OK, lots to get to today!! First up is this week’s Georgia High School Association/MaxPreps Power Ratings, which features a familiar name at the top of the public list but a new face on the private side. Then we’ll check in with Irwin County head coach Buddy Nobles and his star player, LB/RB D.J. Pollard, on the eve of their big region matchup tomorrow with Clinch County. Finally we’ll take a look at some of the key games this weekend.
St. Anne-Pacelli, Charlton County top Power Ratings
St. Anne-Pacelli of Columbus is 3-0 for the fourth consecutive season, but this is the first time the Vikings have been atop the power ratings list. On the public side, Charlton County – which lost 12-6 in overtime in last season’s quarterfinals to eventual champion Hawkinsville – heads up the current field of 16.
Private
Worst Record In: No. 12 Christian Heritage (1-2); No. 13. Walker (1-2)
Best Record Out: No. 18 Savannah Christian (2-1)
First Team Out: No. 17 Mount de Sales (1-1)
Who Dropped Out: Athens Christian (1-2); Lakeview Academy (1-3); Our Lady of Mercy (1-2)
Who Jumped In: No. 11 Tattnall Square Academy (3-0); No. 12 Christian Heritage (1-2); No. 14 Aquinas (2-1)
Public
Worst Record In: No. 10 Hancock County (1-2); No. 11 Johnson County (1-2); No. 14 Dooly County (1-2)
Best Record Out: No. 17 Emmanuel County Institute (2-1); No. 18 Wilkinson County (2-1); No. 22 Treutlen (2-1); No. 29 Hawkinsville (2-1)
First Team Out: No. 17 ECI
Who Dropped Out: ECI (2-1); Mitchell County (1-2); Portal (3-1); Treutlen (2-1); Twiggs County (0-2)
Who Jumped In: No. 7 Marion County (2-0); No. 7 Telfair County (2-1); No. 12. Randolph-Clay (2-2); No. 14 Dooly County (1-2)
Buddy Nobles, Irwin County
Nobles is in his second season in Ocilla, located midway between Macon and Valdosta. He led Irwin to the public school championship last season and has hopes of getting back to Championship Weekend at the Georgia Dome again this season.
On his team’s current record of 1-1-1, the same as it was this time last season
“I’m pleased where we are. Of course, everybody wants to be 3-0, but Fitzgerald is just too good. There’s a chance we could have finished off Early County, but we’ll never know. Still, I’m pretty pleased with how the team is progressing.”
Note: Irwin has faced three teams from Class AA to begin the season. Irwin tied Early County 7-7, in a game that was called at halftime due to inclement weather, defeated Berrian 32-14 and loss to No. 2 Fitzgerald 35-14.
On the way his team played Fitzgerald, considered one of the favorites to win the Class AA title
“The game started off almost like it did last season. We had some things go wrong early last year and things kinda got out of hand. This year I wanted to see how we would respond when bad things happened, and based on how we did, I think we’ll be OK. We just ran out of gas but that is more of a complement to how good Fitzgerald is. They are really, really good.”
On the talent the team lost to graduation, and the players filling their roles this season
“We return about four or five starters on offense and about seven on defense. We lost a lot of really good players, good leaders. Of course [all-state DB/RB] Jakyron Young is at West Georgia now, doing really well. He had his first interception last week. And we were fortunate to have several other players from our offensive and defensive lines good enough to move on to the next level at Point University. Kids on our offensive line are really starting to come together: [seniors] Cartavious Paschal (5-8, 215), we call him Zeus, Tyler Dorman (5-9, 215), and our two tight ends, Williams Lewis and Cully Jones, and [juniors] Tyler Soliday (5-11, 270), Jake Fletcher and Lamar Thomas.”
On all-state senior RB/LB DJ Pollard and others who will be depended on heavily
“We lost a really good player in our junior safety Ty Hogan, who tore his ACL in the Berrian game. But somebody will have to step up for us there. We’re getting good numbers in our program and we want to build to the point where we can be good every year, where another good player can step in for a good player. [Junior QB] Zach Toller (6-0, 180) is doing a great job for us. He’s a great leader and just has that calming presence. And then there’s DJ Pollard (5-7, 165). I can’t say enough about him. He’s a better kid than he is a player and he’s a heck of a player. He’s not very big but he plays like he’s about 6-foot, 200 pounds. He’s our version of [Philadelphia Eagles RB] Darren Sproles. He’s having to take more offensive reps now, so [junior] Kyle Jones (5-9, 155) is doing a good job spelling him, giving him a break. A few smaller schools are starting to ask about [Pollard], but I’ll tell you what. Somebody is going to get a steal because he is a great player.”
On how the loss in last year’s state final (15-6 to Hawkinsville) fueled the off season
“It’s our goal to get back there. Our kids played hard but the fumbles we had killed us and we stressed that this off season. Our strength and conditioning coaches, David Vaughn and Luke Roberts, did a great job getting our kids stronger and faster. That’s our main goal, building the best, strongest athletes we can. Too many people focus on getting bigger. Well, you can’t control that. Some kids put on weight and grow faster than others, so we focus on strength and speed.”
