There is an air of excitement in the halls of Rockdale High School these days. The Bulldogs are off to a 3-0 start and second-year head coach Kenderrick Bonner wants his team to keep the main thing the main thing.

“We're getting a little bit of media coverage right now for what we got going on,” says Bonner. “We have to continue to block out the noise in order for the guys to play how they need to play on Friday night. Let's stay humble. Let's not get the big head about what we're doing.”

That might be easier said than done. The buzz that’s going through the school and community is hard to ignore, but Bonner insists it’s not a surprise for him. Things are just the way he planned them.

 “We realized that we're off to a start that would have a lot of other people on notice,” says Bonner. “But for us, it’s based on what we did starting last November immediately when the season was over.  We know that we prepared the program for what everybody else is seeing now and witnessing.”

Bonner arrived at Rockdale last year after five years as head coach at Johnson in Savannah. He remains true to his roots. He grew up in Waynesboro and played football at Burke County.

“I had an opportunity to go back and actually coach with Eric Parker, who was at Burke County for a long period of time,” he says. “And from there, I had the opportunity to land the head coaching job at Johnson High School.”

Rockdale County

Coach Kenderrick Bonner works the sideline while Jalen Moreland watches. Moreland returned an interception for a touchdown against Miller Grove.

Credit: Rockdale County Public Schools

It was not an easy task. Savannah is known for producing basketball champions. Fortunately, Bonner had an excellent example to follow in Parker.

“I just had to use the Burke County pedigree,” recalls Bonner. “Take what we instilled in our boys, more in a rural area and take it to the city. When I did that, I was able to overcome a lot of that adversity. Coach Parker is one of my best mentors and he was in a similar situation coaching at Laney High School in Augusta.”

Bonner would lead the Atomsmashers to two playoff appearances in his five seasons in Savannah. A chance to work at Rockdale County was appealing. It would bring a chance to compete in a larger classification, plus Bonner has family in the area. What he found was a was a program with needs.

“I call myself the players’ coach,” says Bonner. “I found out that the kids here needed to be loved. They’d come off of a pandemic for two years and a lot of kids transferred out. I can really connect with them, and I take pride in building relationships.  In year one, we ended up getting 105 kids to come out and play football for us.  We didn't have a lot of players quit on us along the way. So, we kept them out there and player retention was high. Right now, we have a 101 players on the team.”

After going 2-8 last season, the Bulldogs went to work. A busy off-season included conditioning, a spring game against Midtown, and a summer schedule that included 7-on-7 tournaments, OTAs and padded camps at Spalding and at Buford. Bonner wanted to expose the team to a place where a high quality of football was played. Then the season opener came against county rival Salem.

“When it comes down to rivalry games, you can probably imagine just the intensity and the nerves around it,” recalls Bonner. “We were just trying to keep our guys level-headed and calm about the situation. We got the win, (27-15), but it's against Salem high school. They came to play. We actually went down early in that game, and we had to fight our way back. Once we did that, got our guys calm and composed, they played well. But that rivalry is always kind of nerve wracking.”

Week 2 found the Bulldogs on the road again. This time in Clayton County and in a similar situation.

“We actually had to do a comeback against Forest Park (a 35-6 win) as well,” recalls Bonner. “So, Friday night against Miller Grove was our first time actually playing with the lead. I was really proud of the kids for that. We knew that in preparation that they were a team that had a lot of speed.  Our defense was just feeling the spotlight. Our defensive line ended up with 10 sacks and three takeaways against Miller Grove. We had a forced fumble safety. We had an interception returned for a touchdown. The defense led us to our first shutout (14-0).”

Rockdale County

The numbers are up at Rockdale, which has 101 players in the program this year.

Credit: Rockdale County Public Schools

Sophomore quarterback Deonte Burtts scored a touchdown after a key first down completion to senior wide receiver Kaymon Sledge.  Running back Legend Williams had his third 100-yard rushing game of the season.

The defensive standouts were defensive tackle Emmanuel Johnson and defensive end Brennan Speights, who forced a fumble that turned into a safety, and Jalen Moreland who returned an interception for a touchdown.

This week the Rockdale Bulldogs will play their second home game, facing 0-3 Alcovy, a school from nearby Newton County. Bonner says his team has taken on a slogan of “Protect the Rock!”

 “The New-Rock area is very competitive,” says Bonner. “It’s six high schools and I found out that Alcovy is another rivalry game because they're a bordering county school. Everybody's explaining to me just how much of a rivalry this game is going to be. I found it out last year when we played Alcovy and those kids played with a chip on their shoulders. They got the best of us last year, but we’re not going to let their record fool us  Friday night.”

The Alcovy game will be the final non-region contest before the Bulldogs begin play in Region 4-6A. It’s a difficult region that includes South Gwinnett, Grayson, Archer and Newton. A win Friday would make Rockdale 4-0 for the first time since 2019. That was Jamie Baldwin’s second and final season leading the Bulldogs program. The coach passed away suddenly before the 2020 season. Baldwin came to Rockdale from Johnson, the same path that Bonner took in 2023. Rockdale’s current coach welcomes the comparisons.

Rockdale County

Rockdale County has learned how to come from behind, as well as play with a lead this season.

Credit: Rockdale County Public Schools

“I believe this senior class is probably the last class that played for Coach Baldwin,” says Bonner. “They really appreciate how close in personality me and Coach Baldwin have been to the program. We just got a feeling that the direction that Coach Baldwin had this program going in, Coach Bonner is going get it there. I don't know the last time Rockdale made the playoff but I'm excited about the opportunity to get there.”

The Bulldogs last made the playoffs in 2014, going 5-6. Their last winning season came in 2013 when they went 6-4.

“We would like to think that we probably have the hardest region in the state of Georgia, but we’re up for the challenge.” Bonner says.

This week Football Fridays in Georgia will feature Hughes at Douglas County. It kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on the great GPB.