The Walton Raiders will open their season again at the Corky Kell Classic, along with the Kell Longhorns, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (East Cobb News file photo)
Earlier this week we reported from the East Cobb Pigskin Preview breakfast about what the coaches of East Cobb high school football teams had to say about their squads.
Friday scrimmages were the final tuneups as five of the six teams get started with regular season games starting this week.
On Friday, three teams will be in action. The Lassiter Trojans are playing at home against Harrison; Sprayberry plays at South Forsyth; and Wheeler visits Lambert. Kickoff times are all at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday is the return of the Corky Kell Classic, to be played at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta, and it will be an early morning for the Kell Longhorns and Walton Raiders.
The Longhorns play at 9 a.m. against East Coweta, followed at 11:45 a.m. by Walton against Mill Creek. If you can’t attend, here is viewing information.
The Pope Greyhounds don’t get started until next Friday, Aug. 24, when they play at Lassiter in the first all-East Cobb game of the season.
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Walton football coach Daniel Brunner welcomes back many talented players from last year’s 11-1 team including Dominick Blaylock (third from left), a star wide receiver who’s heading to UGA. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
At the East Cobb Pigksin Preview breakfast Thursday morning, high school football coaches took time out from pre-school weightlifting, teaching and other activities to share their thoughts on the coming season with community business leaders.
The breakfast was held by the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce at the Indian Hills Country Club. Coaches brought key players and school administrators also attended.
All six coaches from last season are back, after four of the six East Cobb high schools introduced new coaches last year. Here are brief overviews five of the coaches gave about their teams at the breakfast. Kell High School coaches were not in attendance.
Jep Irwin, Lassiter (6-4 in 2017)
Jep Irwin is in his 10th season as Lassiter coach.
The Trojans will be without a seasoned quarterback for the first time in many years. “No one on our roster has any varsity experience,” Irwin said. One of those vying for the starting job “needs to step forward” to fill a leadership role and to provide confidence for the rest of the team.
“We lost a lot of seniors, the skill players on offense, and we will be young in the secondary.”
Lassiter is playing a home scrimmage Friday against Sprayberry at 7 p.m. Season opener is Aug. 17 against Harrison.
Brett Vavra, Sprayberry (2-8 in 2017)
The second-year coach said creating a culture of “old school football” has been the Yellow Jackets’ priority during the off-season, and they’ve addressed those changes in the weight room and with their strength and conditioning program.
“We want to become a more physical football team,” said Vavra, a former Sprayberry player. The team’s motto is “TPW,” or “Tough People Win,” and it’s about instilling mental as well as physical toughness.
Sprayberry was young last season, and graduated nine seniors. Now there are around 30 seniors, and 19 starters are returning.
“I think we have the tools to win some games,” Vavra said. “But we’re not just about wanting to win. We’ve got an awesome group of players who have been working hard. I can’t wait to see how it translates on the field.”
Tab Griffin, Pope (4-7 in 2017)
Pope’s Zack Owens has signed to play college football at Georgia Tech.
The Greyhounds reached the playoffs in their first season under Tab Griffin a former Pope player. Senior wide receiver Zack Owens, is a versatile two-way player, and pre-season practices have emphasized how to efficiently use his talents.
“He’s our go-to guy, he’s going to touch the football,” Griffin said, adding that Owens may see less time as a defensive back because of Pope’s grueling schedule. It calls for 10 consecutive games without a bye week.
Pope has 15 starters returning. “We want to take the mindset that we have a playoff caliber team,” Griffin said. “Our schedule isn’t favorable for that, but as I tell our players, that’s life.”
Daniel Brunner, Walton (11-1 in 2017)
After reaching the state playoffs, the Raiders will step into an even brighter spotlight in 2018. And not just because the Raiders have many of their key players returning, including UGA-bound wide receiver Dominick Blaylock.
On Sept. 14, Walton plays host to defending Class 7-A state champion North Gwinnett at Raider Valley, in a game to be nationally televised on ESPN. The Raiders were the only team to defeat North Gwinnett last season. Brunner said keeping distractions to a minimum will be essential.
