Howard coach on historic win over a ranked team, Super 11’s six TD receptions
Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Howard coach Trey Porter, whose team defeated then-No. 9 Baldwin 49-43 in a Region 2-4A opener last week. AJC Super 11 wide receiver/safety Ta’Shawn Poole had six touchdown receptions. The victory was Howard’s first over Baldwin, first over a Top 10 team from its classification or higher and first over a Top 10 team from any class since 2015. Porter is a Missouri native who became Howard’s coach in 2024.
1. What did it mean for Howard to win this game?
“It was a gut check. We’d lost the last two games to a juggernaut in Valdosta and a former state champ in Perry. This was my third time playing Baldwin. The first time we lost a shootout. Last year they beat the crap out of us. A lot of our kids have been part of those games. It was time for our guys to show up in a meaningful game. We hadn’t won a game of that magnitude against a state-ranked opponent. We were underdogs. You’ve just got to have some grit about yourself going into a game like that, and they showed they had it. Our players responded.”
Note: Howard’s other victory over a Top 10 team came against No. 4 Lamar County of Class 2A in the 2015 season opener. Howard had been 0-11 against Baldwin, losing 49-36 and 41-14 the past two seasons.
2. Ta’Shawn Poole had perhaps a career night. What makes him the player he is?
“It’s just ball skills, man. It’s the ball skills. He has a knack for the football on offense, defense and special teams. He catches one-hop bounces on punt returns. He high-points the ball on offense and goes up and catches it. And on defense, if the ball is thrown up and it’s in his radius, he’s going to get it. He’s someone you always want around the football.”
Note: Poole was the first Macon player to make the AJC Super 11 since its inception in 1985. The consensus No. 64 prospect nationally according to 247Sports Composite, Poole is committed to Florida State.
3. What was the difference against Baldwin? What did you do that allowed you to win?
“We were just kind of looking at Baldwin’s roster and depth. Their starting quarterback is the starting safety. We knew if he had to chase Ta’Shawn on defense, that might take some gas out of him on offense. He’s a dual-threat quarterback. He’s really good, and we came up with a plan to make him do things he didn’t want to do and show him some disguised looks and keep him guessing. Our offensive line also responded big time by giving our quarterback enough time to throw down the field. We were coming off a bye week, and we had to figure out who our best five was, and we were able to do that. Baldwin rallied late because they’ve got a high-powered offense, but in the first half we pulled away enough that they couldn’t catch us.”
Note: Porter said his staff used the off week like a preseason camp, going in full pads and contact every day and working on conditioning and stamina. He said the work especially benefited Poole, who needs the stamina to play almost every play in a game. Howard took a 35-8 halftime lead. Baldwin quarterback Kamden Patterson came on strong in the second half and was 28-of-34 passing for 311 yards and six touchdowns. Howard’s Zavion DeShazier was 14-of-20 passing for 325 yards and seven touchdowns. Poole had nine receptions for 249 yards and six touchdowns. Poole had three solo tackles and four assists, a tackle for a loss and a 22-yard punt return.
4. You were a head coach and coordinator and athletic director in Missouri and have coached college ball in Missouri and Alabama, and you’ve recruited around the South. What makes Georgia high school football different?
“The offensive and defensive line play. It’s the trenches. In Missouri, we’ve got the skill kids. We felt we could play on the perimeter with any team in Georgia, but it’s the offensive and defensive lines and the quality of coaches that’s the big difference here. Back home, everybody wants to be a skill guy. In Georgia, if you’re a big kid and you’re 7 or 8 years old and the coach says you’re going to be a defensive lineman, parents take pride in that. Back home, they want to be a quarterback or running back. Here, they feel like they’re born (to play on the line) and they embrace it.”
Note: Porter came to Georgia in 2020 because his job status as a Missouri Southern assistant became uncertain during the COVID-19 pandemic and Georgia was still planning a full season of high school ball. Porter worked that season at Jackson and went back to Missouri Southern in January. Feeling grateful that Jackson let him out of his contract midyear, he promised Jackson he’d return if he had an opportunity and did in 2023, when North Alabama fired its head coach when Porter was there. Porter coached that year at Jackson and took the Howard job in 2024. And for the record, Porter was one of those skill players out of Missouri. He was a running back and track-and-field sprinter at Southeast Missouri State.