ForsythCountyNews
pIGSKIN
PREVIEW
2015
Bridging the gap The Georgia high school football season’s pinnacle stage is the state championship at the Georgia Dome. Will a Forsyth team reach it before a new NFL home is opened?
INSIDE /// TEAM PREVIEWS /// PRESEASON ALL-COUNTY /// AND MUCH MORE
Go Pinecrest Paladins!
“I play for my brothers and for God, so I can honor Him through all my actions and through the beautiful game of football.” - Ricky Torres, Pinecrest Senior
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Contributors Sports editor Brian Paglia bpaglia@forsythnews.com 770-205-8976 Twitter: @BrianPaglia Sports writer Michael Foster mfoster@forsythnews.com 770-205-8972 Twitter: @michaelsfoster director of creative imagery Micah Green mgreen@forsythnews.com 770-205-8980 Twitter: @micahgreen15 Advertising Ryan Garmon Advertising Director rgarmon@forsythnews.com 770-205-8960 Cheri Boghos Account Executive cboghos@forsythnews.com
Table of contents Team Previews GHSA TEAMS
Forsyth Central......................................................6 Lambert..................................................................8 North Forsyth.......................................................10 Pinecrest Academy..............................................12 South Forsyth......................................................14 West Forsyth........................................................18 GICAA TEAMS
Horizon Christian Academy...............................20
Extras FCN Preseason All-County Team.......................24 Record Books......................................................27
On the cover
Connor Kelly Account Executive ckelly@forsythnews.com Graphic design Angie Decker Copy editor Tracie Pike Executive Staff Vince Johnson Publisher vjohnson@forsythnews.com 770-205-8945 Kevin Atwill Editor katwill@forysthnews.com 770-205-8970
Micah Green Forsyth County News
Connect with us on social media @ForsythSports facebook.com/fcnsports Instagram: fcnsports
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2015 pigskin preview
Forsyth County football players Jalen Camp (South Forsyth, from left), Ryan McCarthy (Pinecrest Academy), Eli Huggins (West Forsyth), Sean Bailey (Lambert), Jackson Bardall (North Forsyth) and Pierce Nufer (Forsyth Central) pose in front of the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, which has played host to the Georgia High School Association football championships since 2008. Fall 2015
FORSYTH CENTRAL BULLDOGS
FOOTBALL
Team 60 “ALL IN” www.fchsbulldogs.org
Flash of Crimson Pride, Honor, Dedication
FORSYTH CENTRAL BULLDOGS
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 28 at Dawson County Sept. 4 vs. Woodland-Cartersville Sept. 11 vs. Cass Sept. 18 vs. Kell* Sept. 25 at Riverwood* Oct. 9 at North Atlanta* Oct. 16 vs. Sprayberry* Oct. 23 vs. North Springs* Oct. 30 at Cambridge* Nov. 6 Region 7-AAAAA play-in * 7-AAAAA, Div. B game
2014 RESULTS
Micah Green Forsyth County News
The big question: How will Pierce Nufer (from left), Shaun Diebel, Sabrian Howard and Robbie Repasz and Forsyth Central follow up the first winning season in 13 years?
Bulldogs trying on new suit: consistent winner Offensive line and secondary are concerns, but a new attitude is keeping Forsyth Central hopeful of taking the next step By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
In football circles there exists a common rhetoric handed out by alumni, boosters and pundits when a new coach takes over at a reeling program: “Give them three years to turn it around.” When Shane Williamson took over at Forsyth Central in 2013 after holding jobs at Swainsboro and Toombs County, the Bulldogs were looking for their first win-
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ning season in 11 years— they were just 27-83 in that span. Turning the program around wasn’t going to happen overnight. “When I signed up I thought it would be a fiveyear job before we reaped the benefits of what we’re doing,” Williamson said. As it turned out last season, he only needed two years. After a familiar 2-8 campaign in Williamson’s first season, Central could finally call itself a winning football team when it walked off the field on Nov. 7 with a 27-14 victory over Cass—its sixth win of the year. It was a monumental night for the Bulldogs, and, admittedly, a little prema-
6-4 overall, 3-3 in 7-AAAAA, Div. B Central 27, Dawson County 7 Central 36, Woodland-Cart. 14 Cass 13, Central 6 Kell 28, Central 14* Central 41, Riverwood 13* Central 7, North Atlanta 0* Sprayberry 34, Central 7* Central 49, North Springs 21* Cambridge 35, Central 21* Central 27, Cass 14* * 7-AAAAA, Div. B game
TROPHY CASE
First varsity season: 1955 Playoff appearances: 5 (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001) Region titles: 3 (1996, 1997, 2000) State titles: none
ture. “We were fortunate to see some good things in our second year, and hopefully that ignited a stronger fire,” THE COACH Williamson said. Central has a new brand Shane Williamson under the leadership of prin- At Central: 8-12, third season. cipal Mitch Young, athletic Overall: 74-65-2, 15th season. director Dan Kaplan and Williamson. The Junior Bulldogs feeder program has built the foundation through middle school and youth leagues. The school even recently unveiled new logos. The Bulldogs have reimagined their on-field identity—an old school football team that relies heavily on their running game and a stout defense. Williamson is eager to take his confident crew,
Fall 2015
2015 ROSTER No. Name
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Position Year
Robbie Repasz DB Zack Kennedy Zack Hill Jacob Woodard CB/WR Matt Falink Jake Bump Aubrey Blackmon QB/DB Blake Wood Hunter Stephens LB Sebastian Legarra LB Kyle Marzulo Trey Abercrombie QB/DB Ryan Edge Jacob Ward LB Jagger Hartshorn QB Brad Thiltgen QB Jeff Repasz Connor Baker Dylan Buchs Mark Heard
12 11 12 11 10 10 12 11 11 11 10 12 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10
No. Name
22 23 24 25 26 27 29 31 33 35 36 38 39 40 42 44 45 47 50 53
Position Year
Parker Jeppson J.T. Tinjaca Pierce Nufer LB Sabrian Howard TB Derrick Richemond DB Shaun Diebel TB Remy Williams TE Drake Church Cameron Daube DT Gabe Klein Jaevon Fuller Spencer Pagley Michael Corona K/P Caden Sherman Bryce Baker Quincy Peppers TE/DE Thomas Whatley Dariel Underwood Caleb Nix Connor Clanton
10 10 12 11 11 12 12 10 12 10 12 10 11 10 10 11 11 11 12 12
No. Name
54 55 56 57 59 60 63 65 66 68 70 71 73 74 75 78 79 80 85 88
Position Year
Aaron Jean-Baptiste DL 11
Josh Wierauch OL Rhett Winter Matt Olson Shaun Bielicki Blake McDaniel Colton Hines Jorge Torres Ethan Jagnandan OL Michael Parrot Cedrick Dorsey DT Billy Francis OL Edward Gutierrez Austin Payne Tyler Zwierzchowski OL Justin Thorne Cam Matis Jacob Berger Tyler Williams Brad Brooks
which returns key pieces in the backfield and defensive front seven, back into Region 7-AAAAA with higher expectations and ambitions. “When I got here I don’t think our kids truly believed we could win every Friday night,” Williamson said. “We changed that. “I just like where our attitude has been the last two years. These coaches have come to work every day with the right mindset. Our kids right now are making good choices and showing up to work every day.”
