There are just 22 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2020 high school football season. But make no mistake, despite the COVID-19 outbreak, swirling uncertainty since April, and the cancelation of spring practice, preparations for the upcoming campaign have been underway throughout the state since early June. And teams throughout northeast Georgia 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 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 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)...
RABUN COUNTY
The Wildcats have been one of Class 2A’s most consistent winners since 2012 averaging more than 10 wins a year with five quarterfinal appearances and a berth in the 2017 state championship game. But coach Jaybo Shaw said it’s time to really step things up in 2020.
And the time most certainly seems now if they are to accomplish that. They have the nation’s No. 1 junior quarterback prospect in Gunner Shaw (4,599 combined yards, 62 TDs in 2019) and a slew of talent up and down the roster.
We caught up with Shaw to see if they are making progress and how his group is handling heightened expectations.
QUESTION: Coach, you lost some good receivers but with the addition of Adriel Clark from Riverside, and some talented guys a year older now, how is Gunner and a remade receiving corp meshing so far?
ANSWER: I've been really proud of how far we have come in this short amount of time. Gunner and all of our receivers have a chance to have a very special year of production. I look forward to watching this group get better and better as the year progresses.
QUESTION: Y’all have stated it’s time to take the next step as a program and be a state title contender every year. How have the guys embraced that attitude and are you seeing it translate on the practice field so far in the summer?
ANSWER: Our football team loves the challenge that our 2020 schedule presents. This football team loves to compete for each other and Rabun County. Our goals are clearly defined as we want to bring a state championship to Rabun County as well as winning a region championship. This team has shown great progress so far on the practice field and I expect nothing different moving forward.
- Previously in Two-a-Days: NORTH HALL
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: TOWNS COUNTY
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/7/921043/two-a-days-rabun-county