Today’s interviewee is sportscaster Matt Stewart, who is in his eighth season of doing play-by-play for GPB Sports’ high school games of the week. Stewart also works for ESPN/SEC Network calling football, basketball, baseball and softball. The GPB opener is tonight’s game between Creekside and Cartersville.
Matt Stewart, GPB play-by-play announcer
1. Let’s start with Creekside. What’s your assessment of them? “I think Creekside’s first two wins over Grayson and Westlake are proof that the Seminoles are a potential final-four team, if not better. They’ve knocked off the defending 7A champs and 6A semifinalist and now have a chance to beat 5A finalist Cartersville. The job that alumnus Maurice Dixon has done at Creekside is amazing. He got thrown into the job in July 2017 and struggled through an 0-10 season, but since then the program has gone 24-12, and don’t forget this is a Seminoles program that won a state title in 2013. Dixon played for Famous Amos McCreary, and Creekside has always had great talent. Coach Dixon says the difference in this year’s team and last is the ability to win the close games that in the past they were losing.”
2. Now for Cartersville. Just noticed today that they graduated all nine of their first-team all-region players. Is this a rebuilding team, or does that apply to a program that’s won 11 games or more for nine consecutive seasons? What’s your assessment of them? “Well, Cartersville pretty much lost everybody who played on that state finalist team from back in December. But they are the Purple Hurricanes, and it’s one of the most established programs in the state. Coach Conor Foster has continued the legacy and longstanding tradition of Mike Earwood, Frank Barden and Joey King before him. Foster is just the fourth coach the Canes have had since 1986. That tells you what kind of program it is. You go there and you stay. That said, Cartersville will have their hands full tonight.”
3. You are a graduate of Lakeshore High, a former south Fulton County school that had a strong athletic program. Now Creekside, Westlake and Hughes, along with Woodward Academy, are carrying the flag of that region and doing well. Is some of south Fulton’s rich history lost and therefore underrated because of the closing and opening of schools? What would you want people to know about the tradition there? “There’s no doubt that the closing of all those old schools and reopening under new names and new buildings erased a lot of great history in south Fulton County. When I was in eighth grade at Lakeshore High School, which merged with Westwood to become Westlake, in 1975, the Lancers had the second-best team in the state, losing only to Americus, who had one of the greatest single-season teams in Georgia history. The Lancers boasted running back Gerald Harp and quarterback Steve Smith. Harp would go on to set pretty much every receiving record at the time in Western Carolina history, and Smith became the starting quarterback at N.C. State. We looked up to those guys like they were NFL players. The first game I ever called came not many years later when I got thrown into the play-by-play assignment for Glenn Hills at Woodward Academy in the GHSA state playoffs. I had no idea what I was doing. But I figured it out, I guess.
“In addition to Lakeshore and Woodward, coached by the legendary Graham Hixon and his Box-T offense, so much great football and players have come out of that area. Bill Curry played at College Park. Reginald Rutland starred at Russell. Palmetto won state titles, and Feldwood was pretty good too for the short time that that school was around. We always felt the southside got overlooked in the Atlanta media, and they probably still feel that way today. But they’re getting state-wide coverage tonight.”
4. What’s been the most intriguing story of the season so far statewide? What stands out most to you, whether it be a team, player or storyline? “Creekside and their first two wins of the season! That’s why they’re on GPB tonight. This is not the game that we thought we would be doing a couple of weeks ago, but because we decided several years ago to choose our games just a week in advance, I believe the caliber of our games has dramatically increased. You can never predict what’s going to happen, but we’ve got two teams ranked top 10 in the state and undefeated after a combined five games. In my mind you greatly enhance your chances of having a close game going into the fourth quarter, hopefully the final possession, and ultimately the final play. As a play-by-play commentator, that’s all I want. That’s a win.”
Produced by Georgia High School Football Daily, a free e-mail newsletter. To join the mailing list, click here.
About the Author