“It’s a good platform for our kids and branding for our program and for our sport in the state,” Brunner, a former Walton assistant, said of the North Gwinnett game. “But it’s all about the process” and keeping to a disciplined regimen for what could be another banner season in Raider Valley.
Brunner said of 2017, his first year at the helm, “we had a successful season because we didn’t have drama.”
One concern he has is that Walton will be young and inexperienced on the offensive line.
Michael Collins, Wheeler (2-8 in 2017)
“We were rebuilding last year with lots of young guys,” Collins said. But the Wildcats were competitive in some of those close games they lost, and he’s looking for better results this year.
“I love coaching this team,” said Collins, who is starting his 10th season at Wheeler. “They’re young, and they have very high character.”
Wheeler opens the season on Aug. 17 at Lambert and plays its first home game the following week in its traditional East Cobb rivalry against Sprayberry.
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Players, coaches and parent volunteers from all high schools in the county were honored at the Cobb County Touchdown Club dinner Sunday night.
The dinner was at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Hotel. From Walton, Daniel Brunner was named coach of the year, Dominick Blaylock was named offensive player of the year and Austin Kirksey was named quarterback of the year.
Although the Raiders finished 11-1 and reached the second round of the state playoffs, they were not named the Cobb team of the year. That went to McEachern, which reached the Class AAAAAAA semifinals.
Walton’s Chris Hirschfield was named offensive coach of the year and Raiders player Cole Arendsen was named 48 Minute Man of the Year. From Lassiter, Derrik Allen was named defensive back of the year.
On the all-county offensive and defense teams of the year, the following East Cobb players were recognized:
Evan Conley, QB, Kell;
Josiah Futral, RB, Kell;
D.J. Soyoye, RB, Walton;
Michael Luckie, WR, Kell;
Zack Owens, WR, Pope;
Connor Gates, OL, Kell;
Justin Talley, DL, Kell;
Chance Jones, LB, Wheeler;
Aaron Bibbins, DB, Sprayberry;
Christian Jackson, DB, Lassiter.
A player from each school was also selected as a scholar-athlete of the year:
Connor Gates, Kell;
Chase Branch, Lassiter;
Ryan Inskip, Pope;
Zack Heib, Sprayberry;
Kris Kollias, Walton;
Jake Pereira, Wheeler.
And parents from all schools were recognized as volunteers of the year:
Richard Luckie, Kell;
Kate and Adam Beckerman, Lassiter;
DJ Van Deusen, Pope;
Jackie Blalock, Sprayberry;
Stuart Gurr, Walton;
Shontai Davidson, Wheeler.
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There could be a fourth, Lassiter, which lost to Etowah Friday night and could be selected for an at-large berth in Class AAAAAAA.
Walton clinched the Region 7-AAAAAAA title Friday with a 42-37 win at home over Woodstock, giving the Raiders a perfect 10-0 record in the regular season.
That’s only the third time in Walton school history that has happened. The Raiders will play at home next Friday in the first round of the state playoffs against North Cobb.
Tab Griffin of Pope, Brett Sloan of Kell and Daniel Brunner of Walton have led their teams into the state playoffs as first-year head coaches. (East Cobb News file photo)
Kell lost to Hiram 52-37 at home but still clinched a playoff berth in the Class AAAAA playoffs. The Longhorns, who finished 5-5 in the regular season, will play at Flowery Branch.
The most unlikely East Cobb football story this season is Pope High School, which had won just three games in the past two seasons. The Greyhounds got off to a sluggish start, losing their first three games.
Pope came into Friday’s game against Northview on a two-game losing streak, but rolled to an easy 41-22 win to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Greyhounds will take a losing record—4-6—into next Friday’s Class AAAAAA first round game at Dacula.
Lassiter could have cemented a playoff berth in Class AAAAAAA but lost at Etowah 29-20 to finish the regular season with a 6-4 record. The Trojans await word on whether they’ll be selected as an at-large team.