11 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 11 10 10 12 10 10 11 10 10
Forsyth Central running back Shaun Diebel had the breakout season of the year in 2014 when he rushed for 1,370 yards. File photo
Offense
Tailbacks Shaun Diebel and Sabrian Howard were the two drivers in Central’s run-heavy offense last season. Both return, but will have to recalibrate behind an offensive line that returns just two starters in Josh Wi e r a u c h a n d E t h a n Jagnandan. Fall 2015
“We’re going to be young on the offensive line. We’re going to have to get some of those younger guys to grow up in a hurry,” Williamson said. If the front holds up, Diebel and Howard should
build on rushing totals of 1,370 and 797 yards, respectively, from last season. Not only did the wingback tandem handle 77 percent of Central’s rushing attempts last year, but as an offense Central ran the ball
93 percent of the time in 2014. “We’re going to get the ball in (Diebel and Howard’s) hands as much as possible,” Williamson said. See CENTRAL | 22 2015 pigskin preview |
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LAMBERT LONGHORNS
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 21 at Lanier Sept. 4 vs. Johns Creek* Sept. 11 vs. Centennial* Sept. 18 at Alpharetta* Sept. 25 vs. North Forsyth* Oct. 9 at Habersham Central* Oct. 16 vs. Northview* Oct. 23 vs. West Forsyth* Oct. 30 at Chattahoochee* Nov. 6 at South Forsyth* * 6-AAAAAA game
2014 RESULTS
Micah Green Forsyth County News
Lambert’s strength is obvious: an all-senior offensive line of Jack Heustess (from left), Cliff Snyder, Sean Bailey, Jason Regulski and Nick Nieuwhof.
Horns over one-anddone playoff history Lambert wants to get past first round after back-to-back losses By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
It’s not too early to call Lambert a metro-Atlanta powerhouse in high school athletics, though it is peculiar that when the conversation comes up about just how good the six-year old high school’s teams have become, football is only mentioned in the margins. This year Lambert became the first school outside of Cobb or Gwinnett counties to win the Georgia High School Association’s
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Director’s Cup in Class AAAAAA, given to the school with the strongest overall athletic resume in each classification. Lambert took home a state title in swimming, two in golf (girls and boys), and was runnerup in girls soccer and cheerleading. Baseball won a state title two seasons ago. Lacrosse was dominant this spring. However, when you drive down to the Lambert football stadium, none of the proudly-adorning championship banners, which start on the road at the top of the parking lot and trail all the way into the football stadium itself, mention football. Second-year head coach
7-4 overall, 7-2 Region 6-AAAAAA Lanier 27, Lambert 14 Lambert 41, Johns Creek 7* Centennial 28, Lambert 21* Alpharetta 35, Lambert 17* Lambert 31, North Forsyth 6* Lambert 51, Habersham 6* Lambert 3, Northview 0* Lambert 33, West Forsyth 27* Lambert 20, Chattahoochee 9* Lambert 40, South Forsyth 7* Roswell 36, Lambert 13** * 6-AAAAAA game ** GHSA playoff game
TROPHY CASE
First varsity season: 2010 Playoff appearances: 4 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014) Region titles: none State titles: none
Louis Daniel, who was an assistant under Lambert’s fi r s t h e a d c o a c h , S i d Maxwell, wants to change that. He understands that Lambert is central to a community that takes liking to THE COACH spring sports more than football, which might mean Louis Daniel not having the developed At Lambert: 7-4, second season. t a l e n t a s s c h o o l s i n Overall: 7-4, second season. Gwinnett and Cobb. With a focus on player development, Daniel sees a future where Lambert can trot out a football team cohesive enough to beat anyone, and he hopes to do it sooner rather than later. “We’ve been close a couple of times for region titles in football, but we’ve always lacked that commitFall 2015
2015 ROSTER No. Name Position Year 1 Ken Dicks RB/DB 10 2 Noah Beck WR/DB 11 3 Colin Donnelly WR/DB 11 4 Jaryd Jean-Felix WR/DB 11 5 Justyn Jean-Felix TE/DB 12 6 Tanner Hall WR/DB 12 8 Conner Wright QB/WR/DB 11 9 Tyler Gillis WR/DB 10 10 Richie Kenney QB 11 11 Bobby Gabriel QB/DL 10 12 Steven Majors WR/DB 10 13 Jack Ligas WR/DB 11 14 Noah Johnson QB/WR/DL 10 15 Taylor Brinkerhoff TE/DL 11 16 Dylan Lamb WR/DB 11 17 Sam Fleming TE 12 18 Bryce Chason TE/DL 10 19 Bryce Christensen K 10 20 Daniel Mickelson TE/DL 12 21 Tyler Ray WR/DB 11 22 Jarrett Wright WR/DB 12 23 Harrison Pomfret TB/LB 11 24 Christian Evans WR/DB 12 25 Hayden Gargosh WR/DB 11 26 Jacob Givens TB/LB 10 27 Will Kohlins TB/LB 10 28 Brian Wright TB/LB 11 29 Eric Kohlins TB/LB 11 30 Brant SchimmelpfennigFB/SS 10
ment to doing it right all the time,” Daniel said. “We don’t have a good margin for error, and in order to close the gap on more athletic teams we have to consistently do our job right all the time. We’re preaching it. We’re telling them. “We’ll have great practices and then we’ll have bad practices. When we develop the consistency and start putting back-to-back-toback great practices together, we’ll be able to move forward. It’s about taking a step ahead every single day.” That they have. Lambert went 5-5 in 2012, 6-4 before falling in the first round of the playoffs in 2013, and 7-3 last year before Roswell nipped the Longhorns, 36-13. A six-game winning streak to end the regular season, capped with a 40-7 win over South Forsyth in t h e fi n a l w e e k , bu i l t momentum toward the future. To go 8-2 or beyond in Fall 2015
No. Name 31 Trevor Nunes 32 Kyle Conner 33 Mac Redmond 34 Dylan Shepherd 35 Ford Hirsch 36 Brendan Duer 37 Justin Bruno 38 Brad Whicher 39 Marcus Chatelain 40 Chris Clements 41 Camron Carter 42 Nakita Dubinka 43 Alec Fields 44 Mike Fazzalora 46 Stone Parks 47 Dillon Cerenzia 48 Brooks Hardee 49 Clay Wells 50 Anthony Ratliff 51 Jack Sweeney 52 Matt Stewart 53 Ford Stroup 54 Parker Bock 55 Cayson Banyas 56 Cliff Snyder 57 Jack Heustess 58 Nick Nieuwhof 59 Brett Kunich 60 Blake Hardee
Position FB/LB FB/LB FB/LB FB/LB FB/LB DL TE/DL FB/DL TB/DB DL WR/DB WR/SS TE/LB FB/DL TB/LB OL/LB OL/DL FB/DL LS OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL
Year 12 12 11 11 12 12 10 12 10 12 11 10 11 11 11 11 10 10 12 12 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 11
No. Name 61 Sam Glass 62 Jason Regulski 63 Brandon Weiss 64 Parker Reynolds 66 Ethan Young 66 Josh Thompson 67 Josh Hawkins 68 Andy Liu 69 Jack Fleming 70 David Stein 71 David Plante 72 Matt Housley 73 Sean Bailey 74 Jake Henderson 75 Carson Campbell 76 DJ Bryan 78 Peyton Bouhan 79 Ben Schuerlein 80 Trey Ferro 84 Josh Nasser 85 Chris West 86 Cole Bennett 87 Alex Snyder 88 Jonathan O’Neal 91 David Standeven 92 Max Benedict 97 Nick Propes 98 Quinn Seagraves
Position OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL WR/DB WR/DB TE/DL WR/DB OL/DL WR/DB OL/DL TB/LB K K
Year 11 12 11 11 11 11 10 11 10 11 12 11 12 12 11 11 12 11 12 11 11 11 10 11 10 10 11 12
Lambert senior Justyn Jean-Felix will give the Longhorns a heavy hitter in the secondary and an athletic weapon on offense. File photo
2015, Daniel will need to see just how much of a program he has—the Longhorns will have a new look, but possibly more confidence than ever.
