Coach’s Corner
Coach Sean Gray
Q: How would you characterize this year’s team?
A: We have a very experienced senior class, and the team has great potential to be very successful.
Q: What will be the keys to your success?
A: Staying healthy and playing great on defense and special teams.
Q: Who will be your key leaders on the team?
A: Taylor Shirah (Sr., LB), Chandler Feralin (Sr., OL), Cody Gillean (Sr., LB), Jacob Cloer (Sr., OL), and Landon Eaton (Jr., QB).
Q: What are your biggest reasons for optimism?
A: Last season, we played the best defense this program’s seen in 23 years. We return several key players from that defense.
Q: What can you build on from last year?
A: We had two of our biggest wins in years over Northwest Whitfield and Ridgeland. Hopefully, we can make that happen again this season.
Q: Any lessons learned from last year?
A: We have to show up with our A-game every Friday night. If not, things get ugly.
Q: How would you characterize your team’s speed?
A: We won’t be as fast as we have been the last two years. However, Landon Eaton (Jr., QB) and Brian Parks (Sr., DB) both run a 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, which should make some sparks fly when they break free with the ball.
Coach’s View
This team has a ton of potential. Our current senior class started out four years ago as the best freshman team at Southeast Whitfield in the last 10 to 15 years. We have a chance to be very good on defense, but our offense is still inexperienced. We lost four All-Region players to graduation in 2015. That’s tough, but we can provide our offense with time to mature if we play good defense early.
Photos by Tony Smith