Warner Robins coach on playoff berth, flaws of region scheduling in PSR era
Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Warner Robins coach Shane Sams, who is in his fourth season with the program. The Demons reached the playoffs after a thrilling 34-33 win against Perry to cap the regular season and secure a spot in the postseason. As the 27-seed in 5A, Warner Robins heads to Jefferson on Friday night for the storied programs’ first meeting.
1. You were able to escape Perry with a thrilling 34-33 win against your county rival. How did y’all pull it off?
“I thought they kind of kept the ball on our side of the field for most of the game, right? I thought our kids were resilient. I thought our kids kept fighting, and that’s the one thing we talked about on the team, that we know we stay together, they fight. We just kind of had that culture of just continuing to fight all the way through. In the second half, we started making plays, and then when it came down to the critical moments, our defense bowed up, got a big time stop as they needed to to have our offense the ball. It did it again in a big time moment, and just allowed us to get the ball and drive.”
2. This was somewhat of a play-in game for both squads. Was that something you talked about with your team heading in?
“No doubt. We talked to the kids all week long about this. ‘This is it’ kind of thing, and you have to leave everything on your field. You know, one of the messages that we kind of talked about was that Warner Robins has that legacy. There’s been a lot of people before you, and there’s going to be people after you. How are you going to be remembered? What do you want to be remembered by? The biggest thing I tell these kids all the time is football is such a small part of our lives. I mean, like I’m 36 years old, and I played high school football for four years out of that. It’s such a small part. You don’t get another opportunity. You don’t get it to come back around. Heck, we all wish we could do it again, right? And I told them it was our last home game, and I said, ‘This is the last home game that this team and all of us will ever be together right here in this field. You don’t do it for yourself. If you do it for the guy next to you we’re gonna win this game. And if you can take all the selfishness out and all that stuff, then we’re gonna win this game.’ I thought they did a good job responding and taking it well.”
3. You’re headed to Jefferson on Friday. What are you expecting from the Dragons?
“First of all, (Travis) Noland’s a very good football coach. There’s no doubt about it, and he’s got a very good football team. You’re talking about a team that’s been a powerhouse, and so we expect a good football game. They got really good football players. Good football team. We think we got a good football team. We got good players. I’m excited for the opportunity to go up there and play another game and see how it falls and see how it shakes.”
4. In the first year of PSR, Warner Robins was on the bubble for the playoffs despite finishing in the Top 4 of the region. What are your thoughts on how PSR impacted your team in the first year of the format?
“I think the biggest thing is kind of trying to figure out who you’re going to schedule. One of the things of us scheduling some of the teams we did, Northeast and Newton, that aren’t in our county or a county rival. You try to go get some PSR points with them and strengthen the schedule with them. But I think the biggest thing that I think needs to be improved on is we’re forced to play these region games … but we’re getting hurt by some of the region opponents’ records, and that hurts us. But we’re forced to play them, so I think there’s got to be some give and take on that part of it.”