The three East Cobb football teams that have clinched playoff spots also have something else in common. They’re coached by first-year head coaches, which was one of the leading storylines heading into the season.
Walton’s Daniel Brunner had been an assistant for the Raiders and was elevated to head coach after Mo Dixon resigned to take a coaching job in south Georgia. Another Walton assistant, Brett Sloan, was hired to succeed Derek Cook at Kell.
Tab Griffin’s task at Pope was considered the biggest job of all. He was a former Greyhounds player and Pope graduate who was hired in the summer after coaching at Mt. Paran Christian School.
Two other East Cobb teams ended their seasons Friday on a down note. Sprayberry, also coached by a first-year coach, former Yellow Jackets player Brett Vavra, lost to Sequoyah 38-28 and finished 2-8 on the year.
So did the Wheeler Wildcats, a playoff last year who lost 51-37 to Pebblebrook.
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East Cobb high school football head coaches, from L-R: Tab Griffin (Pope); Brett Sloan (Kell); Daniel Brunner (Walton); Brett Vavra (Sprayberry); Mike Collins (Wheeler); and Jep Irwin (Lassiter). East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker.
The banquet room at the Indian Hills Country Club was filled Thursday morning with local business leaders, hungry high school football players and their coaches at the annual East Cobb Pigskin Preview breakfast.
The six high school head coaches briefed attendees about the season ahead and answered audience questions at the event sponsored by the East Cobb Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.
Four of the six coaches are new to the job. Only Jep Irwin of Lassiter, and Mike Collins of Wheeler, both in their eighth seasons, return to the sidelines at the same school.
Two of the newcomers are returning to their alma maters: Brett Vavra of Sprayberry, and Tab Griffin of Pope. The other first-year coaches are no strangers to the East Cobb prep football scene. Brett Sloan of Kell was an assistant at Walton the last two years. Daniel Brunner, also a Raiders assistant, was named head coach when Mo Dixon resigned to take a job at south Georgia powerhouse Colquitt County.
Pope graduate Tab Griffin returns as head coach of the Greyhounds.
Griffin, who had been an assistant coach at Mount Paran Christian School, said returning to Pope is “kind of a homecoming for me. It’s been my dream ever since Pope opened to come back and be the head football coach.”
Vavra, who was an assistant at Etowah, echoed similar thoughts. “I’m super excited to be back home,” he said, noting “the great sense of pride in the community” that welcomed him back to Sprayberry.
Sprayberry head coach Brett Vavra.
The energetic Brunner said bringing the entire Walton football community together is an important objective for him, and last weekend the first “Raider Day” event took place (see East Cobb News coverage here).
Kell also went looking for a new coach when Derek Cook resigned in the spring after nine years on the job. The Longhorns tapped Sloan, who had come to Walton with Dixon from South Carolina, and who had helped guide the Raiders into the post-season.
Pope football players
Sloan, who’s also anxious due to the upcoming birth of his first child, said Kell’s goal is simple: to reach the state finals. The Longhorns were eliminated in the semifinals, so there’s no need, Sloan said, “to replace what they’ve done at Kell, but to build on it.”
Wheeler is hopeful for a playoff berth after going 5-6 and reaching the region playoffs. The Wildcats’ main objective is to be more consistent; in 2016 they weren’t able to put together a winning streak. “It had a lot to do with the teams we were playing the following week,” Collins said.
Lassiter also reached the post-season with a 6-5 finish, and the Trojans boast one of the best high school players in the nation in defensive back Derrik Allen. He has been chosen to play in the Army All-American all-star game in January and will play college football at Notre Dame.
Some East Cobb teams are holding scrimmages this week and next. Walton and Kell will be playing next Saturday at the Corky Kell Classic in downtown Atlanta. The first full slate of games is Friday, Aug. 25.
“We were rebuilding last year with lots of young guys,” Collins said. But the Wildcats were competitive in some of those close games they lost, and he’s looking for better results this year.
