Marquis Westbrook has led Warner Robins football teams to state championship games in four seasons, and he has won two of them.
That’s a career for some coaches.
But for Westbrook, who is entering his fifth season as a head coach, that’s business as usual. His move to Peach County is one of the largest Class 3A stories from the offseason, and his ability to compete in, and win state championship games could bring the Trojans back to the forefront.
“The move was just a decision that I based on timing,” Westbrook said. “I know we had a lot of success at Warner Robins and had a really good football team coming back. But when the job came open at Peach, I thought I might not get the opportunity to work in a system with one high school and all the amenities that it has. It was just a good deal.”
He spent the first four seasons of his coaching career at Class 5A Warner Robins from 2019 to 2022. He won state championships in 2020 and 2021 but lost in the title games in 2019 and last season.
Peach needs the bump.
The Trojans won three state titles under head coach Chad Campbell in 2005, 2006 and 2009 but lost in the championship game in 2017 and 2018. Since 2019, Peach advanced to the quarterfinals in 2019, 2020 and 2021 before losing in the second round last season.
“We are just trying to get their mindset to playing at a championship-type level,” Westbrook said. “And practicing at a championship level. It’s been tough.”
Campbell left Peach County after retiring from the school system last season before taking over Westfield, a GISA program in Perry, just a few miles down the road from Fort Valley. Peach County opens the season against Baldwin at home before traveling to Class 6A Northside-Warner Robins in Week 2.
“The one thing about the kids at Peach, they’ve always been tough,” he said. “Playing against them and coaching against them, they had that toughness in them, physically. But just that middle ground and practice. We are practicing a lot faster, and we’re running plays, a ton of plays, in practice trying to play them into shape and teach them tempo and how to play fast, handle adversity and keep going.”
The Trojans will feature a new quarterback this season -- D.J. Hudson Jr., a 5-foot-10, 172-pound junior. Hudson will have a formidable line in front of him, led by 6-3, 307-pound tackle Peyton Joseph.
“He’s one of our highly recruited guys,” Westbrook said. “He’s got a lot of play, and he’s just one side of the ball. On the other side, Jordyn Millerhorne at tackle will be big for us.”
Millerhorne is a healthy 6-4, 312 pounds.
“We have a couple of guys on the inside who have played a bunch,” Westbrook said. “Tywon Owen is a senior, and he’s one of our leaders up front. He has a lot of reps, but he was on and off last year.”
The receivers will be led by Dylan Johnson, a 5-11, 174-pound senior, who had a solid game in Peach’s scrimmage loss to Colquitt County last Friday. Senior Sammy Williams might not be the biggest target (at 5-9, 160-pounds), but he’s fast.
“We are counting on Johnson to be one of those guys who can be a possession guy,” Westbrook said. “He runs good routes and has been a leader for us. And Sammy can flat-out fly.”
Although the preseason rankings have yet to be released, Peach County likely will be ranked somewhere near the top of the rankings.
“We are going to coach them hard, but love them harder,” Westbrook said on the team’s motivation. “We want them to know they’re playing football for the Trojans and there’s a lot of people pulling for them. We will get it motivated from that standpoint and just be holistic and try to make sure that we are taking care of the whole person.”
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