Over at the Georgia High School Football Daily, our friend Todd Holcomb had some math over on the right-hand side of the page a couple of days ago. It was a statistical analysis of teams that, going into the 2024 season, had the least percentage of anticipated success getting into the playoffs … or Season Three. 

The Maxwell Ratings gave 39 teams less than a 50-50 chance in preseason. Chestatee was given a 1.8% chance. The War Eagles went from 0-10 to 5-5 this year and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They’re getting ready for a trip to Fort Valley and Peach County in Round One in Class 3A. 

Chestatee

Coach Stuart Cunningham guided Chestatee to the playoffs in his second season.

Credit: Seth Chapman, Access WDUN

Head Coach Stuart Cunningham is in his second season in Hall County and the five wins this season match the win total from the last four seasons combined. He had been out of being a head coach for a decade after a couple of seasons at Habersham Central. 

“I still wanted to be a head coach when Chestatee was open,” he tells me. “After all that time, I found I had the desire to be a head coach and wanted to turn it around here. I jumped at the opportunity.” 

As is the case with new coaches in difficult situations, the kids at Chestatee didn’t really know who Cunnigham was and he knew he and his staff had to win them over. Cunningham looked at the situation, noticed some adjustments that needed to be made philosophically in the weight room and physically in on-campus facilities. And the roster began to realize the value in having a weight training program. 

“It has been satisfying for me and the staff to see these kinds of results,” Cunningham says. “It’s cool to see how happy the team is. It’s also great to see them all realize how much fun they are to be around one another. They like each other and want to know each other better. They’re a closer team to be around than year one, for sure.” 

Coach Cunnigham says that this attitude has peaked in the last five or six weeks of this season. There was an FCA camp early this year where, short of Toombs County, they were really pushing people around on the field. The confidence that Chestatee could do as a team what the coaches were showing them was coming forward. But... 

“We got into a bit of a lull after beating Franklin County,” Cunnigham admits. “We realized we had to practice harder than we had been. The game against Pickens, I think, we really dominated. The players saw for themselves, for the first time in a long time, they could improve and be successful.  

“At the end of last year’s 0-10 season, they showed a lot of perseverance. For that group of seniors, they were sad about the results- understandably so- but there was a feeling of optimism from everyone that was coming back. And I go back to the success in the weight room that was a big part of it. After the first day of summer practice, I had parents calling me letting me know they were excited because they were being told by their kids how excited they were.” 

When the Maxwell numbers came out and showed Chestatee had the lowest get-in probability, the team didn’t really pay a whole lot of attention to the story. Cunningham says they were already motivated to do well this season.  

“Two weeks ago, they were watching film and for once we didn’t do it in groups,” Cunningham tells me. “It was the Monday before the GAC game and they watched it together. After our Monday night practice, you could have heard a pin drop and it showed on the field. We knew this was not going to be a flash in the pan.” 

He also knows that Peach County, ranked No. 1 by GPB and the No. 3 seed in the 3A playoffs, is bigger than any team they have played previously. The Trojans also have a lot of speed and don’t have a lot of flaws. He knows that they’ll be hard to attack and Chestatee has to be efficient on defense- lining up in the right places all night long. 

“We’re renting two charter buses to get down there and our fan base is very excited about this. It’s a big deal and we’re going to enjoy the fight.” 

As will we as the third season is under way now... 

Play it safe, everyone... I’ll be watching right there with you...