It’s a new year for high school football teams

ALBANY — Tuesday marks the start of the new school year in the GHSA, the day in which fall sports practices can officially start.

Of course, athletes in several sports work nearly year-round to keep in shape. Tuesday, however, marks the first time those athletes can work out in an official, full-go practice.

In football, that means it’s time to put on the full complement of pads after months of conditioning workouts.

The GISA started a little earlier, hitting the practice field a week ago. Teams in that association start their seasons a week earlier, with openers taking place Aug. 11.

It won’t be long, however, before GHSA teams also go into competition, with Lee County kicking things off Aug. 17 at Mercer against Mary Persons.

Here are five things to watch as the 2017 season gets underway:

Wealth of talent

Even before pads were issued this season, the expectations and excitement at Lee County was skyrocketing. Five seniors have already committed to NCAA Division I programs, and the school’s new multi-purpose facility is the talk of Southwest Georgia.

Lee County (8-3 last season) begins the season on a big, televised stage for the second year in the row, opening up three days of action at the Corky Kell Classic. The Trojans thrived last year, beating Jones County 20-13.

While Lee County will face a Class 4A semifinalist in Mary Persons to open, the big question is how the Trojans will fare in a region that includes defending Class 6A champion Valdosta.

The five-team Region 1-6A is arguably one of the most stacked in the state. Four of the five teams made the playoffs, and the odd team out last year, Houston County, had Georgia-bound Jake Fromm under center.

Lee County fell to Mays in the second round of last year’s playoffs.

Close, but…

Deerfield-Windsor has a run of 10 straight GISA semifinal appearances going. While the Knights haven’t won a state title in five years, a couple of close calls the past two seasons are reminding those who follow the independent association that Deerfield-Windsor is going to be in the championship mix, year in and year out.

Two years ago, the Knights fell to Valwood 28-26 in the Class 3A title game when a late field goal attempt missed the mark. Last year, a 55-yard touchdown pass in the final minute lifted Gatewood past Deerfield-Windsor 17-13 in the Class 3A semifinals.

This year’s team has six starters returning on offense and five back on defense. The Knights (8-5 in 2016) open Aug. 11 at Trinity Christian-Sharpsburg.

In the city

Albany High’s closure reduces the battle for the Dougherty County public school championship to three teams, but the balance of power likely won’t shift much.

The Indians lost their final 19 games, a stretch that spanned two full seasons, and hadn’t had a winning season since 2002.

Dougherty and Monroe each managed just two wins last season, with Dougherty’s 21-14 win over Monroe putting the Trojans in the GHSA Class 3A playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Region 1-3A.

Westover, meanwhile, recorded a three-win improvement from 2015 last season, going 5-5 and finishing one game out of playoff position in Region 1-4A.

Single-A slugfest

Nine GHSA Class 1A public schools have reached the semifinals the past four seasons, resulting in four different champions.

The race to the championship is an open affair on the public school side of the GHSA’s smallest classification, and there are several Southwest Georgia programs looking to jump into the race.

Pelham finished eighth in last year’s power ratings, the top showing among Albany-area schools. After drawing a first-round bye as the Region 1-1A champion, Pelham fell 55-40 to Greene County in the second round.

New head coaches

New football seasons always bring new faces in new places, and this is the case in 2017.

Ben Simmons takes over for Jason Tone at Worth County, a program that finished second in GHSA Region 1-3A last season and went to the second round of the playoffs. Simmons took Turner County to the playoffs in each of the two years he was head coach of that program, falling to eventual Class 1A public school champion Macon County in the second round last year.

Deshon Brock is the new head coach at Mitchell County, replacing Larry Cornelius, who moved to South Carolina. Brock was the offensive coordinator and basketball head coach at Long County.

Randy Grace replaces Johnny Hayes at Baconton Charter. According to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association website, Grace enters his fifth head coaching stint, having served at Montgomery County, Crisp Academy, Pacelli and Wheeler County.

Matt Fowler takes over at Pataula Charter as the school enters its second year of varsity competition. Pataula (1-6 last year) is again playing a non-region slate, with a nine-game schedule that includes home-and-homes with Cross Keys and Glascock County and four games against teams from Florida.