GHSF Daily is expanding its Four Questions feature this season beyond head coaches to other voices in high school football. Today's interviewee is Chris Beckham, the host of the Football Friday Night radio show heard on 16 stations across south Georgia and the only high school football scoreboard show in the country that broadcasts six consecutive hours of studio coverage of the sport. Beckham has been covering Georgia high school football for newspapers and radio for more than 30 years.
Chris Beckham, sports radio host
1. What do you enjoy most about your job? "We enjoy keeping people informed about games all over south Georgia and interacting with some of the most knowledgeable fans in the country through our show and through social media. The passion around high school football down here makes it special. I'm asked about it year-round."
2. Who is your favorite interview? "I cut my teeth interviewing Nick Hyder at Valdosta nearly every day, and he would talk about everything from religion to the tackle trap. I always enjoyed Jim Hughes because he often had a different take on things and was so intelligent. Of today's coaches, I can honestly say I've never had a boring interview with Maurice Freeman or Rush Propst. They're different, but both are insightful and entertaining."
3. What is the most memorable game that you've seen? "I'm from Thomas County, so watching Central and Thomasville play for the state championship in 1993 was just surreal and it was a great game. They brought in so much extra field-level seating that we had to kneel on the sidelines all night so everyone behind us could see. But for excitement, Valdosta's 40-37 win over Southwest DeKalb in the 1994 semifinals in the Georgia Dome is hard to beat. Southwest had Quincy Carter and guys who went on to run in the Olympics; so much talent. But Valdosta found a way to hang around and made some plays at the end. If I hadn't seen it, I might not have believed that it happened."
4. Who is the best high school player that you've seen? "I've been fortunate to see a lot of great ones. But the two that jump to mind that made me hold my breath every time they touched the ball were Charlie Ward and Greg Reid. Charlie had that ability to do the right thing at the right time and made everybody else look like they were in slow motion. Greg did it on both sides of the ball and on special teams. He was just a freak and could completely dominate a game by himself."
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