HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEWS: Albany High knows the only way left to go is up

ALBANY — Cameron Hines knows things can’t get much worse than they were last year for the Albany football team.

The lineman knows that going winless isn’t ideal, but the only place left to go is up.

“After an 0-10 year, it can’t get any worse,” Hines said. “The only thing you can do is get better. You have no choice. It is never good to stay the same especially considering that we have more experienced players on the field this year. Hopefully this is the year that we reap the benefits of playing younger players.”

The biggest change for the Indians happened in the offseason. As part of the Georgia High School Association realignment, Albany dropped two classifications and will now play in Region 1-AA.

In previous years, the Indians were forced to play bigger schools who had more players and could expose Albany’s lack of depth.

Albany will now be the biggest school in its region which should help even the playing field.

“The good thing about this classification is we are facing teams with the same number of kids as us,” Albany coach Felton Williams said. “Now, every Friday when we go out there, we have a fighting chance. I’m excited about this team.”

The Indians should benefit from having multiple returnees on offense. The entire starting offensive line is back while they have also added depth.

The quarterback is expected to be either junior Andrew Watts or sophomore Jordon Walton.

While the quarterback is expected to be young, the Indians do have some veteran wide receivers returning including Kameron Peterson.

“Having a young quarterback, it helps to have some big receivers who have great hands,” Williams said. “If you just get the ball close to them, they will make that catch.”

On defense, the Indians will be young at linebacker but will have numerous veterans in the secondary.

“We will take some of those big wideouts and move them on both sides of the ball,” Williams said. “The secondary is going to be our strongest point.”

Albany will open the season on Aug. 19 with a home game against Pelham.

The Indians have the benefit of playing just two games away from Hugh Mills Stadium. The only true away games are at Brooks County in Quitman on Oct. 14 and at Berrien on Oct. 28.

While last year was a struggle, the Indians are confident they have what it takes to make a turnaround.

“I feel great about this season,” Alexander Dawson said. “This is the first time we have had this many good players all on the same level. Everybody is working together and staying together. We don’t have anyone contradicting each other.”