Pender looks to maintain Trojans' success while changing styles

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Many programs in northeast Georgia have gone through coaching or system changes in the last few years.

None of them have experienced a shakeup like North Hall this offseason.

After being built on wing-T football for over two decades and using it to transform a program that was an afterthought before Bob Christmas’ arrival into a local power, the Trojans are hitting the reset button.

David Bishop, who had been with the program since the early 2000s and had been head coach since 2013, stepped down after last season. North Hall then hired former Brunswick head coach Sean Pender.

“My wife and I started looking in this direction a few years ago, my wife being from North Georgia,” Pender said. “We had been eyeballing a few places. One of my friends said you’ve got to take a look at North Hall; it’s different. It just seemed to fit. The people here are excellent.”

If North Hall was different for Pender, Pender was certainly different for North Hall as well. He has coached the spread offense for years and will be transitioning the Trojans to that style of offense.

Pender has a lot of coaching experience, with 20 years of head coaching under his belt at a number of south Georgia schools, including Brantley County, Crisp County, Pierce County, and his most recent stint at Brunswick, where he led the Pirates to an 11-1 season in 2021.

He said his goal now is to implement that system change while maintaining the level of success that Christmas and Bishop established. He said he believes his players have the right mindset to make that happen.

“When you have good character and good quality work ethic and people who are going to buy into what you’re doing, you’re going to be successful,” Pender said. “Bob Christmas, more than installing the wing-T, which he did a great job with, he had a lot of that work ethic and the creed that they go by here. Even though the scheme might be different, the hard work isn’t going to change.”

Still, old habits die hard for those players.

“The shotgun snap has been probably the most difficult part of the whole transaction,” Pender said. “But we’re going to get that right. The kids love it. They love throwing the ball around.”

So, who will be throwing the ball around for North Hall’s offense this fall? Last year’s starter Bradford Puryear graduated, leaving the position wide open this offseason.

Pender says junior Tanner Marsh has been the leading candidate for the job.

“He’s going to make mistakes just being a first-year quarterback, but for a kid to transfer over from tight end and outside linebacker to play quarterback in the spread where we’ve thrown a whole bunch on him, his growth has been tremendous,” Pender said.

Quarterback isn’t the only position in which North Hall graduated a lot of production last year. In fact, nearly the entire offense will be new faces this fall. Three players will be looking to replace Kevin Rochester as the primary back in the Trojans' new offense at running back. Juniors Tate Ruth and Hunter Riley, along with senior Ethan Little, will be the primary backs.

Pender also said junior Ajay Jones will be listed as an athlete and will factor into the North Hall offense at both running back and receiver.

“He’ll be a slot receiver, he’ll be at defensive back, he’ll be a punt returner. He’ll just be all over the place, but the main thing for him will be catching the ball,” Pender said.

Juniors Ryals Puryear and Breckan Kirby also will be key receiving targets for the Trojans Kirby and others will also rotate in h-back roles.

Pender said all five of North Hall’s starting offensive linemen from 2021 graduated. Wyatt Gowan and Hayden Chase are the only two players returning with varsity offensive line experience. Sophomore Charlie House will also be a key factor on the line.

Although Pender said the Trojans have seen strong participation through spring and summer workouts, a lack of experience will force many players to play both offense and defense this year. That is most prevalent on the line of scrimmage.

One of the only players to play exclusively defensive line will be junior Landon Potter. Matthew Arcio is a rising freshman who is also expected to be a big factor on the defensive front.

Pender said linebacker is likely the strength of the defense, if not the entire team. Zeke Harris, Austin Self and Trey Patterson will be the three starters. Harris and Self will also contribute on offense.

In the secondary, Will Jackson will be one of the defensive captains and the starter at free safety. He is the younger brother of former Trojan star and current Georgia Bulldog Dan Jackson.

David Garrison, Connor Free and Mason Carrick will round out the defensive backfield.

Pender did not shy away from calling it a rebuilding effort this year between the system changes and the heavy roster turnover, even referring to the biblical story of David and Goliath. He said the team will need to be balanced to be successful

“We cannot be predictable,” Pender said. “We’re going to have to keep teams off balanced by us being balanced and then we’ve got to execute. I know that sounds cliche, but that’s what we have to do.”

North Hall is moving up in classification to Class 4A this year. They’ll be joined by many of their old region and county foes in the new Region 8-4A like Cherokee Bluff, East Hall, Chestatee and East Forsyth. Overall, it’s an 11-team region with two of those teams, Johnson and Seckinger, playing non-region schedules making for an 8-game region schedule for the Trojans.

There will be several unfamiliar faces like North Oconee, Madison County and Cedar Shoals. Of course, they’re all unfamiliar faces for Pender, who is new to the north Georgia area. He said he’s done his homework on the competition, though.

“White County and Dawson County seem to be really competitive games whenever they’ve played North Hall. North Oconee is probably the favorite in the region, and I know Cherokee Bluff won the region in 3A, so those are the teams to beat,” Pender said. “I know Chestatee is a big rivalry game for us. We’re going to play one game at a time and treat them all like championship games. That’s really the only way I know how to approach things.”

With all the change and uncertainty, Pender said he’s been pleased with his team’s attitude throughout the process. He said he believes that will pay dividends for them down the road.

“I think a strength of this team is just our tenacity. Our kids are going to work hard in everything they do. We have kids that don’t give up, so every game we go into, we plan on battling,” Pender said. “Every time we’re on the field, so you’re going to know when you play against North Hall, we’re going to play hard, we’re going to have fun, and we’re going to play with extreme enthusiasm.”

http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/8/1123792/pender-looks-to-maintain-success-while-changing-styles