The 2010 season is reinforcing something David Wagner already knew: Region 8-AAAA is a brutal place to compete.
After facing a strong Habersham Central team on the road last week, the Winder-Barrow High School football squad is back at home this Friday. The task certainly is no easier as the Bulldoggs host undefeated Heritage at 7:30 p.m.
“They are solid in all aspects of the game,” Wagner said after a Monday practice session. “When you look at our first six games, we will have played Habersham, Clarke Central, Flowery Branch and now Heritage. Those are the four teams looking at the playoffs. Heritage has certainly earned their record.”
he Patriots have not been that big of a surprise to Wagner. During the preseason the WBHS mentor and his fellow 8-AAAA coaches talked about how Heritage could do well this fall.
“We knew they had a high number of players back,” Wagner said. “They had all the pieces of the puzzle in place to do well.”
At the very least, Wagner said, the potential was there for Heritage to do well.
“Sometimes when you start winning, then a few things start going your way,” the WBHS coach said. “They may be a little bit of a surprise but not a big one.”
While the Bulldoggs are coming off a 44-point loss last Friday, Wagner said the key will be to simply continue working on what WBHS is trying to accomplish.
“I’m not a believer in out-scheming yourself,” the coach said. “When you do that, you never really become good at anything. I would like for us to be good at what we want to do.”
Despite this season’s records, WBHS has actually enjoyed success against Heritage. The Bulldoggs defeated the Patriots in 2009 and took Heritage to overtime last fall.
“It shows you that any team can compete with anyone else in the region,” Wagner said. “That’s something you want to make sure your players understand.”
The attitude of the team remains upbeat, the coach said. All players were accounted for at Monday’s practice, despite school being out for fall break.
“You do worry about the players’ mindset or if they will even come to practice in a situation like this,” Wagner said. “However, everyone was there and everyone was practicing hard. There were no excuses about why they couldn’t be there with fall break. We had as good of a Monday as I could have hoped for. I was worried over the weekend but everything went well.”
C.J. Hall, who returned to action last Friday, will likely miss two weeks with a knee injury. Taylor Pineda remains out after suffering a severe concussion earlier this season. He is scheduled to have another MRI performed this week.
