HS notes: Where is Tattnall’s Hardy?; Dublin's 100th after 1,000; new coaches' debuts; old-school battle with Peach County-Baldwin
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Opposing offenses knew where Zavion Hardy was on the field last year at Tattnall.
But there’s a question for 2022: Where’s Zavion Hardy?
He’s not at Tattnall, having withdrawn after the 2021-22 academic year, and the Trojans began preparing for his absence before that.
He’s not at Jones County, the first rumored destination and of which he had several tweets, and still mentions some Greyhounds.
He’s not at Warner Robins, the next rumored destination, principal Chris McCook confirming Wednesday morning he wasn’t enrolled and wasn’t in the Demons’ picture.
He’s not back at Howard, where he played as a freshman before transferring to Tattnall for his sophomore and junior years.
A direct message to his Twitter account sent Wednesday morning has not been returned. Almost all high school players list their high school and year in their Twitter profile, but Hardy has neither, and has only two original posts this month.
One was on Aug. 1, a graphic with an offer from South Carolina.
An online search of media reports comes up empty, as well, other than scores of recruiting sites still listing him at Tattnall despite him having apparently withdrawn at the end of the school year.
Hardy led Tattnall last year with 56 tackles, 47 solo and nine assists, with seven sacks and 18 tackles for loss. He began working on transferring after the season, but remained at Tattnall until the end of the school year.
He is a four-star prospect by most recruiting services and among the top 200 prospects nationally. The 6-5, 270-pounder has also taken snaps at tight end.
Program milestone at Dublin
It’s one thing to have played 100 seasons of high school football, and another to play 1,000 games.
Dublin is starting one by playing the other.
The Irish will open their 100th season of football with their 1,000th game, hosting Wilkinson County on Friday night.
The Georgia High School Football Historians Association disagrees, and lists Dublin with having played 1,001 games, going 640-336-25, a 65.2 winning percentage.
“We calculated it last year at the end of the season,” head coach Roger Holmes said. “And it was 999 games.”
He said the website had updated its figures recently to 1,001. Nevertheless, a one-game disparity over 999 games and 99 seasons sure isn’t much.
Odds favor the celebration continuing after the game. Dublin is 5-1 against Wilkinson County, the lone loss coming in 1992. And the Warriors haven’t had a winning season since 6-5 in 2015.
Dublin, meanwhile, hasn’t had a losing season since 2012, the only one of two at Dublin under Holmes, who arrived in 2002.
The GHSFHA site reports that Dublin started playing football in 1919, had a break in 1923 and from 1928-30, and has played continuously since 1931.
“Twenty percent of those years, I’ve been here,” Holmes said. “And 33 percent of them were me and Sam Barrs.”
Barrs is a Laurens County staple.
He went 82-48 at Dublin from 1991-2001 with four region titles, after going 43-25 in six years at Crisp County. He took over at Bleckley County in 2005 and went 31-43, and finished his coaching career with an 8-5 year at Trinity Christian in Dublin.
The historians website lists 33 schools with more than 100 seasons.
The Irish are 14th in the state all-time in wins, according to the site, and 46th in winning percentage among teams that have played at least 250 games.
Holmes, at 177-66-1, has 27.7 percent of Dublin’s wins.
Coaching debuts galore
This week is the first game at a school for seven of the 10 new Central Georgia head coaches.
Former Warner Robins offensive coordinator Jeremy Edwards hopes to bring the winning touch in the opener with Houston County, at Class AA Sumter County.
It’s a familiar name debuting at Veterans, which promoted assistant Josh Ingram to the job not long before spring practice, Ingram hitting the ground running. The Warhawks welcome Richmond Academy.
Brandon Byram gets to be at home for his first game at Taylor County, the Vikings crossing association lines to host GIAA member Southland.
Ashley Henderson hopes his first game as the boss at Jasper County can break the Hurricanes’ 15-game losing streak, against Walnut Grove, a 4A team that went 3-7 last year and scored only 94 points, six more than Jasper County.
Keith Hatcher didn’t have to move to change jobs, taking over at ACE Charter, which made the playoffs last year in Class A Public but is in AA now. The Gryphons host Crawford County, and second-year head coach Craig Puckett.
They were region mates last year, ACE winning 30-14 at Crawford County, which then went 3-1 and made the playoffs.
Mount de Sales is at home for the first game in charge for Gray Yates, who had been an assistant for the Cavaliers for several years before his January promotion. The Cavs welcome Strong Rock, winless last year. And Dooly County’s Cecil Lester has a tough one, on the road at Crisp County.
New Stratford head coach Chance Jones has Friday off, the Eagles visiting Westfield next week.
Eyebrows were raised when Washington County eased out Joel Ingram after more than two decades, and when WACO alum and former Georgia standout Robert Edwards took over. The Golden Hawks open up next week at home with Swainsboro.
Kip Burdette gets an extra week to prepare for his debut at West Laurens, after departing the staff at alma mater Mary Persons. The Raiders host FPD in a scrimmage on Friday, and open at Dodge County next week.
Old hands battle in Milledgeville
While some fairly young head coaches debut this week, two serious veterans will go at it.
Chad Campbell has led Peach County since 2007, and has won 82.5 percent of the time, owning a 160-34 record with nine region titles and a state championship.
Jesse Hicks is in his second run at Baldwin, starting his sixth season with a 30-24 record and a region title. He went 70-24 from 2002-09 with the Braves, snagging consecutive region titles in 2008-09 before two years at Dougherty and five at Central.
Hicks won their first meeting, 13-3 back in 2008 at Fort Valley. Campbell has won the last six, with four shutouts – including 48-0 in 2016 – and having given up only 21 points in those wins.
Of course, the last five meetings, from 2012-16, came when Hicks was at Central. Peach County beat Baldwin 17-7 in 2009, when both were in the Class AAA.
Peach County is ranked No. 7 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution preseason poll, while Baldwin is unranked.
2022’s first area game
While most everybody else gets going Friday and Saturday, Rutland is among the statewide schools getting a day’s head start on the season.
The Hurricanes host Towers at Ed DeFore Sports Complex at 7 p.m.
The second season for head coach Jarmarcus Johnson begins with the Hurricanes being in Class AA as they start their 20th season. The last time they were in Class AA was 2007, and they went 7-4 under head coach Lance Perlman – in his final season – and reached the playoffs for the first time.
The only other time since then they’ve achieved both was in 2013 when Rutland went 6-5 in Region 2-AAAA. They’ve won but 10 games since then.
Towers is in similar straits. The Titans haven’t had a winning record since 7-4 in 2009, also program’s last playoff appearance.
In this century, Rutland has two winless seasons and two winning seasons, Towers two winless and five winning seasons. Johnson is Rutland’s sixth head coach, and new coach John Bowen is Towers’ 11th in the same span. The Titans have had three one-year head coaches since 2003.