There are just 27 days left until the kickoff of the 2016 high school football season, but make no mistake, preparations for the 2016 season got underway months ago in weight rooms, sand pits and practice fields throughout the state. And teams from throughout northeast Georgia are in full countdown mode.
With that in mind we spent the last few days 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. We call the series "Two-a-Days" in honor of the grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall. And for the next few days, AccessWDUN will get you prepped for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia. (Teams run in alphabetical order)...
STEPHENS COUNTY
The Indians are one of the holdovers in Region 8-AAAA, which with the addition of Jefferson, Region 8-AAA champion Oconee County, and Region 6-AAAA champion St. Pius, may be one of the toughest in the state in any classification.
Coach Frank Barden and his staff also will a tough task in replacing virtually their entire offensive line in a region that is expected to big and strong up front. AccessWDUN sports writer Jeff Hart caught up with Barden to see how they are preparing for the new changes.
QUESTION: The offensive line is always a key at any level and y’all lost four starters from last year, including UGA-signee Ben Cleveland. How has finding replacements come along during the offseason?
ANSWER: We like to have 7 or 8 guys on the line that can step anytime so that has been a big priority for us since the spring. Right now there’s about 5 or 6 guys we feel pretty good about. No one is penciled in so I don’t want throw any names out yet. I know that we will not be as big up front as we have been the last few years but we may be a little quicker. We’ve been working hard as a staff and the kids are working hard to improve and get to the level we want them.
Q: Y’all are a holdover in the old Region 8-AAAA but now you have the addition of the top two teams from 8-AAA from last year in Oconee County and Jefferson and also 2015 Region 6-AAAA champ St. Pius. How are y’all preparing for what should be a slugfest every week in the new 8-AAAA?
A: It may the toughest region in Class AAAA with two region champs and four of the six teams making the playoffs last year. We have a lot of our skilled guys back but we’re really just trying to get ready for the speed we expect to see in the region top to bottom. We want to be competitive and challenge for a playoff spot. It may come to one or two games overall that decide it. We have to go to Jefferson and St. Pius so making sure we take of our home field will be huge for us.
Previously in Two-a-Days: RIVERSIDE MILITARY ACADEMY
Up Next in Two-a-Days: TOWNS COUNTY
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/7/424439/two-a-days-indians-face-tough-task-in-new-rugged-8-aaaa