The first time I saw Wesley Tankersley as a head coach was when he was at Ridgeland. 

It was in one of those three-way-dance-mini-games early in a postseason to determine who was going on to Round One and who was staying home. It was one of the wildest environments I’ve ever been in... 

One quarter each for three teams. You win a coin toss, you get to wait for the winner of the first game. Winner of game three advances to the first round of the playoff-playoffs. He was in his first season as head coach in northwest Georgia after seven seasons at Gilmer. He won both of his games in the mini-game night and would eventually lose to St. Pius in the Class 4A playoffs. 

After three seasons there, he moved back to Toccoa and Stephens County -- which is where he’s been since 2018. Oh, for the record, two more wins this season and he’s at 100 in his career. 

But this year, he’s off to another solid start and his team is ranked top-five in most polls around the state. After a shootout win against Hab Central, Stephens County has handled Rabun County and Flowery Branch -- only giving up seven points in the two wins. We’ll get to their game with Dawson County in a sec... 

“We’re trying to make it a brand-new year,” he admits after a 9-3 season where they won Region 8-3A. “We have a lot of new starters and we’re trying to impress on them that they’re an entirely new team than the one we had last year.  If we carried anything from last season, it’s the idea of having the confidence to win any game we’re playing in and that we can play with anyone out there. We took that from the Spring workouts into this season, too.” 

He tells me that his team has been improving from week to week, which makes sense considering the results we’ve already talked about. 

“A lot of that is because of how our new starters have taken the mantle from last year,” he said. “They’ve meshed together well.”  

And that’s talking about the seven new starters on defense and the half-dozen on defense to go with the core that contributed last year. Coach Tankersley admits to trying to give his rising juniors and seniors as many reps as he could in the spring camp, 7-on-7s, and the preseason scrimmages to get everyone on the same page as quickly as possible.  

Stephens County has the game against Dawson County this week and one more before going head-long into region play against Monroe Area. 

“For us to be successful this week, and every week,” he says, “we have to be able to run the ball and stop the run. Dawson County has a history of being region champs themselves and they play tough football. They’re going to come ready to go and they have the capability to win their region, too. We have to remind our players not to take this game for granted, even if Dawson County is 0-3. We have to look at this one as both of us are zero 0-0.” 

So, there’s no looking to the next game for Stephens County... 

Trion

Trion players celebrate their recent shutout victory over LaFayette.

Credit: Stephens County Facebook

On the other side of the state, Trion is a town of four-square miles and they have half as many wins as square miles out of the blocks this year. 

Sean Patrick is in his fourth season with the Blue Bulldogs and has taken them to two straight second-round appearances in Class-A. It’s his first head coaching job after time at Lincoln County, Houston County and Bleckley County on the offensive side of the ball. Part of his approach in Trion has been the desire to work on the full person and have his student-athletes be there for the rest of the community. One of his initial plans was to have a reading program for students at the elementary school to increase a desire and understanding of the importance of reading and instilling a sense of community along the way. 

When I caught up with him, I asked about the 2022 season in northwest Georgia. A loss to Darlington on the last day of the regular season meant they were the No. 2 seed out of Region 7 in Division I. The trip to St. Francis would end the season for that group of seniors, but the work for 2023 started last December. 

“We need to have ownership of the product here every season. They’ve done a good job of it so far,” he says. Trion and Coach Patrick have a Leadership Committee and the question comes up every year within each individual: “How do you lead?” That answer can come in many forms on the field and off. Those actions can rub off on those around you and contribute to overall successes. 

“In our first game we had 600 yards of offense and didn’t punt in the win over Gordon-Lee, but we sputtered in the next game against Lafayette,” Patrick tells me. “All of the battles we have all go back to leadership and understanding that every moment matters.” 

When folks like me ask what it’s like with this start to be ranked, Patrick says they have to block out all the hype and noise to focus on what’s important.  

“We’re coming off a bye week and a holiday, so it’s a bit of an adjustment this week with the schedule,” Patrick says. “Normally, there’s review on Sunday and starting the week off with a clean slate every time. On Monday, we start film study with the bulk of our team in first-period weight class. And it will be an interesting week of study as Gordon Central is next on the board. Lenny Gregory left Collins Hill in the off-season to head to northwest Georgia.  

“They’re better. They’re an improved football team,” he admits. “They play hard and with the schemes we’ve seen, I’m impressed with the job coach Gregory has done. We know they’ll be coached up. We just have to take care of the football, win first and third down, be physical, and eliminate big plays on their end -- all that and force turnovers on their end.” 

Sounds like they’re getting ready for a tough test... and we’ll be watching... 

Play it safe, everyone... I’ll see you soon...