Today’s interviewee is West Forsyth coach Dave Svehla, whose team broke into the AJC rankings this week for the first time since 2012 after a victory over previous Class 7A No. 4 Walton 51-35 last week. Svehla got the West Forsyth job in 2020 after eight seasons at Etowah in Cherokee County.
Dave Svehla, West Forsyth head coach
1. You scored 51 points against a top-10 team last week. What allowed you to be that successful? “It didn’t start off very well. About eight seconds into the game, we were down 8-0. But it was fun. A couple of things we did well that we hadn’t done in previous games was get ourselves in short-yardage situations. We were ahead of the chains a good share of the night. Our offensive line did an outstanding job, and of course Peyton Streko had an outstanding game. The guys up front were a big part of that, but Peyton did a great job of being patient and putting his foot in the ground and going forward.”
2. Most fans who follow closely know that you have a great offensive weapon in tight end Oscar Delp, a top-100 national recruit. Peyton is lesser known but had a huge game, scoring six touchdowns. What makes him a top running back? “Peyton first of all is a well put-together kid. He’s not tall but thick and strong and has a good burst. Those guys are valuable in a system like mine. We like to run the ball and always have. He has really good vision.”
3. You won a region title and made the quarterfinals last season. How does this team compare to that one? Are you better? “That’s a good question. In some areas, we’re better than last year. We return seven guys or eight on defense, another six or seven on offense. Those guys have another year of athletic development and time in our system. Last year was a challenge to everybody [because of COVID restrictions], but if you were a new coaching staff putting in a new system, that was an extra challenge. Our senior class last year was outstanding, and that was the key. Those kids didn’t blink when adversity hit and were very competitive. We’re looking for those same guys this year. We got down 22-7 Friday night, and the kids just stayed with it and played better as the game went on.”
4. Forsyth County had never had a true blue-chip recruit until two or three years ago, and now there have been a handful, including Delp this season and Dylan Fairchild, a West Forsyth lineman now at Georgia, last season. Is this just a good cycle for Forsyth players, or the way it’s going to be now? “I spent eight years at Etowah, and Cherokee County is similar to Forsyth County. We made a run to the semifinals in 2014, and I’ve always felt, and maybe this is just coach talk, but I felt a lot of really good players in Cherokee County were overlooked and underrecruited. I’d have college coaches visit Cobb schools just 10 minutes away and not even know where we were located. Being a smaller county, one without the same tradition as other counties, we get overlooked. We’ve got to earn that and win more consistently, but I know we’ve got some really good players and coaching staffs in this region.” [Other four-star recruits the past three seasons in Forsyth are former Denmark quarterback Aaron McLaughlin (N.C. State) and wide receiver Ze’Vian Capers (Auburn) and Lambert wide receiver Kojo Antwi (committed to Ohio State).]
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