2021 schedule
forsyth central bulldogs
Jacob Smith Forsyth County News
Aug. 20 – Northview at Forsyth Central Aug. 27 – Forsyth Central at Etowah Sept. 3 – Loganville at Forsyth Central Sept. 10 – Forsyth Central at Cambridge *Sept. 17 – Forsyth Central at Gainesville Sept. 23 – BYE *Oct. 1 – Denmark at Forsyth Central *Oct. 8 – Forsyth Central at North Forsyth *Oct. 15 – Forsyth Central at West Forsyth *Oct. 22 – Lambert at Forsyth Central Oct. 29 – BYE *Nov. 5 – South Forsyth at Forsyth Central
Forsyth Central seniors Patrick Haertel, left, and Marcus Brown will give the Bulldogs options in the backfield.
* Region 6-7A game
Senior backs set to carry load this season for Forsyth Central
2020 results
By Noah Rubin
For the Forsyth County News
The David Rooney era is set to begin at Forsyth Central. Rooney, who previously served as the team’s defensive coordinator, is ready to continue to build the culture of the team. “The past three years at Central have been awesome,” Rooney said. “I was excited to have the opportunity to be the head coach once Coach [Hepler] left because of pride in what I believed this program was and can continue to be.” One factor that will help them avoid any drop off from a head coaching change is their lack of turnover with the rest of the staff. The Bulldogs maintained a majority of last year’s coaches, bringing in only three new faces. That familiarity between the players and coaches should pay dividends for the team. That consistency in structure
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2021 pigskin preview
will help with more than just the relationships between the players and coaches. The philosophy remains largely the same as well. “I think it all starts up front with the offensive and defensive lines,” Rooney said. “We’re going to be young there at many positions. I think our offensive line because of injury – we have two seniors on the offensive line that are injured at this time, and they’re going to come back at some point during the season. But the first few games is going to be nothing but underclassmen. So, to see where they started in spring, through the progress of summer, and then the padded camps we went to, they’ve really come a long way, and we really feel good about our offensive line.” The offensive line will be anchored by 6-foot-3, 285pound junior Luke Sacchetti, who was a first-team all-county selection last season as a sopho-
more and will continue to be a big piece for the Bulldogs over the next two years. “They’ve really developed a lot,” senior running back Patrick Haertel said of the team’s offensive line. “At the padded camp we went to, the offensive line was great. Running behind them, I had tons of open holes. So, they’ve developed really well, and I’m excited to run behind them.” Fellow senior Marcus Brown, who plays both cornerback and running back, described Haertel as a downhill runner and believes Haertel added another element to his game during the offseason. “Patrick is very good at downhill running, and he’s improving on his cutting and reading the field more,” Brown said. “Last year he just ran straight, but we’ve got a coach helping us with our cuts and reading holes.”
4-4 Overall, 1-4 Region 6-7A Forsyth Central 14, Loganville 7 Forsyth Central 41, Cambridge 14 *Gainesville 33, Forsyth Central 28 *Denmark 21, Forsyth Central 0 *Forsyth Central 28, North Forsyth 27 *West Forsyth 21, Forsyth Central 0 *Lambert 43, Forsyth Central 42 Forsyth Central 21, Etowah 7 * Region 6-7A game
trophy case
First varsity season: 1955 Playoff appearances: 6 (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2018) Region titles: 3 (1996, 1997, 2000) State titles: 0
the coach David Rooney
At Central: 0-0, first season Overall: 0-0, first season
See CENTRAL | 9 Fall 2021
