Mentor watches former assistant rally team

When asked if he passed on the enthusiasm displayed by Davis and his assistants on Friday nights, Moore said, “I usually picked my spots to get excited. I think they are always pumped up.”

As the game entered overtime, Moore continued watching his former coaching student. When AHS lined up to go for it all on a two-point conversion, Davis looked over at Moore and said in an enthusiastic voice, “What do you think about Kenny? What do you think about that?”

Moore gave Davis the thumbs up sign along with a positive nod of his head. Seconds later, it was pandamonium at R. Harold Harrison Stadium as Wildcat Christian Hoard crashed through the Marist defensive line for two points and a 36-35 second-round win.
No doubt the former teacher taught the current head well.

Moore is a previous head coach at Morgan County, Jackson and Monticello.

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The decision to go for two points and the win last Friday could actually be traced back two days prior.

On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Joel Miller asked Davis about a scenario in which AHS might consider going for two points and a win.

“I told him not to ask me about it,” Davis said. “It was Wednesday and I couldn’t think about that at the time.”

Marist took a 35-28 lead after its overtime possession. After the Wildcats earned a first and goal of their own, Davis took his headset off and spoke with defensive coordinator David Wagner about the two-point possibility.

Once the Wildcats scored, the AHS coaches had to call time to get the extra-point team back off the field. Several players, including John Ansley, John Brown and Hoard, were all telling the coaches to go for two points.

“After quieting them down, I told the players to think about what they were doing,” Davis said. “Did they want to put the entire season on one play? I told them we could kick the extra point and fight on. We were ready to do that. However, the players wanted it right then.”
Davis told Miller, who sits in the pressbox, the plan was to go for two. Miller asked Davis what play he liked, but the head coach told his offensive coordinator to call it since “he had called all the other plays.”

Hoard ran right up the middle, breaking through the Marist defensive line and giving his team a two-point win.

“They got in the defense we hoped they would and Christian did what he had been doing all night,” Davis said. “It was pandamonium after that.”

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JoLynn Miller could not be described as a football widow.

Miller, whose husband is Apalachee offensive coordinator Joel Miller, is the team’s athletic trainer. She attends all practices and games, just like her husband.

JoLynn handles all the pre-game taping of the AHS players. Ankles, arms and wrists are her responsibilty. It’s a duty that begins well before kickoff each week.

JoLynn Miller said she begins taping at 5 p.m. on Fridays. Last week prior to the Marist game, she finished her taping duties just after 6 p.m. when the final AHS player came into the training room, which is her unofficial office, for tape on his ankles.

At halftime, JoLynn Miller often has to retape some players as was the case during the Marist game. During contests, she can be found on the AHS sideline overseeing her team of student trainers and being ready at a moment’s notice to run onto the field when a player is injured.

So does the wife offer her coach husband any football advice?

“I let him know all the time what I think about the plays he calls and what he should have done in a certain situation,” she said. “He hears it from me.”

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Captains for the Marist game were Zack Gentry, Jeff Haney, John Brown and Jon Lee.

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With both Griffin, this Friday’s quarterfinal foe, and AHS being No. 1 seeds, representatives from each school met Saturday morning for a coin toss.

In a scene somewhat similar to one in the movie “Friday Night Lights,” the coaches and representatives from Griffin and AHS met to decide who would be the host school. While a playoff spot was on the line in the movie, something different rested on Saturday morning’s coin toss.

In years past, the Georgia High School Association would use a pre-determined bracket to decide which school would host in case two similar seeds met.

Griffin called the toss but lost. AHS would be the host for the third week in a row. When athletic director Brian Moore called local media to relay the news, it sounded like a wild celebration scene in the vehicle the coaches were in as everyone was making designated calls.Coaches from the two schools also exchanged game tape and preparations for the third round were officially underway.

Tickets for the quarterfinal round game are $10 as set by the Georgia High School Association. Gates to R. Harold Harrison Stadium will once again open at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Pre-games tickets have been on sale this week since school is out for Thanksgiving.