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Douglass appears ready to fly into orbit after impressive opener
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The 2024 Georgia high school football season started the way it always does, with the Corky Kell-Dave Hunter Classic, a special event that brings together some of the state’s top teams and showcases some of the state’s best players. This year saw a team from a school on Atlanta’s west side draw a spot in the season’s very first game.
“Just being able to represent Atlanta Public Schools in the Corky Kell was an honor,” says Douglass head coach Stanley Pritchett. “It was an honor for us as a program. This was the first time we had been involved in that in our school's history. So that was a tremendous honor.”
For Pritchett, the thrill of being selected to play in the very first game of the season doubled when he learned who the opponent would be. Those who follow football in the Peach State will quickly tell you that Valdosta has won more games than any other high school, but some may have a difficult time naming the team that is No. 2 on the list. Pritchett didn’t need any help in that area.
“When I played high school football in the ‘90s, Lagrange was like the national champion,” recalls Pritchett. “They had Coach (Steve) Pardue. Me and Coach Pardue would become close later. I just knew LaGrange was one of the top programs along with Valdosta and Lowndes. I also knew it was going to be a tough game. Coach (Matt) Napier does a great job and last year they made it to the second round of the playoffs. He has rebuilt that program.”
Pritchett, a Douglass alum, can identify with what Napier has done with the Grangers. This is his fourth season at the home of what once was the flagship football program among Atlanta Public Schools. Just like the city of Atlanta, the Astros are rising from the ashes, and back-to-back playoff appearances reflect a collective effort by both the school and community.
“After Coach (Rodney) Cofield left, a lot of kids left the program and we had to build it back up,” says Pritchett. “At the first meeting we had five people, and we had more coaches than we had players. Our administration knew it was going to be a long process. The community has changed.”
The talent pool was diluted when the city built BEST Academy, Coretta Scott King and KIPP Charter School.
“So three schools kind of took away from our enrollment,” Pritchett said. “But now people want to live in the city again, so our enrollment is actually going up."
Pritchett’s first season at Douglass in 2021 produced a 1-9 record. Two seasons later his 2023 squad went 6-5 with a trip to the state playoffs. Just like the school’s enrollment, expectations were starting to rise. During the summer I got wind of the Astros having a joint workout with Creekside, a team that played for a state title last season. It was easy to see that the kids from the west side had been looking forward to it.
“I think it was really good for us,” says Pritchett. “It gave us an opportunity to kind of gauge where we were, at that time. Coach (Maurice) Dixon and I have a good relationship with each other. So, it gave us a chance to get in a lot of good work. Iron sharpens iron and we just wanted to continue to get better.”
This spring Douglass attracted a healthy share of college coaches who visited the metro Atlanta area. There are 22 seniors on the team and close to half of them have scholarship offers. The leader of this class of 2025 is four-star cornerback Jontae Gilbert, who recently committed to Georgia.
“Jontae is a first-class individual,” exclaims Pritchett. “He’s going to do things the right way. His character is impeccable. I was glad he committed to the University of Georgia. I just wanted to get the process over. We had been through it before and he committed to Ohio State early. When he decommited, everybody started to come in on him. We had so many schools coming in and out. I think Georgia is the best fit for him. I think he'll be highly successful because He likes to work.”
The LaGrange matchup was set the before the GHSA reclassification, which brought the Grangers down from 4A to 3A. Now the season opener became the first of a possible two meetings in 2024. The gametime temperatures in the mid-90s would add to the degree of difficulty for both teams.
“LaGrange got the early lead on us, and they stopped our first drive," recalls Pritchett. “It was a hot day, but our guys fought through it and persevered. It reminded me of our training, in the off-season. We had an outstanding off-season program, to get the guys ready. But we did have a couple guys cramping up.”
The Astros took the lead for good on Casey Barner’s touchdown run early in the second quarter. After adding a field goal, junior quarterback John Wilson connected with Gilbert for a touchdown. Wilson threw for 142 yards and one score. The coach liked Wilson’s leadership.
“John was pretty steady,” says Pritchett. “He's a three-year starter. He came in as a ninth grader and started, so he's seen everything. He's only going to get better and hopefully he can take us to the top.”
It was the Douglass defense that set the tone for game, limiting the Grangers to 133 total yards and no touchdowns. That was a pleasant surprise for the coach.
“I didn't know it was going to play that good in the first game,” says Pritchett. “They did an outstanding job. In the trenches were defensive tackles John Amofah and JaQuan Fletcher. The play of our linebackers Andreco Griggs and Marquavious Grimes. They all did an outstanding job in the front seven. I think that was the key to the whole game, the defensive play.”
The excitement for winning the season opener is easy to hear in the voice of someone who has enjoyed an interesting football life that includes a nine-year NFL career (Dolphins, Eagles, Bears and Falcons). Somehow, he always knew he would become a coach and join the family business.
“I think my entire family is involved in coaching,” says Pritchett. “My dad and all his brothers coached just about every sport. They coached track. They coached basketball. They coached football. Uncle Gus has been coaching the Mercury Track Club for over 50 years. I have an uncle who coaches at Clark Atlanta University and was an assistant at Auburn. My dad was a coach at Booker T. Washington in the '70s and '80s, so I was around that school all the time. I got to see how you can impact a lot of young people in a positive way, So, coaching was in my DNA.”
The fundamentals of football have remained basically the same from generation to generation. It’s the preparation that changes with new methods and technology. A lasting memory for me from the Douglass-Creekside joint workout was seeing Pritchett trying to make friends with a drone and seeming to have inconsistent success. After all, it’s something his dad and uncles never had to deal with.
“They would not have been able to do that,” laughs Pritchett. “I've been playing with it the last couple of months. I bought it this summer because it allows us to record practice. Then we can go inside to see things that we are doing wrong and make corrections. I don’t trust the boys with it, but there are two girls who know how to fly it and they come to practice to help me with it."
Just like the drone, that 18-3 win over LaGrange sent the Astros soaring in the Class 3A rankings -- they’re No. 3 in the GPB Poll -- and caused expectations to rise on Hamilton E. Holmes Drive. A tough schedule lies ahead, and the coach reminds everyone that it was just the first game.
“I find the most important thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing,” says Pritchett. “Know that every week is an important game. I can't look down the schedule at Cedar Grove. I can't look down at Stephenson. Westlake is up next. That's all we're going to focus on. We’re not going to focus on anybody else. The only thing that we will worry about is being 1-0. If we can do that. I think we'll be successful.”
This week Football Fridays in Georgia will feature Rockmart at Cartersville, Kickoff at 7:30 on the great GPB!
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