Offense
Junior Richie Kenney is
set to lead the offense at quarterback, replacing last year’s starter in Drew Cole. Bobby Gabriel will push Kenney in the depth chart, but both quarterbacks will be asked to hand the ball off—a lot. Last season, Lambert only passed for 75
yards a game, and this season might be no different if Brian Wright, Ken Dicks and Marcus Chatelain can combine to duplicate the production from Trevor O’Brien, who rushed for See LAMBERT | 28 2015 pigskin preview |
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NORTH FORSYTH RAIDERS
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 28 vs. Cherokee Sept. 4 at Chattahoochee* Sept. 11 at Northview* Sept. 18 vs. South Forsyth* Sept. 25 at Lambert* Oct. 9 vs. West Forsyth* Oct. 16 at Johns Creek* Oct. 23 at Centennial* Oct. 30 vs. Habersham Central* Nov. 6 vs. Alpharetta* * 6-AAAAAA game
2014 RESULTS
Micah Green Forsyth County News
Jackson Bardall (from left), Jacob Bailey, Seth Collett and Will Andrews hope to help guide North Forsyth back to competitiveness after a tough 2014 season.
Raiders see, and feel, healthier future ahead With the program recalibrated after a trying season, North Forsyth is eager to get back to becoming a factor again. By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
North Forsyth was one score against Johns Creek away from finishing last season winless. It was a season from another planet for head coach Jason Galt, who was 43-31 as a head coach heading into 2014, including a 7-4 season with a playoff appearance in his first go-around with the Raiders. So what changed?
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Galt attributed North’s last campaign to major untimely injuries and a much-needed culture change that affected the younger kids in the program much more than it did the experienced team he took over in his first season. “In my first year, we had a really strong senior class,” Galt said. “When we came in as a staff, you start implementing things and having certain expectations, and sometimes you run some kids off that probably don’t need to be there anyways, and a lot of those kids that left were in the junior class. “We only had seven seniors play a significant
amount last season, and you combine that with one, two, three, all of a sudden four ACL injuries, and it was a perfect storm for no success, really.” The most critical injuries were to tight end Jacob Hubbard, linebacker Mason Quarles and tailback Griffin Heffington. But there were more than just injuries to explain North losing eight games last season by at least two touchdowns—the Raiders were simply too young, but fast forward a year and they’ve got 28 players who had a letter for the first time. North will also trot out an offensive line made up exclusively of seniors, as
1-9 overall, 1-8 Region 6-AAAAAA Cherokee 42, North 14 Chattahoochee 20, North 17* Northview 49, North 0* South 55, North 3* Lambert 31, North 6* West 35, North 3* North 14, Johns Creek 13* Centennial 27, North 3* Habersham 32, North 7* Alpharetta 34, North 14* * 6-AAAAAA game
TROPHY CASE
First varsity season: 1994 Playoff appearances: 8 (1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013) Region titles: 1 (2001) State titles: none
THE COACH Jason Galt
At North: 8-13, third season. Overall: 44-40, 10th season.
Fall 2015
2015 ROSTER No. Name
3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Shota Bardeau Lance McGonigle Stevie Elliot Simon Holcomb Jacob Bailey Jonathan Perez Nathan Cook Thomas Sheets Cedric Touchstone Cody Dwyer Ben Bales Tristan Howard Zack Griffin Evan Johnson Jose Boyzo-Medina Yaw Parry Robert Bishop Jordan Palms Ethan McGehee Griffin Hughes Griffin Heffington Jacob Brown Shaun Herock Bryson Trigg Brice Davis Jeffery Rice
Position Year
WR/DB 11 RB 12 DB 12 RB/DB 11 QB/P 12 RB/DB 10 WR/DB 11 TE/LB 11 RB/DB 10 QB/RB/DB 12 QB 10 RB/DB 10 WR/DB 12 RB/LB 10 K/P 10 RB/DB 10 WR/DB 11 WR/DB 12 RB/DB 10 RB/LB 11 RB 11 WR/DB 10 TE/LB 11 RB/DB 9 RB/DB 10 RB/DB 11
No. Name
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Michael Bun Jacob Whitten Chase Johnson Gavin Struminger John Allan Whitacre Steven Leventhal Bradley Thomas Noah Culp Lance McGonigle Isaiah Ruiz Hunter Freeman Rober Faulkner Luke Nielsen Dalton Crawford Hudson Stone Trevor Holcomb
Position Year
DL 11 K/P 12 QB/DB 10 WR/DB 10 WR/DB 10 LB 12 RB/DB 11 RB/LB 11 RB 12 RB/LB 11 RB/DB 11 FB/LB 10 RB/LB 11 TE/LB 10 TE/LB 11 WR/DB 10 Jean-Pierre Descous RB/LB 10 Alex Clark TE/LB 12 Seth Collett FB/LB 12 Cade Jensen OL/LB 10 Ausin Kennedy OL/LB 11 Dakota Bryant OL/DL 11 Carson Papp OL 12 Nick Sing FB/DL 11 Guillermo Chavarria FB/DL 10 Uriel Esparza DL 12
No. Name
58 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 71 74 76 78 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 90
Mason Wacker Colt Walls Jake Murrah Kevin Resendiz Cameron Collins Brinton Parker JT Simonds Colton Gravitt William Andrews Dylan Connely Taylor White Jackson Bardall Tyler Ellis Jake Murrah Jonathan Avery Ethan Hatfield Cody Cagle Chris Cutter Nich Lanier Hampton Wingruber Cason Sturtevant Caleb Byrd Alexander Janik Clayton Bardall
well as a senior quarterback and a couple of senior tight ends. As far as Galt is concerned, there’s no reason North can’t look forward to 2015. North even brings in a freshman class that won a championship at the middle school. “There’s no doubt that it takes legitimately three or four years to establish a way of doing things at a program,” Galt said. “It’s about getting those guys committed to a new way. Once that’s established, it becomes a machine. We’re definitely closer to that point.”
Position Year
DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL OL/DL OL DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL DL OL/DL WR/DB DB TE/DL FB/DL TE/DL TE/LB TE TE/DL WR/DB RB/LB
11 10 10 10 12 10 10 12 12 10 12 12 12 10 10 10 11 11 11 10 11 12 11 10
North Forsyth head coach Jason Galt feels the Raiders’ program is in healthier condition, both mentally and physically, this season. File photo
Offense
Everything will start with center Jackson Bardall, who continues to get looks from college coaches heading into his senior season. Bardall, who has experience out wide on the offensive line as well, slides into center for the second-straight year to take advantage of Fall 2015
straight-ahead blocking that will keep him fresh enough to play defense as well. “Our guards and tackles do a whole lot of pulling, so we felt like if we put him at center he’d be good to give us reps on defense,” Galt said.
Bardall combines with William Andrews, Seth Collett, Carson Papp and Cameron Collins to create the strength of not just the offense, but the team. “Those guys are shining examples for the younger guys,” Galt said.
Quarterback Jacob Bailey, now a senior, will facilitate N o r t h ’s d o u b l e - w i n g offense. When it comes to who will run the ball, junior running back Simon Holcomb is expected to turn See NORTH | 28 2015 pigskin preview |
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PINECREST ACADEMY PALADINS
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 28 at North Springs Sept. 11 at Walker Sept. 18 vs. Trion Sept. 25 vs. Mount Paran Chr. Oct. 2 at Whitefield Academy* Oct. 9 at St. Francis* Oct. 16 vs. Mount Pisgah Chr. Oct. 23 vs. Fellowship Christian* Oct. 30 at King’s Ridge Christian* Nov. 6 Region 6-A play in * 6-A, Div. B game
2014 RESULTS
Micah Green Forsyth County News
Pinecrest Academy’s Mitchell Ojeda (from left), Matthew Walters, Ryan McCarthy and Garrison Winter now know what it takes to make the GHSA state playoffs.
