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Stephens County's Cam'ron Lacy gets loose for yardage against Franklin County.
Credit: The Toccoa Record Facebook page
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Stephens, Putnam and Lincoln Keep Perfect Region Records Intact
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We’re getting to the business end of the regular season. There’s a couple of region games left and, in Early County’s case, a non-region schedule to complete to get to the post-season when you’ve already clinched the region title.
So, this week, we duck into some regions that are tough and are creating fun sprints for the rest of us to watch over the next three weeks -- and then math will probably be involved.
First stop is Toccoa and checking in with Stephens County Head Coach Wesley Tankersley…
They’re coming off a bye week at 6-1 in Region 8-3A and have Hart County this weekend. The Indians are the only team without a loss in region play as Hebron Christian, Hart County, Oconee County and Monroe Area each have one loss.
“The biggest thing we’ve learned is that we had a chance to win every game we had been in,” Tankersley says. “Our experience and talent returned from last year and, thus far, we’ve done that this year. The guys have played well, played hard, and we have a big senior group this year.”
The non-region schedule yielded wins over Habersham Central, Flowery Branch, Dawson County and White County, with the one loss a tough game against Rabun County (a 14-7 final). And Tankersley feels the win-loss record is about right.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he adds. “But frankly, we could have been 6-1, 7-0, or 3-3 with the way we have our non-region schedule this year. They’re all good teams that give you good competition. I know, as a coach, what we had going into those games. All we wanted in them was a chance to win.
“The kids work every day to get better and they did that from Game 1 through Game 5. We also found some younger players who have stayed in the roles we gave them early on and they’re helping us out, too.”
The Rabun game, he tells me, was neck-and-neck with a 7-6 score into the third quarter. In Coach Tankersley’s mind, it gave the staff a chance to see what they needed to do going forward.
“In our region, top to bottom, every team is really good,” he says. “You have five teams that can compete with one another and win against each other. Three of the teams in the region are all ranked in the top 10 right now and it’s like being in the playoffs every game every week. You really can win it or lose your position for the playoffs each time out right now.
“Really, you could be 6-1 and on top of the region right now. But if you lose your last three games, you could be in trouble.”
And Stephens’ last three are Hart, at Oconee, and hosting Hebron Christian. Tankerlsey tells me that each of those remaining defenses are tough, physical and well-coached. Hart, as an example, has what he calls a “ginormous” defensive line that he’ll have to contend with at home.
So, we’ll definitely see how that region shakes out between now and November.
Stop No. 2 is Eatonton and Putnam County High...
Shaun Pope and the War Eagles have improved every single year he has been in charge. Last year, they had double-digit wins for the first time since 1996 and made it to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1994.
Region 4-AA has three highly competitive teams in region play right now -- Putnam at 4-0 with Thomson and Laney is at 3-1. All three teams are at 6-1 overall as they get ready for the homestretch. Pope came to Putnam from Ware County where he was an assistant under Ed Dudley before he moved on to Carrollton.
“With the success we had in 2021, this season was more unfinished business for us,” Pope admits. “We realized after the Fitzgerald game, seeing what they ended up doing last year, we were right there as a program. We were getting a good core of players back who had played meaningful reps in 2021 -- not necessarily starters. By January, we were really hungry and by summer guys were starting to step up and get ready for this year. They knew how close they were and it has really fueled this season.”
Baldwin, Oconee County and Jasper County was the non-region schedule for Putnam County. Coach Pope, when I asked him, thought going into the year they could have started 0-2, but they won one and lost one.
“We knew we had to get to their levels of play,” Pope says. “You want to compete with teams like that. But you just don’t know how the ball will bounce. You know how Baldwin and Coach Hicks will be. You know how Oconee County will be.”
The defense has been one of the stalwarts for the program this season. All you have to do is look at the run of three straight shutouts to launch into region play -- plus the six given up last time out against Glenn Hills two weeks ago.
So, your region math is: 160-6 when it comes to point differential this season-to-date.
Eatonton is, basically, halfway between Atlanta and Augusta and an hour northeast of Macon, so media coverage is a little hard to come by on a consistent basis. Coach Pope has been in places like Ware County and Dublin, so he knows the balance of success and coverage where you fall between the media cracks.
“In Dublin and Waycross, you have as good a kid there as you do anywhere in the state. And it’s the same here at Putnam. It is a negative because of what folks miss when you have good players and good students in the classroom as well. It hurts us on the recruiting trail as well because of where we are.”
The rest of the region schedule -- Thomson, Laney and Washington County- -- will be the test for all four of those teams we’re talking about in this region. This round robin will let you know the order of the postseason. It’s that close ... and it’s been great for Coach Pope to see the evolution of support over the last few seasons.
“Football means a great deal here,” Pope admits. “You go back to Coach (Al) Reaves and what he did in his time here -- the stadium is named after him -- and we get to re-establish that now. We’re getting to the point where folks talk about rolling up the sidewalks on Fridays. Seven years ago, we may have had 250 people in the stands. It’s packed now. The school system and administration here have been revamping the fieldhouse and practice facility and it’s been great to see.”
One other thing I noticed was a member of the coaching staff at Putnam: Charles Winslette is in charge of H-backs and tight ends in his 47th year of coaching. Coach Pope told me something I didn’t know -- that Winslette was on the 1967 title-winning team in Class C. That was the last time Putnam has won a title, by the way.
That’s the history the War Eagles are chasing this year...
Last stop is Lincoln County and head coach, Lee Chomskis, who has the Red Devils in the region lead in Class I Division II Region 8. They’re in a four-way overall tie at 5-2 and tied in region at 2-0 with Greene County. Aquinas and Washington-Wilkes are a game back at 1-1 for the final few weeks of the season.
“We thought we had a great summer and a great time in the weight room with a good group of seniors with us,” Chomskis tells me. “We’ve got good leadership here this year.”
Their lone scrimmage was against a quickly-rebuilding and resetting Cross Creek side and Chomskis admits that Lincoln County started more slowly than he would have liked. Out of that, five freshmen got quality playing time out of the blocks and have matured very quickly in their time to learn and adapt to what is going on.
“They have taken some time to get there, but those freshmen are major contributors for us.”
The non-region schedule was against an improved Bryan County team, McCormick (S.C.), ECI, Commerce, and Richmond Academy.
“ARC, ECI and Commerce are all physical and well-coached teams,” Chomskis says. “They all helped us realize just how far we needed to go to be successful this year. We went into the ARC game at 2-2 and they’re very talented. It was that game where I think we started playing like I thought we would. The Commerce game woke us up as a team, I think.”
Lincoln County started their region play against Washington-Wilkes and Aquinas -- a big rival along U.S. Hwy. 378 and a stout program in Augusta its own self.
“Having the Washington-Wilkes game first gives you the chance to get a leg up in region immediately,” he adds. “The last two seasons, we’ve been playing catch up in region play after losses to them both. We went to Washington, played well, and came from behind to win -- even if the final score may not be indicative of the closeness of the game. We haven’t beaten Aquinas and Washington-Wilkes since 2011 and we came from behind on three occasions in the win over them.”
Lincoln County has Greene next and Chomskis knows their defense is very athletic and can “cause havoc.” He and the team feel prepared but knows it won’t be a small task to win as the Red Devils chase their first region title since 2012.
Those three are just a small part of teams chasing different storylines to make it to Season Three -- only three weeks away...
And we’ll be watching...
Play it safe, everyone... We’ll see you soon...
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