Scoreless high school football team moves on from coach before final game
Johns Creek’s Jim Rowell, whose team has not scored this season in nine defeats, is out as head coach before Friday’s final game.
Johns Creek is a Class 5A school in north Fulton County that has lost 26 straight games dating to 2023, Rowell’s first season. The current team has been outscored 482-0.
The last GHSA team to finish 0-10 without scoring was Sandy Springs in 1963.
Johns Creek will play at Chattahoochee, a 1-8 team, on Friday night. Chattahoochee has not allowed fewer than 26 points in a game this season.
Johns Creek athletic director Kirk Call said that offensive line coach Nick Brigham, a former Georgia Tech player, will serve as interim coach for the Chattahoochee game.
“Once the season concludes, we will begin a full search for a new head coach to lead the Gladiators moving forward,” Call said. “We appreciate (Rowell’s) leadership and dedication to our program.”
Rowell, in his 29th season as a coach, had been Cambridge’s defensive coordinator when hired in 2023. He also has been defensive coordinator at Alpharetta, Lassiter, Kell, Pope and Chattahoochee and co-coordinator at Roswell.
Johns Creek won region titles in 2016, 2018 and 2019 but has gone 3-36 the past four seasons, or since former coach Matt Helmerich took the Peachtree Ridge job.
The team’s roster on MaxPreps shows one senior, six juniors, 21 sophomores and 26 freshmen.
North Fulton County’s football teams this season show a striking disparity between the best and worsts teams.
Milton, Roswell and Cambridge, along with private schools Blessed Trinity and Fellowship Christian, are top-10 teams in the AJC rankings while Johns Creek, Chattahoochee, Alpharetta, Northview, Riverwood and North Springs are a combined 6-48.
The only middling public-school program is Centennial, which is 5-4, although three of those victories are against Riverwood, Chattahoochee and Johns Creek.
About the Author
Todd Holcomb has been a contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1985. He is currently co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
