The difference between the first and second games is always noticeable. Coaches finally have video to study after they play a game and have a better idea about who can perform, which players can be moved around and where more attention needs to be paid.
An example is the improvement that Dutchtown made between its opening game – a 5-0 loss to Lanier – and its second game – a 21-7 win over Wheeler. This week Dutchtown will go on the road to face another talented opponent in Douglas County, the No. 10-ranked team in Class 6A.
Following the disappointing loss to Lanier, Dutchtown coach Clifford Fedd and his coaches took time to talk to the team. The players all took a knee while Fedd and various assistants calmly addressed them. There was no fire and brimstone, just a level-headed communication from coaches who knew a loss in the first week was disappointing, but hardly the end of the world, and did little to detract from the program’s long-term goals.
“The one thing we pride ourselves on is building a program,” Fedd said. "We’ve lost some good individual players of the past three years, but we have more good players now. That’s one thing we want, is to have a good program, not just a good team.
"A good team is going to be successful one year, but when you’re in the thick of things year after year after year, that’s a program. Our whole mentality is about building a program so we’re competitive years after year. "
The Dutchtown program is built on defense and effort.
“We’re not every going to quit,” Fedd said after the Lanier game. “That’s not in our blood. We’re always going to show up and we’re always going to get after people. We’ll just go to correct some things so we can get on the victory side.”
Dutchtown competes in Region 4. The Bulldogs have gone 31-8 with one region championship since Fedd became head coach in 2017.
Fulton County schools join the competition
Football teams from Fulton County will play their first games this week. The county leadership had opted to sit things out and start on Sept. 18.
In Region 3, that means openers for Banneker (at Colquitt County), Creekside (at Westlake) and Tri-Cities (at North Clayton). In Region 5, that means Northview (at Chattahoochee). In Region 6, that means an opener for North Springs (at Riverwood).
St. Pius goes into quarantine, to miss at least one game
No. 10 ranked St. Pius will spend the next two weeks in quarantine because of COVID-19. The Golden Lions had been scheduled to play No. 2 Blessed Trinity on Saturday. That highly anticipated game between the two Catholic-school rivals had been postponed while B.T. served its two-week COVID quarantine. It is not known whether St. Pius (1-0) will be forced to cancel its Sept. 25 game against Cedar Shoals.