On how hard it is to build a consistent program in rural Georgia
“People don’t realize how hard it is, which is why I have great respect for coaches in places like Fitzgerald and Clinch. There just aren’t the number of economic opportunities for families down here like there are in [metro] Atlanta and other places, so nobody is moving here or transferring here. And sometimes when they do, it’s because they were maybe having some problems where they were so they moved to a smaller place to get a fresh start. So there can be some baggage there that you have to deal with. But you take the kid in and you love him and show him discipline and try to make him as good as he can be. We have to take the kids who come to us, and so sometimes when you go through a down cycle talent wise, which all teams do, it’s harder to come back up. Then, with some of our kids, they may only get a good meal when they come to school to get breakfast and lunch. It can be hard to develop a kid physically when that’s the case. But we do the best job we can with what we have. I’m not crying or complaining about it. It’s just the way things are and a lot of people don’t know that.”
On why he came to Irwin County, after being an assistant at Coffee County and Fitzgerald, and plans to stay
“I wanted to be a head coach. I interviewed at seven or eight schools and was always good enough to get called back for the second interview and the third. But in the end they always went another direction. I feel like I’m blessed to be here. This is where I’m supposed to be, in a small town where I can make a difference. To be honest with you, I got a call from a larger school [last spring]. I was shocked, flattered, but I turned it down. This is the right place for me.”
On facing Clinch, which is 3-0 for the first time since 2010, when the Panthers won the state championship (Irwin has won three of the last four meetings, including 47-7 last season)
“We’ve told our kids that last year was last year. Besides that, they moved the ball up and down the field on us. We made about four or five more plays than they did in that game. That was the difference. The score in no way reflected how the game went. No way were we 40 points better than Clinch. This year they have a lot of long, tall, fast athletes. The ‘wow’ factor is definitely there when you see them get off the bus. Plus they run the single wing, which is hard to prepare for and hard to simulate because nobody else runs it. It will take us a couple of drives to catch up to their speed.
On what it will take for Irwin to make another championship run
“We have to clean up the mental mistakes, and our depth is a concern. But some kids are stepping up, and I like the way we’re showing a lot of toughness, really running to the ball on defense.”
DJ Pollard, Irwin County RB/LB
The diminutive senior is pound for pound one of the most productive players in Georgia. Already this season, he has seven touchdowns, 500 yards rushing and 20 tackles. He’s also a top-notch wrestler, but hopes to get an opportunity to play football in college. First, however, he wants to lead his team to a state title.
On when he first began playing football
“I was six years old, playing in Coffee [County]. I moved to Irwin County in eighth grade to live with my dad when my mom died.”
On how his mom’s death and moving to a new school impacted him
“I wasn’t sure how everything was going to work out. There was lot of new stuff to deal with. But I knew I was always going to play football. I knew some of the guys in school and on the [middle school] team because I would see them whenever I came to visit my dad.”
On adjusting to a new team in middle school
“I had a little trouble at first. I think it was just a little personality thing, me getting used to the coaches and them getting used to me. I always played running back and cornerback in Coffee. The [Irwin Middle School] coaches put me at linebacker because they liked the way I tackled. I’ve been playing there ever since.”
On his size
“I don’t think about it. I just do whatever I can do to help my team. A lot of the teams we play talk trash. Like last week, when they tackled me they said ‘Hey, don’t hurt the little puppy dog too bad.’ But then on social media they talked about how they respected me.”
On coming to Atlanta and playing at the Georgia Dome in the finals last season
“I couldn’t go to sleep the day before. The biggest thing I remember was seeing all the airplanes flying in the sky. We never see that here (in Ocilla). Losing the game really hurt because we worked so hard to get there.”
On this season and getting back to the finals
“Coach always talks about one game and at time. We look at it that way, but it’s hard not to think about it because we want to get back there so bad. But we know we have to stay focused and keep working hard. If we do that, I think we can get back.”
On tap this weekend
Here are some of the top games of the weekend in Class A, along with a few others worth mentioning.
Marion County (2-0) at Class AAAAA Columbus (3-0). The defending Class A public school champions will step way up in class to take on a Blue Jacket team that is having an historic season thus far. Columbus, a team that has not won more than five games since going 6-4 in 2005, is 3-0 for the first time since 1974. Marion won the first ever meeting between the two schools last season, 34-31. The Eagles are coming off a 50-12 win over Dooly County on Friday, while Columbus downed Manchester 20-13 on Thursday night.
Irwin County (1-1-1) vs. Clinch County (2-0). Irwin County, last year's public school runner up, has the exact same record as it did last season at this time. However, things have improved for their opponent next week. At this stage last season, Clinch was 1-2, after falling to Berrian 13-12. But this year the Panthers are 3-0 after throttling Berrian 55-12 on Friday. They are also hoping to change the outcome against Irwin County, which won last year's meeting 47-7.
--- No. 4 Eagle’s Landing Christian (2-2) vs. Class AAAAA Whitewater (1-2)
--- No. 5 Landmark Christian (2-1) vs. Class AAA Josey (2-1)
--- No. 9 Aquinas (2-1) at Stratford Academy (1-1)
--- Commerce (2-1) at Athens Academy (3-0)
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