Today’s interviewee is Bowdon coach Rich Fendley, whose team has won consecutive Class A Division II titles. Bowdon opens at home Aug. 16 against Fellowship Christian, a Class 2A quarterfinal team last season.
1. With some time to let the 2023 season sink in, what was the legacy or storyline of last year’s team? What were the turning points? “The legacy is it is extremely hard to go back-to-back titles, especially from losing 17 starters from the 2022 title team. The turning points were going from the 0-2 start to winning 13 in a row. The game of the year was the comeback win over Greene County. We were down nine points with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. We found a way to win and got ourselves back to the title game.”
2. What’s the scouting report on this year’s team? Where do you feel you’ll be pretty good, and what are the question marks? “We have three good running backs, three of our top four receivers are back, and our offensive line is back. The question mark on offense is the QB position. We have senior Charles Maxell and sophomore Conner Daniel taking snaps. We feel good about both of them, but can they fill Kyler McGrinn’s shoes? On defense, we have our line returning as well as three linebackers that combined for 310 tackles last year. Our question mark will be our secondary and our depth on the defensive line.” [McGrinn rushed for 2,186 yards and passed for 1,968 last season. He is now a freshman at Jacksonville State and playing safety.]
3. You have two players in particular that are intriguing to us. One is Kaiden Prothro, who is the highest-rated Bowdon recruit in history. The other is your new QB, Maxell, a Woodward Academy transfer, if he wins the job. What makes Kaiden stand out as a player, and what can we expect from Maxell in terms of skill set? “Kaiden is one of our best practice, classroom and weight room players. He will help us spread the ball down the field as well as help us in the running game when teams have to use two defenders to cover him. Charles can throw the ball well but also has a lot of speed. He will be a dual-threat kid that can keep drives alive for us. He shows a lot of leadership as well.”
4. What are your thoughts on the new Class A Division II? And do you agree with the GHSA’s decision to make D-II a public-only class? “Having Brooks County, Metter and Irwin County come down really strengthens the top of the classification. It will be a tougher road to the title game for sure. I do agree that there should be no private schools in the smaller classifications, especially for the really small enrollment schools.” [Christian Heritage and Aquinas were the only private schools with football teams in Class A Division II last season. Dropping into Division II this season will be Brooks County, Bryan County, Claxton, Crawford County, Irwin County, Metter, Pelham, Savannah, Screven County and Trion. Brooks and Irwin won state titles in the smallest classification the three seasons before Bowdon’s current reign.]
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