War Eagles trying to fill gaps left by graduation

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — After losing 20 players to graduation last season, head coach Shaun Conley and his staff have been busy filling those gaps. 

"We had to adjust during spring practice and again in July," Conley said. "I think we're on the right track now. I think we're pretty solid in where everybody is going to end up playing. We'll continue to evaluate until the opener. We're not there by any means whatsoever, but we're on the right track.

The War Eagles finished 3-7 in 2021; three wins better than the year before. But if you watched the team play, they were much better than the record. They were a touchdown away in the last minute of the previous three games, which would have gotten them in the playoffs.

Among those 20 graduates was quarterback Luke Bornhorst, who passed for 2,034 yards and 20 touchdowns. The two top wide receivers graduated, and most of the offensive line is in college.

And much of the same story on defense.

But there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

The War Eagles return Adrial Vargas and Jason Granados in the backfield, making it the main strength of the team going into the season. The pair became a one-two punch mid-way through the season and added a spark to the War Eagles' passing offense.

Granados led the War Eagles with 382 yards and four scores on the ground, and every time he touched the football, he averaged close to six yards per carry. Vargas was close to the same production with 274 yards and a five yards per carry average.

They're also two of the four starters back this season.

"Those two bring their individual qualities to the team," Conley said. "We don't even rotate them anymore. They rotate themselves, and to us, it really doesn't matter which one is in there."

Finding a suitable replacement for Bornhorst hasn't been too big of an issue for Conley. Josh Kermode, who transferred from Cherokee Bluff last season, has a year of the offense under his belt. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound sophomore spent the previous season under Bornhorst and has taken charge of Conley's spread offense.

"Josh is a very smart, intelligent kid," Conley said. "He's a student of the game, and that shows for him. He's made a lot of improvement throughout the spring and summer. He's progressing at a pretty good pace. 

As for the offensive line and wide receiver groups, Conley says both are a work in progress.

Nate Brazier is the only returning starter on the offensive line. Luis Jordan, who'll play tackle, played some last year. Conley has two freshmen that could earn a starting spot. Cohen Miller and Blake Migalla, as well as junior Alex Contreras.

"It's still a work in progress, but they're progressing," Conley said. "We've got two pretty good ones, but those younger guys are still learning. They will have a huge bearing on how good we are, really – just how they continue to improve." 

Christian Jarrard is the lone receiver back this season. He spent most of his time on the defensive side last season but will be counted on as a primary target for Kermode.

"Christian has had a really good summer," Conley said. "He and Josh have a good connection."

Juniors Beau Edwards, Christian Vargas, and sophomore Zarius Burch have emerged as key players at wide receiver.

Conley said executing the basic stuff will be the most important with all the new parts to an offense that averaged 400 yards per game last season.

"If people load the box and try to stop the run, obviously, we're going to have to throw it," Conley said. "So just being able to execute the simple basic stuff – the blocking, the screen passes, catching it when we throw it. That's a big thing and a lot of time that comes with experience. The more balls you catch, the less you're going to drop. If we can get them all doing that, we'll be OK. Also, being consistent is huge. That's the other thing that's hard when you don't have the experience."

Defensively, they'll run the same scheme but only have four starters returning.

Ethan Clark returns at inside linebacker, and Elijah Pruitt at safety are the two main guys back on defense.

Conley says the two seniors are the captains of the defense.

"Ethan is our quarterback on defense," Conley said. "He does all the calls and gets everybody lined up in the front of our defense. He's really helped our younger kids.

Sazo Dollyhigh, who had 64 tackles last season, is back at linebacker, and at cornerback, Christian Vargas returns.

As far as the rest of the defense, it's a work in progress, much like part of the offense.

"We've got some young guys that will have to step up and play," he said. "It's definitely a work in progress. We've been using this summer to find the right fit for a lot of our players on defense."

Finding a replacement for Jeronimo Marin, the Region 8-4A Player of the Year, isn't going to be easy. Marin recorded 102 tackles, 75 of those were all by himself, and 11 sacks. Oh, he also had 18 tackles for a loss.

"Yeah, replacing a player like Marin is not easy," Conley said.

Freshman Ben Plemons has been a welcomed addition at linebacker, and juniors Eli Raines and Braden Bennett will see time at safety.

Upfront, junior Triston Minor, Brazier, Jordan and sophomore Brendon Carlson will rotate in the three-man front.

The War Eagles will play in a realigned Region 8-4A, which houses Cedar Shoals, Cherokee Bluff, East Forsyth, East Hall, Madison County, North Hall, North Oconee and Walnut Grove. Both Johnson and Seckinger in Gwinnett County are playing a non-region schedule.

With such a large region, Chestatee will get two non-region games as a tune-up against Hebron Christian at home and on the road at White County before opening region play against East Hall on September 9. It doesn't get any easier after the region opener as they'll travel to last year's Region 7-3A champ Cherokee Bluff followed by a home game against North Oconee.

"The hardest thing for us, as much inexperience as we have, we're going to have two ballgames to get everything situated," Conley said. "It's not like we get three or four to get it figured out; we've got to figure it out in a hurry."

Conley said North Oconee is the early favorite to win the region. The Titans beat Jefferson last year for the 8-4A title.

"I think we can compete in our region, but, hands down, North Oconee is the favorite," he said. "This year, we feel we have a chance to win ball games. There is no game on our region schedule that we're going to walk into and say, 'here we are, we are going to win this thing."