Paladins aiming to return to state playoffs Next step: Take high-powered offense on a postseason run By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
In Class AAAAAA football, dynasties are built through years of systematic consistency. Teams trot out over 100 players, top teams are three deep at major positions and have junior varsity kids who could start right away. In Class A, things can be a little bit different. Because schools aren’t nearly as large, a few top-level skill position players here or there can make or break a
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play, a game and a season. At the high school level, where there are no longterm deals or redshirt years, you work with what you’ve got. Look no further than the Class A champion from last season—Mount Paran Christian. The Eagles were two years removed from a 3-7 season before a couple of new faces, including now-Georgia Tech freshman Dorian Walker, ignited the team and turned the Eagles into a juggernaut, seemingly overnight. Pinecrest head coach Todd Winter has been in both realms. He’s held jobs at high classification high schools and even at the col-
lege level. When Winters arrived at Pinecrest in 2012, he quickly ran the diagnostics and formulated a blue print for making Pinecrest into a major playoff contender. Task one: Limit injuries. Forty to 50 players are ideal for a Class A roster. Some schools compete with less than 30. In Class A, every player on the roster is valued as if they could be a starter, and in turn their health is paramount. Conditioning and knowledge of the game is also key because players will be asked to play on offense and defense. Winters has his team focused less on battling for bumps and bruises
7-4 overall, 4-1 Region 6-A, Div. B Pinecrest 21, North Springs 14 Pinecrest 42, Walker 14 Pinecrest 21, Trion 14 Mount Paran 45, Pinecrest 14 Pinecrest 28, Whitefield 7* Pinecrest 30, St. Francis 27 * Mount Pisgah 21, Pinecrest 14* Pinecrest 14, Fellowship 7* Pinecrest 56, King’s Ridge 21* Mount Zion 26, Pinecrest 7 Tattnall Square 23, Pinecrest 0** * 6-A, Div. B game ** GHSA playoff game
TROPHY CASE
First varsity season: 2004 Playoff appearances: 6 (2004*, 2005*, 2007*, 2008*, 2009*, 2014**) Region titles: 2 (2007*, 2009*) State titles: none * GISA ** GHSA
THE COACH Todd Winter
At Pinecrest: 17-13, fourth season Overall: 93-100, 17th season
Fall 2015
2015 ROSTER No. Name 3 Addison Ehle 4 Carson Holler 5 Michael Birozes 7 Jake Mangan 9 Kyle Gadaleta 10 Hogan Palmer 11 Ricky Torress 12 Jimmy O’Day 13 Ryan McCarthy 15 Stephen Morrisey 17 Micky Mangan 21 Jack Binkley 21 Brooks Binkley 22 Mitchell Ojeda
Position RB/LB WR/LB RB/DB/K RB/LB WR/DB RB/LB WR/DL WR/DB QB/DB/P WR/LB QB/DB WR/DB FB/LB RB/DB
in practices and more focused on attention to detail, technique and tactical approach. “We’ve never done live tackling drills. The biggest thing we want to do is keep our players healthy,” Winter said. The Paladins have adopted the same tackling drills and techniques taught by Pete Carroll to the Seattle Seahawks. “We had six practices so far, and out of those only one kid got hurt.” Task two: Use your best athletes as much as possible. With dual-threat quarterback Ryan McCarthy returning as a key to the run-heavy offense, Winter is prepared to see Pinecrest shine as a playoff contender again in 2015.
Offense
Junior quarterback Ryan McCarthy already has a value in Pinecrest’s system as a runner alone. Last season McCarthy carried 154
Fall 2015
Year 11 11 10 12 10 9 12 11 11 11 10 11 10 12
No. Name Position 23 Will Potota WR/LB 26 Ryan DiFazio QB/DB 27 John Paul Caprara WR/DB 30 Pato Sanchez Mejorda RB/LB 31 Bosco Sanchez Mejorda RB/LB 40 Peter Hoover FB/LB 41 Gregory Varhese FB/LB 42 John-Paul Tropea RB/LB 44 Jackson Wilmot FB/DL 45 Matthew Walters FB/LB 50 Nicolas Miller OL/DL 51 John Brown OL/DL/LS 52 Nolan Stafford OL/LB 55 Daniel O’Sullivan OL/DL
Year 10 9 10 11 9 9 12 11 11 12 9 9 10 10
No. Name 56 Garrison Winter 58 Peter Nelson 62 Alan Yadav 63 Nicolas Kelhofer 65 Michael Newcomer 67 Alex Fabian 73 Brian Flanagan 75 Logan Stafford 79 Cameron Kingsley 80 Jackson Mueller 81 William Brown 82 Corey Downes 83 Conner Ettmueller 88 Noah Sell
Position OL/DL OL/LB OL/DL OL/DL WWR/DB OL/DL OL/DL OL/FB OL/DL WR/DL WR/DL/LS WR/DB WR/DL WR/DB
Year 11 12 11 9 10 11 12 12 9 9 11 11 12 9
Pinecrest Academy senior Mitchell Ojeda proved himself one of the best bigplay threats in the county last season averaging 9.2 yards a carry. File photo
teams, more than any running back, for a team-leading 809 yards, while also scoring six touchdowns on the ground. The next step will be to iron out the passing game—namely, reducing interceptions and adding touchdowns after throw-
ing nine and five, respectively, last year. “Ryan had a great summer,” Winter said. “He’s been the starter for us since his freshman year. He’s 6-foot-3, 194 pounds now. The coaches at The Citadel who saw him loved him.
Hopefully we never have to throw, but we’ll be able to if we have to I think.” Junior receivers Carson Holler (6-foot-3) and sophomore Will Potota (6-foot2) have looked “really See PINECREST | 29
2015 pigskin preview | 13
SOUTH FORSYTH WAR EAGLES
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 21 vs. Mountain View Sept. 4 at Centennial* Sept. 11 vs. Habersham* Sept. 18 at North Forsyth* Sept. 25 vs. Chattahoochee* Oct. 9 at Northview* Oct. 16 at West Forsyth* Oct. 23 vs. Alpharetta* Oct. 30 at Johns Creek* Nov. 6 vs. Lambert* * 6-AAAAAA game
2014 RESULTS
Micah Green Forsyth County News
Getting back to the state playoffs is the goal for South Forsyth’s Curtis Roach (from left), Blake Oldfield, Jalen Camp, Cameron Kline and Sam Outlaw.
War Eagles on a mission to stay in winning mode 14 starters to replace, but key pieces return for playoff contender By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
There may be no other way to describe South Forsyth’s football team heading into the 2015 season other than chaotic, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The truth is, there aren’t many trends—good or bad—that label the War Eagles as fall approaches. South went to the state playoffs last year for the f i r s t t i m e s i n c e J e ff Arnette’s first season as head coach, but that was
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2015 pigskin preview
only after the team followed a five-game winning streak by losing four of their last five games. They held the ball in the fourth quarter in that first-round playoff game against Etowah, trailing only 28-22, before eventually falling 48-22. Nevertheless, the War Eagles proved they could score in bunches last season and had back-to-back winning campaigns for the first time since 2003. In their six wins they averaged 47.8 points per game; in their five losses they scored just 17.6 per contest. The Yin-Yang nature of South’s projections might explain why Arnette, who has to replace Matthew
White at quarterback and Tyler LaFlamme at tailback, is cautiously optimistic about this year’s squad. “Anytime you have backto-back winning seasons in AAAAAA football, that’s something to build on for sure,” Arnette said. “Our kids are finally starting to believe they’re supposed to be in that position, so our goal is to have three winning seasons in a row, get to the playoffs, and this time get past the first round. “We’re talking about replacing a lot of kids. Eight starters on offense and six on defense, so we’ve got a lot of spots to fill. We’re a long way from answering those questions,
6-5 overall, 6-3 Region 6-AAAAAA Mountain View 38, South 31 South 49, Centennial 20* South 49, Habersham 7* South 55, North 3* South 42, Chattahoochee 34* South 33, Northview 8* West 27, South 14* Alpharetta 24, South 14* South 49, Johns Creek 10* Lambert 40, South 7* Etowah 48, South 22** * 6-AAAAAA game ** GHSA playoff game
TROPHY CASE
First varsity season: 1991 Playoff appearances: 8 (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2014) Region titles: 1 (1997) State titles: none
THE COACH Jeff Arnette
At South: 25-27, sixth season Overall: 70-51-1, 13th season
Fall 2015
2015 ROSTER No. Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Jalen Camp Tereh George Julian Mingo Guy Morra Austin Harvey Brice Pearce Tyler Bowman Alex Barbir Elijah Smith Ryan Pontrelli Corey Peacock Curtis Roach Chase Van-Skyhawk Stanley Epeagba Jess Lucas Davis Shanley Cal Morris Max Slott Caleb Outlaw Sean O’Malley Myles Ellis Sam Outlaw Kyle Elkins Andrew Stephens Jake Nicholas Seth Sasser Jaylen Pearson Jared Honey Ryan Coangelo Jake Wilson Joey Johnson
Position Yr WR/DB RB/LB RB/LB WR/DB QB WR/DB RB/DB K WR/DB WR/DB WR/DB WR/DB RB/LB RB/DB RB/DB QB QB TE/LB QB/DB WR/DB WR/DB FB/LB WR/DB WR/DB RB/DB WR/DB WR/DB RB/LB WR/DB WR/DB FB/LB
but to this point our effort has been incredible. Our attitude is incredible. When that’s the case usually good things happen.” Part of making that transition from top seniors to underclassmen is faith that the talent pool, in general, is growing, and Arnette believes that about his football team and the county as a whole. “Since I’ve been here in Forsyth County, football has gotten better and better,” Arnette said. “That’s what we want to continue to do. As a head coach longer than anybody in the county, I’ve seen it improve so much and there’s no doubt it will continue to improve.”
