For Apalachee High School, 2010 is a new day.
While the Wildcats were the king of the mountain in Region 8-AAAA last season, AHS coach Shane Davis knows that’s all behind the team now.
“What we did last season was special,” Davis said. “However, it’s time to move on and concentrate on this year and look at accomplishing more great things.”
The Wildcats, who are No. 9 in the preseason AAAA poll released by Georgia High School Football Daily, have to replace a host of starters from 2009. Still, the team seemed to get off to a positive start in last Friday’s scrimmage at Archer which was called at halftime because of lightning with AHS leading 16-7.
“We played well,” Davis said. “Of course, we had too many penalties which could have put us in a real bind. A couple were potential drive killers. You can’t continue to do that.”
One of the highlights of the scrimmage was how well the ground game worked. Players such as FJ Smith and Alex Camp had strong performances.
“That’s always a positive for us since we primarily run the football,” Davis said. “Whenver we can do that I feel pretty good.”
While the defense did give up one long run, Davis said several new players for this season were in the lineup.
“We were in the right position, but we just didn’t make the play,” the coach said.
The Habersham Central Raiders run an option attack which is always a challenge for any team.
“It always gives you fits,” said Davis. “They are not going to leave you unblocked. It leaves you a lot to prepare for. For it to be the first game of the season adds to it in addition to us having so many new players.”
Davis is coordinating the defense for the Wildcats in 2010 and noted as a coach “you want to practice more,” but that at some point games do arrive.
“There’s always so many more things you can do to get better,” Davis said. “However, the players and coaches are tired of practicing. We’ve been going against each other for a long time.”
AHS offensive coordinator Joel Miller has been breaking down Habersham Central for several days and notes several challenges for his team.
“Habersham is a very physical and well coached team,” Miller said. “ Their linebackers are aggressive and come down hill and hit people. They have some big kids in their interior defensive line that can cause problems with their size and strength.
“For us to be successful our offensive line needs to control the line of scrimmage and open up holes for our young and inexperienced backs. Our backs will need to match the intensity and aggressiveness of their linebackers as they continue to mature and get adjusted to the game speed of 8-AAAA.
“We must control the ball and win time of possession by limiting our penalties and turnovers. We don’t have to be flashy, we have to play our game and execute the game plan.”
