There are just 33 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2017 high school football season. But make no mistake, preparations for the upcoming campaign got underway months ago in weight rooms, sand pits and practice fields throughout the state. And teams 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 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 few days, 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)...
JOHNSON
A return to a region schedule proved tough for the Knights, as they jumped into a league that included plenty of powers, including a dominant Buford, and finished 0-10. That said, Johnson coach Jason Roquemore said his young Knights entered the campaign with their eyes wide open and learned valuable lessons that he hopes his team can put to good use in 2017. The coach, entering his sixth season in Oakwood, talked about what he's seen from his Knights this summer and their resilience.
QUESTION: What have you seen from the team this summer? Which players are stepping forward and showing leadership qualities at the moment?
ANSWER: Summer's always tricky, because, as a coach, you always want everyone there every day you can get have them. And it's one of those things, nowadays kids have to balance a lot. We want them to make sure they spend time with family and go do other things, which we encourage them to do. But it's been a good summer. I've been really pleased with our effort and the way we've been working. It's kind of hard to see exactly where we're at in the process just because of the inconsistency of having everyone here, day-in, day-out. But that's the good thing after dead week; you circle the wagons, get a little closer. We go to camp (this) week. So we're looking forward to having them all together at camp.
Q: From what you've seen, how determined are the kids to bounce back from last season's 0-10 mark.
A: We knew going into it, from the schedule we were going to play and the region we play in that it was going to be difficult at times. But I think our kids have done a good job of just embracing the competition, and I felt like -- even though the outcomes didn't turn out like we wanted -- our kids did a great job of continuing to fight and play hard, not only for me but for each other. Any time you're doing that you can build on that. Last year we had a lot of guys that had an opportunity to play that didn't have a lot of grass time, so we're looking forward to getting those kids back and watching them progress to take the next step.
- Previously in Two-a-Days: JEFFERSON
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: LAKEVIEW ACADEMY
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/7/558680/two-a-days-johnson