New coaches give Region 1-4A sense of unpredictability

ALBANY — As one of five new head coaches in GHSA Region 1-4A, Westover head coach Olten Downs figured there would be plenty of uncertainty in region play.

After all, the region’s defending champion, Americus-Sumter, has a new head coach. So do Northside-Columbus and Carver-Columbus, both playoff qualifiers last year.

In fact, only one team in the region, Columbus High, has a head coach who has been in place longer than five seasons.

“From week to week, you don’t know sometimes what kind of team you’re going to get (to go up against),” Downs said. “You just have to try to be your best.”

The turnover in the coaching ranks means a team that has an off year one year can move to the top of the heap the next. It also means that nothing can be assumed when it comes to region opponents.

A year ago, Westover managed just two region wins, defeating Columbus and Shaw. Last Thursday, however, Columbus, led by 10th-year head coach Phil Marino, handed Westover a 46-26 setback, while Shaw defeated region newcomer Dougherty.

“We kind of got hit in the mouth,” Downs said. “That’s what happens when you don’t prepare yourself to go up against a good opponent. You look up, and you can be down early on.”

Tonight, Westover hosts Northside-Columbus in a game that will be important to both sides in terms of postseason qualification. Both sides look to avoid their second region loss of the season, something that would make a playoff bid more difficult.

Westover (1-2, 0-1 region) had one bad quarter in last week’s loss, giving up four second-quarter touchdowns.

Westover managed to get some offense going against Columbus, racking up 263 passing yards. But the second-quarter collapse was too much to overcome.

“We’ve been able to throw the ball pretty well all season, just trying to pitch and catch and playing to our guys’ skill sets and strengths,” Downs said. “Last week, we just got behind early. It was some things they did well, some things we did very badly on our part. It was a wake-up call after a big win against Monroe.”

Northside (2-1, 1-1) opened its season with wins over Shaw and Spencer before losing 38-0 to Cairo, a playoff qualifier last year.

According to the Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Northside managed just five first downs offensively against Cairo while allowing the Syrupmakers to record 389 yards of total offense.