North Paulding Wolfpack coach Jason Reardon is proud of his team for a couple of reasons that go beyond the their No. 1 ranking in Class 7A and a 14-0 record.
“We have great depth on our team, and the biggest thing is how much we trust one another,” said Reardon, who has coached the program since its 2013 founding. “This past offseason, we were really dedicated to cultivating depth, so that there is a next guy up capable of making plays. Here everyone has the green light to make plays, and our depth allows for flexibility. It’s not about individuals, and that’s been the big difference these past couple of seasons.
“The players trust each other more. They’ve been playing together since they were young, and with the trust factor, that allows them to play fast, with no hesitation, because they know the guy behind them is doing their job. That frees you up to just go.”
The Wolfpack have twelve double-digit scorers led by senior Kade McNeil (35 goals) and junior Ryan Chancer (25), with seniors Zachary Creel, Aiden Light and Anthony Moza anchoring the defense. Jackson Scott mans keeper, and others have stepped up including junior midfielder Bennett Morrison, and senior midfielders Colin Krogh, Cameron Ison and Xander Thompson, and senior attackers Jack Cornwell and Marshall Cisco.
The Wolfpack is 6-0 against top 10 teams this season. From 5A-6A, they beat No. 1 Roswell 8-7, No. 3 Lassiter 7-5, No. 4 Allatoona 10-8, No. 6 Alpharetta 11-5 and No. 10 Woodstock 14-4. In 7A, they beat No. 8 Hillgrove 12-1. In addition, they’ve won two games by a score of 19-1.
Their last three games were Roswell, Lassiter and Alpharetta.
“The teams we’re playing are strong,” Reardon said. “We did our schedule like that for a reason. We’re trying to get ready for a playoff push. In all fairness, I’ve seen a lot of resilience from this team. We’ve fallen behind in quite a few games, like against Roswell, when we made some second-half adjustments and the kids did a nice job persevering. There’s no quit in this team, and they work really hard.”
The Wolfpack have four remaining regular season games, all against opponents from Area 2, where they’re 3-0. Most notably, they’ll play No. 4 Walton (15-1, 5-0), on April 16, a game that in all likelihood will determine the area’s No. 1 seed.
“I’d like to see us continue to fine tune the things we do well,” Reardon said. “We have a large senior class (14 according to the Wolfpacks’ roster on Hudl), and I want them to have the best time, because their leadership helps with our culture and it makes the team a lot of fun.”
The Wolfpack reached the 7A quarterfinals last year, and the 6A-7A semifinals in 2022. They want to advance further this season.
“We take it one game at a time,” Reardon said. “Next we have Wheeler, then Walton. In terms of the postseason, we’re going to attack it like the regular season. We’re not going to look past any opponent, and we’re going to do our best to be ready. In the playoffs, everyone has the same eventual goal, and we talk about it. We try to do the little things that don’t show up on the scoreboard, and hopefully things go in our favor more than not, and if that happens in the playoffs that would be great.”