Offense
White passed for 2,165 yards, 17 touchdowns and was named second-team allregion. LaFlamme rushed for 1,462 yards, caught 301 more yards, and scored 20 touchdowns. He even had a Fall 2015
12 12 11 11 12 11 10 12 12 10 11 12 11 12 10 11 10 11 10 11 10 12 11 11 11 12 10 10 12 10 11
No. Name 32 34 35 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 44 46 47 48 49 50 51 53 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
Hudson Foy Zach Miller Connor Hite Max Pehrson Nick Sewing Ryan LaFlamme Logan Troye Patrick King Grant Umberger Trey Green Toki Adeosun Daniel Relf J.B. Gerring Blake Oldfield Jordan Richard Matthew Breindl J.T. Knox Dylan Nissley Adam Thomas Ennor Armah Grant Pearce Riley Hall Sandy Barstow Ryan Anderson Branden Prince Eric Gomez Vincent Donati Jack Winkie Ryan Gallagher Briggs Hutcheson
Position Yr WR/LB WR/DB WR/DB RB/LB RB/LB RB/DL TE/LB TE/LB RB/LB WR/LB FB/LB FB/LB FB/DL FB/LB RB/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL
11 11 12 10 10 10 12 11 12 12 12 11 11 12 10 11 11 11 11 12 11 12 12 10 11 11 10 11 11 10
No. Name
67 68 69 70 71 72 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 98 99
Aaron Voung Holden Hutcheson Davis Duncan Ian Hunt Gabe Cleveland Jordan Nelson Tyler McClellan Zane Martin Matthew Jagoe Andrew Artz Nick Patrick Jake Lasprilla Cole Aycock Quenten Campbell Evan Ginsburg Sam Schouten James Porter Axel Webber Dustin Ellsbury Alec Whitley Ronnie Chambliss Haris Ahmed Jake Nitowski Joey Zang Cameron Kline Shane Doyle Andrew Crews Josh Tew Charlie Hale George Najdek
Position Yr
OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL WR/DB WR/DB WR/LB WR/DB WR/LB WR/DB WR/DB TE/DL WR/DB TE/DL TE/DL WR/DB TE/DL WR/DB TE/LB TE/DL K/LB RB/LB
11 10 10 10 10 10 11 12 12 11 10 11 10 12 10 12 10 10 11 11 12 11 10 10 12 10 10 10 10 10
South Forsyth senior Curtis Roach was an all-county and allregion performer in the secondary last season, and he’ll add his talents on offense more this season too. File photo
435-yard performance against Chattahoochee. It goes without saying that South will have to rediscover its offense, and that undoubtedly begins with wide receiver Jalen Camp. Camp, who committed to Liberty as a defensive back
in the offseason, will look to take advantage of his final guaranteed season on the offensive side of the ball. Last year Camp caught 37 balls for 608 yards and seven touchdowns. “I think he’s going to be one of the best players in
our region. He’s such a big, strong kid. When he goes up to get the ball he always has the advantage. He’s a huge asset at receiver,” Arnette said. The quarterback competiSee SOUTH | 29 2015 pigskin preview | 15
WEST FORSYTH WOLVERINES
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 21 at Mill Creek Sept. 4 at Alpharetta* Sept. 11 vs. Chattahoochee* Sept. 18 vs. Habersham Central* Sept. 25 at Northview* Oct. 9 at North Forsyth* Oct. 16 vs. South Forsyth* Oct. 23 at Lambert* Oct. 30 vs. Centennial* Nov. 6 vs. Johns Creek* * 6-AAAAAA game
2014 RESULTS
Micah Green Forsyth County News
West Forsyth was a tiebreaker away from the state playoffs last season. Joey Congrove (from left), Eli Huggins and Jeffrey Cooley plan to leave no doubt this time.
Wolverines look to get back in playoff party After near miss, West determined to reclaim postseason berth By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
For a program that’s just entering its eighth full season playing football, West Forsyth might have a large enough sample size on record to claim itself as a “winning program.” After all, the Wolverines have never had a losing season, and first-year head coach Adam Clack kept the ball rolling after being promoted from assistant when he led the team to a respectable 6-4 finish last year. While one might assume
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any first-year coach would give themselves a passing grade for a winning campaign, Clack wasn’t happy with last season’s results. He’s been part of the program since it opened in 2007 and played a junior varsity schedule. He was there when the Wolverines, under the leadership of head coach Frank Hepler, moved up to Class AAAAA and managed to silence naysayers by advancing to the state quarterfinals and semifinals in 2011 and 2012, respectively. They might not be the oldest program in the state, but West has gone 57-22 in its infant history, and Clack’s eyes are already focused on region titles and
6-4 overall, 6-3 Region 6-AAAAAA Mill Creek 65, West 27 Alpharetta 38, West 6* West 23, Chattahoochee 18* West 56, Habersham 35* Northview 28, West 14* West 35, North 3* West 27, South 14* Lambert 33, West 27* West 42, Centennial 32* West 34, Johns Creek 3* * 6-AAAAAA game
TROPHY CASE
First varsity season: 2008 Playoff appearances: 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Region titles: 1 (2012) State titles: none
runs through the state playoffs. That’s why he refused to give himself a pat on the back for Year 1. The Wolverines ended the season winning four of five THE COACH games, but an 0-2 start, a heap of injuries and close Adam Clack losses against Northview At West: 6-4, second season and Lambert leave a sour Overall: 6-4, second season taste. “I think all-in-all we weren’t satisfied with where we finished last season,” Clack said. “We were tied for third in the region, but you finish fifth in the tiebreaker. It could have been easy to make excuses and say we got the raw end of the deal, but if we took care of our business we probably would have finished second in the region.
