Today’s interviewee is Cherokee Bluff coach Tommy Jones, whose team defeated Dawson County 28-27 last week to improve to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in Region 7-3A heading into the Bears' game Friday night against county rival North Hall (5-3, 3-0). A victory would clinch the Bears' first region title in the third year of the Hall County program.
Tommy Jones, Cherokee Bluff head coach
1. It sounds like it was an exciting game in Dawsonville. How did the game play out, and what gave your team the edge? “Friday night was a great high school football atmosphere and a ton of fun to be a part of. Both teams were well-prepared and played extremely hard. As with most games, the difference was as small as a handful of plays that could have gone either way. We were fortunate to be able to make some of those. Really proud of our kids for playing with tremendous resolve, resiliency and effort. We talked all week about the importance of playing one play at a time and responding to adversity well. There were several situations during the game where we were able to exhibit this by answering some of their big plays with a stop or a score of our own.”
2. You have a game Friday for the region championship. What’s that going to be like for the school and community? “From the very beginning, the Cherokee Bluff community has always rallied around our program and supported us wholeheartedly. It has been incredibly encouraging every step of the way. Without a doubt, there is an excitement about the progress of our team. I have no doubt that there will be an awesome atmosphere for an important late-season game, especially playing against an in-county power like North Hall.”
3. What would you want fans to know about your team? What’s the team’s makeup, its identity? “We have 17 starters on this football team that played here in year one. It has been a giant blessing for our staff to be able to see this group taste some tangible success after struggling through a couple of really tough early seasons [0-10, 3-7]. Hopefully, it will stand as a life-long lesson for all of us that have been able to be a part.”
4. What have you and your staff done that was most important in putting the program in this position in its third season? “We have always tried to be intentional about putting our focus on the journey, rather than the results. We want to be a program driven by intangibles – controlling the things within our power and ability. We talk a lot about things like effort, attitude, family, toughness, preparation and discipline. We want to approach everything we do with a ‘one at a time’ mentality. We don’t talk much about wins and losses because we believe that it is the by-product of doing all these other things right. We hope we are building something here on a solid foundation that the people of our community will be proud of for many years to come.”
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