There are just 22 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)...
NORTH HALL (10-3 in 2024; quarterfinals of Class 3A playoffs)
The Trojans had their best season in a dozen years in 2024, winning double-digit games for the first time since 2012 and making their deepest playoff run since then as well. And there is plenty of optimism off Mount Vernon Road that even bigger things could be in store in 2025.
The Trojans return the bulk of their offensive and defensive production from a year ago with another year under their belts in Coach Sean Pender's spread offense. However, after being the hunters the previous two seasons, they will now be the hunted as they try to defend their Region 6-3A title.
We asked Coach Pender how the spring and summer have gone with so much expectation coming into 2025 and what has been the message as they try to equal or better last season with an experienced group.
QUESTION: Coach, y’all return a plethora of experienced talent at virtually every skilled position this season. And’ y’all are coming off the program’s best playoff run since 2012. How satisfying was it to win a region title and make a deep run last year when not many picked y'all to win the region?
ANSWER: We are excited about the experience we have coming back along with some players that we are expecting to have breakout campaigns. We are proud of last year’s accomplishments; however, those are now in the past. Our focus is on improving and moving forward with this season. We will take it one moment at a time.
QUESTION: With all the experience returning on both sides of the ball, what has been the message and focus this summer knowing y’all will be the hunted this season?
ANSWER: Our message to our players is to play hard, have fun, and expect to win. We are going to focus on the task at hand and always play the next play. We need to make sure we learn from the mistakes and successes from the past and apply them to the now. We have a saying we try to express in our actions. “We E.A.T.” EAT is an acronym for Effort/Attitude/Toughness. We will give our best Effort and have a positive Attitude, and be physically, mentally, and spiritually Tough.
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: RABUN COUNTY
- Previous Two-a-Days: NORTH FORSYTH