Fall 2015
2015 ROSTER No. Name 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 21 22 23 24 24 25 26 27 28 29
Grant Torgerson Austin Roper Clay Crocker Zach Burns Joshua Nash Preston Sanders Austin Marshall Kiernen Hamilton Jeffrey Cooley Sam Thomas Reece Hollis Hank Flood Paul Gossett Bryce Jones Michael Rogers Kyle Ruiz Heath McConnell Wesley Ross Jed Martin Joey Congrove Reed Bagwell Jack Haller Luke Lingo Austin Reid Thomas Arundale Max Cape Jason Velasquez Trevor Hickmon Matt Nalley Eddie Hamilton Eli Huggins
Position Year TB LB RB QB DB LB QB QB DB DB DB QB DB WR WR DB DB DB RB SS CB K CB WR DB DB DB LB DB DB DL
11 12 10 10 10 12 10 11 12 12 10 11 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 11 12 10 12 12 11 10 10 11 11 12 11
No. Name 30 31 32 33 34 35 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 50 51 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
Marquis Uhelski Eli Harbin Zach Taylor Kwon Miller Hunter Yarbrough James Grohovac Jacob Coffman Luke Yearwood Alex Moore Clint Hall Bradley Yates Blake Snee Austin Casey C.J. Michaels Jordan Dreyovich Hunter Martin Cole Heindl Jackson Brantley Ryan Wnek Parker Echols Charlie Bond D.J. Hole Ben Simerly Walker Mims Clay Darby Will Jones Cade Pruitt Matthew Mann Bishop Casey Aaron Wagoner Austin Hitchcock
Position Year RB LB LB RB RB DL LB DL DB DL DB RB DB DB DB LB DB LB LB LB LB LB DL OL DL DL OL LB DL LB DL
11 11 10 12 10 10 10 10 11 12 11 10 10 11 11 10 11 11 10 10 11 12 10 11 10 10 10 12 10 11 11
No. Name
60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 91 92 98
Victor Montalvo Trevor Curtis Luke Dalton Grant Sadler Carson Davis Tanner Rose Matt McIntire Collin McClain Chris Ayers Jon Trybala Bradley Clayton Max Wrba Ryan O’Neill Blake Anderson Hunter Jolly Andrew Pilgrim Payton Dunagan Blake Laczynski Brandon Whitfield Carson Applegate Zachary Wheeler Matthew Ratliff Walker Mims Chapman Lowe John Moultrie Ben Bresnahan Greg Jones Fernando Armenta Tyler Caudle Christian Bass
“The expectations here are set from within. There’s not a guy on that coaching staff here or a person within our community that doesn’t strive to excel, and we expect to win ball games. We expect to upset teams we’re not supposed to beat and take care of the teams we are.”
Fall 2015
10 12 11 12 10 11 12 12 10 12 12 11 11 10 11 10 10 10 11 11 11 10 11 10 10 10 11 11 12 11
West Forsyth running back Kwon Miller was among the many Wolverines who missed time with injuries last season. A healthy Miller figures to help West’s rushing attack.
Offense
The elephant in the room won’t be ignored: West will have to find a way to replace the 1,706 passing yards, 483 rushing yards and 28 total touchdowns racked up last season by senior Hampton McConnell, now at Georgia Southern, as well as the 22.4 yards-per-catch average of departed wide receiver Nate Schmitz. Junior Hank Flood and sophomore Austin Marshall return at quarterback and will battle with Kiernen Hamilton—a transfer from New York—for the starting role. Zack Burns, who
Position Year
OL OL DL OL OL OL OL OL OL DL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL WR WR WR WR WR TE WR RB WR TE K DL DL
File photo
Clack said had a “great spring” in the quarterback competition, will move to receiver due to an elbow injury from baseball. Burns joins a young, deep receiving corps. Sophomores Bryce Jones, Michael Rogers and Ben Bresnahan
add quality depth to the varsity roster, accompanying senior Garrett Broxson. “We may not be able to replace (Schmitz), but we’ve got four or five guys who were number two receivers last year and some young guys who are going to be
special this year or in the near future,” Clack said. Grant Torgerson, who rushed for 661 yards and five scores as a sophomore, will join senior Kwon Miller in the backfield. Miller will See WEST | 30 2015 pigskin preview | 19
HORIZON CHRISTIAN WARRIORS
2015 SCHEDULE
All games 7:30 p.m. unless noted Aug. 22 vs. Nathanael Greene Sept. 4 at Creekside Chr., 5 p.m. Sept. 19 vs. Unity Christian Sept. 26 at New Creation Chr.* Oct. 2 at Skipstone Academy Oct. 9 at Cornerstone Prep Aca. Oct. 16 at Johnson Ferry Chr.* Oct. 24 vs. King’s Academy* Oct. 31 vs. Dawson Christian Aca. Nov. 7 vs. Grace Christian Aca. * GICAA II Region 1 game
2014 RESULTS
File photo
John Michael (5) is moving to running back for a retooled Horizon Christian offense that could be far more dangerous than a year ago.
Program numbers and hopes up for Warriors By Michael Foster
mfoster@forsythnews.com
When Charles Wiggins took on the job of being head coach at Horizon Christian Academy in 2012, the first season had to be cancelled because not enough players went out for the team. It was a rough start, but it wasn’t as unexpected as many might have thought. Wiggins knew the challenge he was getting into. Not everyone is prepared to build high school programs from the ground up. In Forsyth County, where many of the schools have come along in the past few decades, even members of
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2015 pigskin preview
the highest classification are in their infant seasons, but healthy population growth on the south side of the county has breathed life into teams like Lambert and West. That’s not the case at a private school like Horizon. The Warriors are Division II members of the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association—the lowest tier of competitive high school football in the state. The Friday night lights, student section battles and possibilities of reaching the Georgia Dome in the state playoffs don’t exist for Wiggins’ team, but the love for the game does. That goes for coaches just as much as
2-9 overall, 1-2 in Region 1 Nathanael Greene 40, Horizon 6 Grace Christian 44, Horizon 0 Horizon 42, Hearts Academy 0 Unity Christian 7, Horizon 0 Horizon 13, New Creation 0* Skipstone Acad. 35, Horizon 13 Johnson Ferry 56, Horizon 6* King’s Academy 44, Horizon 0* North Georgia 62, Horizon 19 King’s Academy 46, Horizon 0** *GICAA II Region 1 game **GICAA playoffs
THE COACH Charles Wiggins
At Horizon: 2-19, third season
players. Wiggins knows his job— Overall: 47-63-1, 11th season build Horizon into a contender in the GICAA. He was tasked with a similar to-do list when he started the Pinecrest program in 2004. “This is not my first rodeo,” Wiggins said. “I did this over at Pinecrest when we started that program. It’s a demanding task that takes a lot of patience. If you’re a head coach that expects to go in the first couple of years and win a lot of games, it’s just not going to happen. You have to entertain each boy’s strengths and weaknesses. You have to See HORIZON | 30
Fall 2015
Forsyth Central’s Sabrian Howard was a productive running back in his own right last season, rushing for 797 yards.
FROM 7
Central Because of depth concerns, last year’s starting quarterback Trey Abercrombie could spend his senior season on defense, opening up a possible quarterback-by-committee situation between junior Jagger Hartshorn and senior Aubrey Blackmon. Hartshorn has starting potential but was behind in reps last season after transferring into Forsyth from P e n n s y l va n i a m i d w a y through the year. “(Hartshorn) has had a year under his belt to catch up,” Williamson said. “Trey hasn’t done anything to lose his job, but he’s done a good job in the secondary, so we’re weighing our options.”
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2015 pigskin preview
File photo
Defense
That secondary will be anchored by returning senior Robbie Repasz, who led the team with three interceptions last season, while also notching 43 tackles. Abercrombie and Blackmon will likely put the playbook down and read the quarterback’s eyes instead. The secondary competition will be one of Williamson’s biggest projects going into
the first game. “We’ve got athletes, for sure,” Williamson said. “The thing is they just don’t have any game reps over there yet, so our job as coaches is to get them reps in workouts as much as we can heading into this thing.” In the front seven, Hunter Stephens and Pierce Nufer return as solid outside linebackers who combined for 96 tackles a year ago. Williamson also likes the
addition of Jacob Ward, who couldn’t play varsity last season, to the linebacking corps. The team’s second-leading tackler from last season, Sebastian Legarra (62 tackles), fills the depth in the middle of the defense. Nufer will apply pressure after having a team-best 10 sacks last year, while Cameron Daube will be asked to build on his 3.5 sacks from a season ago at the tackle position.
Special Teams
Michael Corona will handle kickoffs after 13 tries at the gig last year. Nufer is first in line to handle punting duties after averaging 35.5 yards per punt on 32 tries in his sophomore season. Repasz is a lightning rod in the return game—he averaged 33.5 yards on 11 kickoff returns last season, while also taking 12 punts for a 12.7 yard average.
Fall 2015
OFFENSE
QB Ryan McCarthy Pinecrest Academy, Jr.
OL Jackson Bardall North Forsyth, Sr.
RB Shaun Diebel Forsyth Central, Sr.
