The Washington County Golden Hawks are coming off a 10-3 season that saw them reach the AA quarterfinals, where they lost 35-20 to Callaway. It was their deepest run since 2014, which was the second year in a row they’d reached the AAA championship game. Along the way in 2018, they beat four region champions — Baldwin (3-AAAA), Jefferson County (4-AA), Swainsboro (2-AA) in the regular season; Brooks County in the playoffs (1-AA).
Golden Hawks coach Joel Ingram, who will enter his 14th season with the program, considers the Brooks County playoff win the season's highlight. They topped the Trojans 34-30 in the second round thanks to a late goal line stop on fourth down.
However, it’s a new season coming up and the Golden Hawks must replace six starters on offensive. On defense, they lose two defensive ends, a four-year starting linebacker and the entire secondary.
The process of finding who will step up begins May 6, which is when Washington County’s spring practice begins. It ends May 16 with a scrimmage against Mary Persons. Admission is $5.
“Mary Persons is a big rivalry and so it’s good to be tested like that,” Ingram said. “(The spring scrimmage between the two) has worked well for both of us the past couple of years.”
Finding defensive starters will be the priority this offseason.
“We take a huge hit on that side of the ball,” Ingram said. “I won’t say we have to start over but we’re going to have to piece together that front line.”
Ingram said the staff’s biggest focus will be on the defensive line. They will turn junior McKale Haynes and seniors Jabari Brooks and Jalen Mathis for production and also lean on seniors Dylan Waters and James Spencer at defensive end.
“We’re excited about those guys,” Ingram said.
On offense, they replace four-year starting running back Dyquan Bloodsaw, who signed with Benedict College, and his lead blocker, fullback Preston Daniels. Bloodsaw will be replaced by Sharmarcus Poole — he was a 1,000-yard rusher last season — and Malyk Walker. The Golden Hawks employ a single wing offense and Ingram estimates they run the ball 90 percent of the time. They don’t use a quarterback.
A positive is they return four starters on the offensive line led by Brooks, a two-way starter who holds an offer from Georgia State.
“He will be a college football player and he’s going to anchor the front line,” Ingram said.
The Golden Hawks have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last 11 seasons and would like to keep that streak going.
“Here, we always go into every season hoping to be successful,” Ingram. “A region championship and a spot in the state playoffs are goals going into the season. We want to be a physical, fundamental team that’s always shooting to get better. We want to be solid in the kicking game.
“Are we going to regress or move forward (following 2018)? I think we can move forward. It’s crazy all the players we’re losing and maybe we take a few lumps coming out of the gate, but we have a seasoned offensive line, so that helps. If we can get the defensive line up to par, it can bail out the offensive line when it struggles, and the kicking game can bail us out. That’s the goal, to be solid in all three phases and have them working like clockwork.
“Just win one game at a time. That’s the expectation. Start small and build from there.”
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