There are just 18 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2025 high school football season. But make no mistake, preparations for the upcoming campaign got underway months ago. And teams throughout northeast Georgia already are in full countdown mode.
With that in mind, we spent the last couple of weeks 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. Our "Two-a-Days" series honors those old-school grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall, asking each area coach two key questions about the state of their respective programs.
Over the next two weeks, AccessWDUN's Friday Game Night will get you prepped for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia.
(Teams run in alphabetical order)...
UNION COUNTY (4-7 in 2024; lost 1st round of Class 2A playoffs)
The Panthers have been no strangers to the playoffs, making the postseason 11 of the past 12 years. And new Panthers coach Rob Stowe is no stranger to the area and football in the northeast Georgia mountains.
Stowe, however, will have to work around another early injury to projected QB starter Cade Dockery while implementing his style of offense. We asked Stowe what it felt like to be back in northeast Georgia after six years in south Georgia and how the QB situation is shaping up heading into the fall.
QUESTION: Coach, first off, welcome back to the area and how has the transition gone in Blairsville?
ANSWER: Thank you. It absolutely feels great to be back in the mountains and there isn’t a better community than Blairsville. Just super people, excited to support us, especially our board and Superintendent John Hill, Principal Josh Davis, and AD Mandy Hunter. Also, the Quarterback Club gives us tremendous support and gives the program what we need.
QUESTION: Y’all have two guys, Cade Dockery and Kamden Kendrick, that have experience at the QB spot. Is Dockery back to 100 percent after his injury and are you planning on using both during the season?
ANSWER: Unfortunately for Cade, he broke his throwing hand in early June. We hope he can be back fairly soon, but he’s obviously lost a lot of reps to get better. When he gets cleared we will let him get more chances. Kamden has obviously benefited from getting all the reps the past month and has grown a lot in making good decisions, not putting the ball in harm's way. Both have worked hard in the offseason, lifting weights, working on their mechanics, and genuinely supporting each other. They have split time in the spring as we wanted to give each guy all the opportunities they could to win the job.
We can win with both. They both bring different attributes. Cade is a tremendous runner. Kamden is a tremendous thrower. But they can also do well enough in the areas they aren't known for (Cade throwing, Kamden running).
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: WEST HALL
- Previous Two-a-Days: TOWNS COUNTY
