In Hamilton, Harris County head coach Tommy Watson admits he learned from two of the best head coaches how to develop his own style -- Brookstone head coach Rance Gillespie when he was at Valdosta and (now retired) Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson.

How about that on your resume? Both schools, one town...

But Watson hasn’t gotten to the point where pre-Apple watch Rance was in -- setting his timepiece ahead 10 minutes when the season started to make sure you were “early-on time” by as many as 20 minutes come the postseason.

Harris County Football

Harris County captains (L-R) Miguel Sevilla, Quentavius Walker, Mataye Youman and Levi Watson prepare for the pregame coin toss.

Credit: Harris County Facebook

“Nothing like getting to roll them together into one thing, right?” he tells me. “With Rance, I got to learn attention to detail, how to study plays, success in the weight room, how to conduct yourself in the community ... even down to how you dress. It was how you plan, how you schedule, and all the developmental aspects of it.

“With Randy, he was as old school as you get. He would line up against you and hit you right in the mouth. He was about getting bigger, faster and stronger in the weight room. I got to have two unique experiences and getting them both here now.”

In his second season after moving back from Lambert, the Tigers have gone from 2-9 to 8-1. They’re Region 3-5A champs with a week to spare and it’s the most wins in program history since 2014 -- the last time they won a region title, by the way.

“I thought we had a legit shot at being 7-3, and maybe if we got a break here or there 8-2 if you asked me before the season started,” he says. “This isn’t really a surprise. Last year, we had four games where we had the lead with less than three minutes left and just couldn’t close it out. We had 18 starters coming back. We’ve had a full 12 months in the weight room, too.”

Harris County Football

Quarterback Levi Watson (6) and running back Mataye Youman (43) have powered the Harris County offense this season

Credit: Harris County Facebook

To no one’s surprise, Coach Watson’s phone has been blowing up with the first region title in a decade. His superintendent even poked his head in Watson’s office the other day smiling and told him he was making him look good as he was heading into retirement.   

“When I interviewed for the job, I asked why can’t Harris County be like Lee or Ware? A one high school county that has a lot of success?” he asked all over again. “I presented that vision in the interview and everyone has been supportive and has been pulling in the same direction. I can’t take all the credit for this at all.”

There’s also been a mix of experience and youth on the coaching staff. Ideas will get presented and Watson will listen as they talk it all through and he admits it’s an exciting time.  They’ll close out the region schedule this Friday with a home game against McIntosh with only two wins needed to accomplish something the program never has -- a double-digit win season.

Jon Cudd in Adairsville got to do that last year- going 10-2 and getting the program’s first region title since 2001. And, sometimes, the encore is tougher to do than accomplishing it the first time.

“It was harder than I ever imagined,” Cudd admits. He let out a big sigh after he wrapped that sentence. “We had a good group coming back. We just had to have people put in the right places, fill some voids, and learn how to play together as a team as the season went along. Finding leaders can be difficult sometimes and we had to overcome a lot this time.

“I think we had a breakthrough moment in the Cass game. We went to Cherokee Bluff and got a win to start the season. Then, we go to Rabun County where I thought we were the better team, but I don’t think we played together. We go to Cass and lose, I’m not kidding, six kids early to injury. The kids really stepped up then and played together. You could see the breakthrough there.”

Adairsville football

Adairsville has won back-to-back region titles for the first time since 2000-01.

Credit: Adairsville Facebook

They decided to play for others and not just for themselves. They took ownership of everything they needed to in order to be successful as a team. And, since Cass, they ran the table in region winning six in a row. The win last week over Bremen sealed the Region 6-AAA title with the game at Coahulla Creek left on the schedule.

“It really has been team over self,” Cudd says. “They understand the idea of playing for something bigger and they treat teammates like they would want themselves to be treated.”

What Cudd and the staff have seen in front of them this season is what makes coaching worthwhile -- moments that resonate when you play beside someone from a different background than you and play beside them as a brother would.

“God bless this sport,” he says.

With the support that he and the team have enjoyed, Cudd admits it’s some of the best he’s ever seen -- and he’s seen 16 years of support on campus that started with Eric Bishop, Jim Kremer and Mark Arthur’s tenures. Traditionally, there’s that region mountain to climb that would include a Cartersville or a Calhoun that has turned now to northwest Georgia and the mountains.

When you have a three-year starter at quarterback come back from an injury and, as Cudd says, “wills” the team to the one-score win over Bremen you adapt and overcome. The Tigers have certainly done that to get to where they are in 2023...

As a team...

And we’ll be watching Bracketology Weekend!

Play it safe, I’ll talk to you soon!