OL Sean Bailey Lambert, Sr.
RB Mitchell Ojeda Pinecrest Academy, Sr.
OL Nick Nieuwhof Lambert, Sr.
WR Jalen Camp South Forsyth, Sr.
OL Cliff Snyder Lambert, Sr.
WR Tanner Hall Lambert, Sr.
OL Garrison Winter Pinecrest Academy, Jr.
TE Cameron Kline South Forsyth, Sr.
K Alex Barbir South Forsyth, Sr. ATH Grant Torgerson West Forsyth, Jr.
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2015 pigskin preview
Fall 2015
2015 FCN PRESEASON ALL-COUNTY TEAM
DEFENSE DL Eli Huggins West Forsyth, Jr.
DB Robbie Repasz, Forsyth Central, Sr.
DL Cameron Daube Forsyth Central, Sr.
DB Curtis Roach South Forsyth, Sr.
DL Hunter Stephens Forsyth Central, Jr.
DB Brian Wright, Lambert, Jr.
LB Pierce Nufer Forsyth Central, Sr.
DB Joey Congrove, West Forsyth, Jr.
LB Grant Umberger South Forsyth, Sr.
P Jacob Whitten North Forsyth, Jr.
LB Justyn Jean-Felix Lambert, Sr.
LS Anthony Ratliff Lambert, Sr.
LB Sebastian Legarra Forsyth Central, Jr.
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2015 pigskin preview
Fall 2015
FCN PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
2001 – Offense: Justin Rickett, South Forsyth; Defense: Dusty Benefield, North Forsyth, Ben Schmotz, Forsyth Central; Athlete: Jonathan Douglas, North Forsyth. 2004 – Offense: Jamie Benjamin, South Forsyth; Defense: Mark Sibenaller, Forsyth Central; Player: Matt Miller, North Forsyth 2008 – Offense: Lance Baker, West Forsyth; Defense: Nathan Teter, West Forsyth 2009 – Offense: Ben Emert, West Forsyth; Defense: Quinton Riley, North Forsyth; Athlete: Steven Hester, North Forsyth 2010 – Offense: Joey Vicary, North Forsyth; Defense: Dustin Gayton, West Forsyth; Athlete: Joe Outlaw, South Forsyth 2011 – Offense: Jake Wieczorek, West Forsyth; Defense: Trevor Guthrie, West Forsyth 2012 – Offense: A.J. Erdely, West Forsyth; Defense: Mohamed Camara, West Forsyth 2013 – Offense: Hampton McConnell, West Forsyth; Defense: Zack Matthews, Lambert 2014 – Offense: Tyler LaFlamme, South Forsyth; Defense: Adison Schimmelpfennig, Lambert
MOST POINTS IN A SINGLE SEASON
MOST POINTS IN A SINGLE GAME
MOST WINS IN COACHING CAREER
Pts 484 461 386 386 380 369 365 361 346 341 326 324 311 306 302
Pts Team 77 West 74 Forsyth County 70 West 66 West 63 West 63 West 62 North 57 South 56 West 56 South 56 Pinecrest 56 West 56 Pinecrest 56 West 55 North 55 North 55 Pinecrest 55 Lambert 55 South
Coach Team Norris Vaughn South Bob Herndon Central Frank Hepler West Charles Wiggins* Pinecrest/Horizon Bruce Miller North Sid Maxwell Lambert Jeff Arnette* South Jim Cooper Central Jeff Hollis North Chris Bennett Central Jared Zito North Charles Cope Central Todd Winter* Pinecrest Greg Slattery South Phil Knight Central Ronnie Jackson Central Danny Cronic Central Bryan Craft Central *Active
Fall 2015
Team West North Central West West West South South South North South Central South South South
Year Avg 2012 40.3 2001 32.9 1997 32.2 2008 38.6 2011 29.2 2013 33.5 2014 33.2 2001 27.8 1997 31.5 2000 28.4 2003 27.2 1996 29.5 1998 25.9 1996 27.8 2002 27.5
Year 2008 1958 2011 2012 2012 2012 2001 2002 2008 2010 2012 2012 2014 2014 1997 2000 2007 2012 2014
Record 58-31-1 55-31 51-18 47-63-1 36-22 31-16 25-27 23-26-1 22-31 20-50 18-24 18-30 17-13 17-24 17-21-2 16-13 14-14-1 12-36-1
2015 pigskin preview | 27
FROM 9
Lambert 1,281 yards in his senior year. Despite the smashmouth mentality, Daniel understands the need to get the ball in the hands of senior receiver Tanner Hall. The Georgia Southern commit caught 26 passes for 501 yards last year. Jaryd JeanFelix and his brother, Justyn, will add fire power at receiver and tight end, respectively. Lambert’s strength will be the offensive line, which returns its core, led by Cincinnati commit Sean Bailey. Cliff Snyder, Jack Huestess, Nick Nieuwhof and Jason Regulski round out the front five. Mac Redmond and Ford Hirsh will serve an important purpose as fullbacks in the runheavy attack.
File photo
Lambert’s Louis Daniel certainly passed the test of his debut season as head coach.
Defense
Only four players return to start on the defense: Brad Whicher on the defensive line, Kyle Conner and Brian Wright at linebacker, and Justyn Jean-Felix as an outside linebacker and safety.
On the defensive front, Daniel likes what he sees from David Plante, who had 12 total tackles and three stops in the backfield as a backup last season. He and Whicher, along with defensive end Taylor Brinkerhoff, will open up room for a host
FROM 11
North some heads after having a limited role in his first few seasons. “I think Holcomb is one of the best athletes, if not the best, in the county,” Galt said. “I expect him to have a breakout season. He’s fast, strong. He’s a heck of an athlete. He’d be a starting cornerback for us but we want him with the ball in his hands.” Heffington will work with Holcomb to build the rushing attack.
Defense
Bardall, at 6-foot-4, 290 pounds, perfectly fits into the nose tackle role in North’s 3-4 defense. Will Andrews (6-foot-4, 280 pounds) will spell Bardall on the line, while Michael Bun and Mason Wacker
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File photo
North Forsyth has a big advantage on special teams with kicker and punter Jacob Whitten.
will take up the other two spots, along with Dakota Bryant. All three of North’s leading tacklers from last season (Caleb Miller, 55; Noah Bieber, 43; Logan Cross, 69) have left, leaving
Griffin Hughes as the next man from the linebacker position. While Hughes only had 30 tackles last season, he had a team-leading eight stops in the backfield. Jackson Bardall’s brother, Clayton, will fill into a big-
of talented linebackers. Justyn-Jean Felix returns as the team’s leading tackler from a year ago (50)—50 tackles less than last year’s leader, Adison Schimmelpfennig. In the secondary, Jaryd Jean-Felix and Wright will try to replace the exploits of departed senior Jeremy Johnson, while Tyler Ray, Jack Ligas and Christian Evans will fill out the back end. “We’re going to have a multiple defense, depending on who we are playing,” Daniel said.
Special Teams
Hall will assume kicking duties, just like last season. The rising senior made 27 of 30 point after attempts last year and five of eight field goals. Wright will punt, while multiple skill players will battle for return positions, replacing Johnson.
ger role as a linebacker as well in just his sophomore season. A newcomer, Nick Sing, is a strong player who can make an impact on the defensive line or linebacker position. “The good thing about this year, compared to last, is we have a lot of depth on defense. We’re basically two deep at every position,” Galt said. Bradley Thomas and Zack Griffin bring experience at both cornerback positions, while Holcomb will get snaps in the defensive backfield as well.
Special Teams
Jacob Whitten, a rising senior, will keep kicking duties after making six of seven field goal attempts last season with a long of 34 yards. He also made all nine point-after attempts. He also had 34 punts for an average of 30.2 yards.
