The final countdown is on for high school football teams across Georgia.
With the mandatory “dead week” scheduled for the next seven days, the halfway point of the summer is being greeted with excitement from local head coaches.
“We’ve really been going at it since last football season ended,” Model head coach Gordon Powers said. “When it gets to July, the kids can see that everything is right there. It gives them a little more enthusiasm for what they’re working for.”
The Georgia High School Association enforces a week-long period during the summer when all high school sports facilities must be closed to athletes.
This year, the period lasts from today through July 6. The first day of preseason practice comes around on Aug. 1 and teams can bring out the pads on Aug. 6.
The first games of the regular season will be Aug. 29.
“We had a real good June,” Powers said, whose team scrimmages Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe on Aug. 22 in Shannon. “But I think the kids are looking for a little time off.”
And the consensus from most coaches is that local players deserve the break over the Fourth of July holiday.
“We probably had some of the best participation that we’ve had in several years,” Powers said of the Blue Devils’ progress. “It’s always positive when you get the majority of your kids involved in the summer.”
That includes the usual schedule of weight training and conditioning as well as passing leagues.
The Pepperell Dragons get a preseason warm-up on Aug. 15 as they travel to Southeast Whitfield and head coach Jeff Shiflett said the second half of the summer will be about bringing his players together as a team.
“It’s when we really start getting geared up for Aug. 1,” Shiflett said, adding that, like a number of schools in this area, they are planning to kick off the road to the preseason with a passing camp at Jacksonville State University beginning July 7.
Coosa will be headed to Whitfield County as well as they scrimmage Dalton on Thursday, Aug. 14.
“In my opinion, we’re doing very good right now,” Eagles head coach Chad Perry said. “We’ll come back and continue our strength and conditioning and, to use a phrase, turn it up a notch.”
In Armuchee, head coach John Mullinax continues his tradition of giving his players a two-week break in the middle of summer, adding on a week before the GHSA mandated “dead week”.
“I think we’re ahead of where we’ve been in past summers,” Mullinax said. “I thought we had an outstanding month of June.”
Armuchee will host Gordon Central in their preseason scrimmage on Aug. 15.
“Now, we start the downhill drive towards Aug. 1 and we’re going to stay busy until then,” Mullinax said.
Now the focus turns more intently to the season ahead and getting acclimated to the hot and humid days of August when the urgency of practice is put in high gear.
“If you get your players in pretty good shape, you have good practices,” Powers said. “If they enter into August in pretty good shape, then you can get more done.”
In other scrimmages, the Rome Wolves get a much-anticipated meeting for their preseason scrimmage as they are scheduled to host Calhoun on Aug. 15 at Barron Stadium. Darlington will be at home for their preseason tilt against Cedartown on Aug. 22.
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