JOHN REYNOLDS COACH OF THE YEAR: Deerfield-Windsor’s Allen Lowe

ALBANY – A month into the football season, the Deerfield-Windsor Knights found themselves at a crossroad.

They were 2-2 with wins in decisive fashion over The Maclay School of Tallahassee and Southwest Georgia Academy.

But their two losses were heartbreakers that were decided by three points or less, one of which came to a Westfield team that would make a postseason run before being knocked out of the Georgia Independent Schools Association Class AAA playoffs in the semifinals.

The week after Deerfield-Windsor’s second loss, they came out looking like a transformed team. The Knights put up 51 points in a victory over Westwood that marked the beginning of what would be a dominant season.

The victory marked the first of what would be a nine-game win streak leading up to a championship matchup with Valwood. Despite falling in the title game 28-26, Deerfield-Windsor coach Allen Lowe was in charge of an offense that averaged 37 points a game and won all 11 of their games by double digits.

Along the way, the Knights broke the school record for points per game and total points in a season.

“We knew we had the potential to do that,” Lowe said. “We felt like we had the depth on the line of scrimmage and we just had to find a way to score points in terms of doing it a little bit differently. There were a lot of pieces to that puzzle for us this year and it made it a lot of fun actually. ”

His team’s stellar season was more than enough for Lowe to be named the Albany Herald’s 2015 John Reynolds Coach of the Year.

By the end of the season, Deerfield found more than enough ways to put up points. The Knights had four players rush for more than 500 yards, all of whom also had at least five touchdowns including Cameron McCook, who scored a whopping 25.

Deerfield also had John Samuel Shenker, who registered 723 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

The Knights’ offense averaged a total of 385 yards per game, but it wasn’t just the offense that led them to a championship appearance.

Lowe and his staff also guided a stout defense. They allowed an average of just 16 points and 225 yards per game.

“He always did really well at getting us prepared,” said Tyler Lowe, his son who played played quarterback and safety.

“He does really well in preparing everyone. Little things change week to week, and he does a good job of helping guys understand what we were trying to do.”

Deerfield-Windsor held their opponents to under double digits five times this season. The Knights consistently won the turnover battle, ending the year with 33 forced turnovers, four of which came in the team’s first meeting against Valwood, a victory that clinched the region title for Deerfield-Windsor.

“We had a great year,” Allen Lowe said. “In terms of how the kids played, I thought they were fantastic. It was a great group of boys. As coaches, we thoroughly enjoyed each and every week. We are very proud of our accomplishments and we are proud of how hard these guys played.”

When asked what his favorite game to coach in was, Allen Lowe had trouble picking just one.

“They all are always unique in their own respect,” he said. “Being able to play Valwood on our own field for the region championship, that was just a great momentum-builder. It was a great atmosphere and we got off to a quick start and we got some help and turned it into things.”

When you win most of your games in such decisive fashion, it can be hard to pick just one as your favorite.