable defensive presence was the higher priority.

Senior Bryant Eddy takes over Jarrard’s spot at linebacker and he will be joined in the middle by seniors Robbie James and Hunter Chambers along with a talented group of sophomores in Geronimo Marin, who may also play some on the line, Drew Knickel, and Anakin Rowland. Pressley and juniors Ethan Corley and Evan Burgess will man the secondary.

Seniors David Woodard and Jesus Aguillares should be fixtures on the defensive line. Developing depth is always a key element and Conley said they are close to building the numbers back up to be able to be competitive on a consistent basis.

“This is the second year for coach Corley and the guys in that system and the guys have made a lot of progress since the end of last year in understanding what we want to do,” Conley said. “The key to winning in football is defense. The championship teams have those great defenses. That’s what we’re trying to build. 

“We put a lot of guys in new positions last year and it takes a while to learn a new position. But we have eight guys coming back and if we can continue to find the right combinations and the best fits for the talents we have we should be much better this year.”

The offense, which also returns eight starters, figures to be in good hands with more experience overall led by Charles and Pressley. Senior MJ Jarrard returns at running back with senior receivers Matthew Smith and Caleb Carter giving the War Eagles a talented group to throw too. But the key will be upfront.

Chestatee returns just one starter on the offensive line -- senior Jacob Gibson -- and they will not be big by any measure. A senior-laden group of Seth Sertain, Erick Briseno and Abi Leon, along with junior Grant Seigfried and sophomore Levi Stowers, saw spot starting duties in 2018 and several will need to step forward to help protect Charles and keep him upright.

“With Christian and Seth coming back and the kind of seasons they had last year, and they’ve gotten better in the offseason, we feel like this could be a dynamic offense,” Conley said. “MJ had never played running back until last year and is looking more confident and has shown great improvement. He could be another weapon for us out of the backfield.

“But the line, just because we lost some key guys from last year, will be the key for us. We have several guys we’re looking at from last year to step up, and building some depth is something we’re trying to do. We have to give Christian some protection if we want to have a chance to move the ball.”

Special teams almost always plays a key role and the War Eagles will have sophomore Deangelo Pruitt for the placekicking and punting duties. Chambers will be the long snapper while Pressley, Smith, and Carter give them several speedy options in the return game.

The War Eagles play in arguably the toughest region in the state in any classification and have seven playoff teams from 2018 on the schedule. Even with marked improvement across the board, the War Eagles would probably still be a longshot to make the playoffs.

Conley said the main focus is just improving what they do on a daily basis. Wins, he said, will come if they can do that.

“We always shoot for a better than .500 record and playing for a playoff spot,” Conley said. “But this is such a tough region, and our non-region schedule is also very difficult and a lot of the teams on our schedule have gotten better as well. There isn’t an easy game on our schedule.”

The War Eagles have a tough start opening at home against arch-rival North Hall and Dawson County, who beat them by a combined 121-7 in 2018, and will us that early stretch as a measuring stick to see how much progress they have made and where they need to go.

“We’re focusing on (North Hall) mainly just because it’s the first one,” Conley said. “We have to focus on our opponent for that week only. But we’re also looking at those two games because of last year and to see where we are, what we’ve improved on and what we need to correct.”

The War Eagles will face two vastly-improved squads in East Hall and Fannin County before they open region play on the road against preseason favorites Denmark and Marist. They return home to play rival Flowery Branch, with two-time defending state champ Blessed Trinity to follow the Falcons. If they can manage an upset somewhere in that gauntlet, they finish at home against White County and West Hall and could be in the playoff hunt by season’s end.

“Our goal is to build off of last year. Overall we’ve had a great offseason,” Conley said. “The guys are bigger and faster and I think everyone understands better what we want to do on both sides of the ball. Again, just a brutal schedule for everyone in the region.

“Really what we’re looking for is to just improve each day, each week. If we can get that every day from the guys along with the effort and toughness, I’ll be very pleased. With such a tough schedule, we have to work on ourselves and get better or it will be a long season.

“But the guys have worked very hard the entire offseason. I like where we are right now.”