Fall 2015
FROM 13
Pinecrest good,” according to Winter, in practice and could help amp up the passing attack when needed. Mitchell Ojeda will add some dynamics as w e l l , a s Wi n t e r s a i d h i s s o f t hands and improved catching ability can make him a threat out of the backfield. Oj eda returns a s th e team’s top tailback after carrying 81 times for 744 yards last year (9.2 yards per carry) and eight scores. Center Ryan Flanagan, right guard Logan Stafford and left tackle Garrison Winter return to the offensive line, though Winter said t h e c o m p e t ition in the trenches has been so good that every position is up for grabs.
File photo
Pinecrest Academy coach Todd Winter got the Paladins to the GHSA playoffs in just three years.
Defense
On the defensive line everything starts in the middle with defensive tackle Logan Stafford. The senior lineman is shooting for a target weight of just south of 300 pounds, making him one of the larger players in the region. “He’s going to
be really tough to move,” Winter said. “He’s in really good shape. Offenses are going to have trouble with him.” The Paladins will have a big role to fill with the recent injury of defensive lineman Matt Walters, who had 43 total tackles and three sacks last season.
South
Fall 2015
Special Teams
McCarthy will serve as Pinecrest’s punter when he’s not taking snaps from under center. Sophomore Michael Birozes will kick field goals and point after attempts. ways to rest him as best you can, but he’s going to be on the field for us a lot on both sides of the ball.” Camp will start at strong safety, while Roach will join him to anchor the secondary. The linebacker positions will get production from Umberger and M i n g o , w h i l e Ty l e r LaFlamme’s brother, Ryan, will team up with Kline on the defensive line. Max Slott will also step into a more prominent role as a linebacker after starting several times last season.
FROM 17
tion will be between senior Austin Harvey and junior Davis Shanley, while sophomore q u a r t e r b a c k C a l Morris will push both of them as well. Tight end Cameron Kline provides another all-region caliber target after catching 40 passes for 528 yards last year. Senior receiver Curtis Roach will also add firepower on offense opposite of Camp, while senior receiver Ronnie Chambliss adds speed in the slot. In the backfield, senior Sam Outlaw will move from fullback to tailback and add power to South’s rushing attack. Grant U m bu rg e r a n d Julian Mingo will also fight for carries.
Walters was slated to move to linebacker before suffering an undisclosed leg injury in camp. “We’ve got six defensive linemen who can play,” Wi n t e r s a i d . C o n n e r Ettmueller, William Brown, Alex Fabian and Winter all lead position battles on the defensive front. At linebacker, the team lost four starters from last year, but Winter is “happy” with what he has in Potota, Jake Mangan, Brooks Binkley and Greg Varghese. Both Holler and McCarthy will anchor Pinecrest’s secondary from the safety positions, while Ojeda will be a key at corner.
File photo
South Forsyth coach Jeff Arnette led the War Eagles to the state playoffs for the first time since his debut season.
Defense
Not quite as common at Class AAAAAA schools, South plans on using a lot of its offensive talent on the defensive side of the ball as well. Camp will be the defense’s thumper, though
Arnette also favors him from the safety position because of his ability to run down broken plays. “If you went and talked to the line coach he’d tell you (Camp) is a defensive end, too,” Arnette said. “You find
Special Teams
With Rutgers commit Alex Barbir, South has the surest kicking game in the county. Barbir had an 83 percent touchback rate, hit 43 of 44 point after attempts and hit field goals of 56 and 52 yards last season. Camp and Roach will handle return duties as well.
2015 pigskin preview | 29
FROM 19
West return after an injuryplagued junior season. Clack likes the condition of his offensive line, which will feature seniors Matt McIntire, Grant Sadler and Collin McClain, along with junior Ryan O’Neal. Hunter Jolly and Bradley Clayton will also “be in the mix.” “Last year people wanted to talk about offensive line concerns, but by the end of the year there wasn’t a concern at all. I look at it as a strength going into this year,” Clack said.
Defense
The defensive line will h ave t o r e p l a c e A l ex Coburn, who recorded 10 sacks last season as a senior. Clint Hall, who had 12 stops in the backfield as a junior,
File photo
West Forsyth and head coach Adam Clack are extra motivated after missing out on the state playoffs last season.
and junior Eli Huggins, who will move to defensive end after recording 43 tackles at linebacker, will apply the pressure. The interior defensive line will be anchored by Jon Trybala and converted offensive lineman Max
Wrba. In the secondary, junior Joey Congrove could return at free safety after fracturing his vertebra last season. Se n i o r R e e d B a g w e l l , West’s lacrosse standout who is picking up football
for the first time since seventh grade, has taken ownership of one of the starting cornerback positions. From there, much of the back end of the defense is up for grabs. “You can flip a coin right now with our linebackers,” Clack said. “There are six to eight guys who are going to fit in there. Being a starter might mean you play the first snap of the game, but that’s going to change each week and with each rep. There’s a cast of characters in the secondary. From sophomores to some converted guys. We’re going to figure it out.”
Special Teams
Fernando Armenta and Jack Holler are both new faces at the kicking and punting positions, while Grant Torgerson and Austin Reid return as the most experienced return specialists.
2015 ROSTER No. Name 5 John Michael 8 Dillon Taylor 16 Jake McTyre 16 Daniel Durnwald 16 Ty Logan 18 Cole Brown 20 Brody Huntt 21 Matt Kimbrough 22 T.J. Kim
Position Year TB/LB 11 RB/WR/DB 12 QB/DB 9 WR/DB 11 WR/DB 12 TE/LT/LB 12 WR/DE 10 WR/LB 11 RB/LB 11
FROM 20
Horizon develop strong relationships with your players so that they’ll commit and come back season after season. “In our third year at Pinecrest we started to win a lot more. It’s been a rewarding experience to be able to help this school do the same thing. We’re looking for a very bright future here.” Horizon won two games last year after going 0-10 in its first full season. Now the
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2015 pigskin preview
No. Name 23 Nolan Hoskins 25 Daniel Park 32 Liang He 32 Sam Kim 48 Cole Wilhelm 50 Geoff Gilley 55 Min Woo Kim 55 Hayden Haddock 59 Chase Brown
plan is to finish at .500 or better. The Warriors, which will run a spread and traditional Power-I formation, have 29 players prepared to suit up this fall. That’s much larger than rosters of 16 and 17 that Wiggins dealt with in previous seasons. “So far early practice is going good,” Wiggins said. “We have a lot better depth than we had the last two years. We have high expectations this season.”
Roster Breakdown
Jacob Grinstead, a 5-foot10 junior, has come in and
Position WR/DB TB/LB TB/DB WR/DB FB/LB OL/DE TE/DE OL/DL OL/DE
Year 10 12 9 11 9 11 12 12 12
No. Name 60 Jae Lee 62 Kevin Choi 65 Clark Garland 66 Porter Welch 72 Peter Oh 72 Elijah McBryant 79 Ethan Farris 80 Jake Walker 81 Scotty Warman
fit perfectly as a newcomer into Wiggins’ offense. “It looks like he’s going to be our No. 1,” Wiggins said. “He’s got a gun for an arm, can run the ball also. We’re looking for big things from him.” John Michael will switch from receiver back to where Wiggins says “he belongs” at tailback, while Dillon Taylor and Ty Logan are both senior receivers that give Horizon a “loaded” o ff e n s e , a c c o r d i n g t o Wiggins. Cole Brown and Chase Brown will anchor the
Position OL/DL OL/DL OL/DE OL/DL FB/DE OL/DL OL/DL TE/OL/DL WR/DB
Year 10 12 10 9 10 12 11 10 10
offensive line and defensive line. Junior T.J. Kim and senior Daniel Park will give the Warriors strength on the inside at linebacker, while Michael and Matt Kimbrough will attack from the edges at outside linebacker. Logan and Taylor will be asked to make plays in the defensive backfield. “I’m just excited about all of our guys, to tell you the truth,” Wiggins said. On special teams, Michael and Taylor will split returning duties, while the kicking and punting positions are yet to be decided. Fall 2015
IT CAN BE DONE
GO RAIDERS
August 2015
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2015 pigskin preview •
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2015
BUILDING TRADITION THROUGH LEADERSHIP