Short turnaround gives Lee County football taste of what’s ahead

LEESBURG — Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio wanted to work into his team’s non-region schedule a stretch where quality opponents would pop up back-to-back.

Playing in a region full of programs with histories of state championship appearances can mean short turnaround times between big games. Fabrizio wanted to mimic that early on in the season.

His answer? Put a Georgia Class 3A runner-up on the schedule six days after facing the reigning Florida Class 8A champion.

Lee County (2-0) hosts Peach County at 7:30 tonight, less than a week after posting a 35-3 victory over Dr. Phillips of Orlando, Florida.

“We wanted a schedule where we’ve got to play a big, emotional game and then turn around and refocus quickly,” Fabrizio said. “As strong as our region is, we’ve got to do that.”

This bit of scheduling rivals what Lee County will have to deal with during GHSA Region 1-6A play in October, when the Trojans face perennial state powers Northside-Warner Robins and Valdosta in back-to-back weeks.

Peach County opened its season Saturday in the Macon Touchdown Club Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic with a 27-24 win over Northside, a game played in front of more than 8,000 fans at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium.

A program known for sending a number of skill position players to major collegiate programs, Peach County could have one of its deepest rosters in quite some time, Fabrizio said.

Quarterback Jaydon Gibson had a strong debut for Peach County, according to The Central Georgia Sports Report. Gibson, a 5-foot-10 junior, completed 16-of-20 passes for 152 yards and ran for 105 more against Northside.

Lee County quarterback Kyle Toole has also had a pair of decent showings in his first two starts. The 6-foot-2 junior has completed 25-of-39 passes for 338 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over Dougherty and Dr. Phillips.

“They’re a really good football team, like they are every year,” Fabrizio said. “They have a lot of kids back, and they picked up their biggest wins in years (against Northside). They’re going to bring a big crowd, and it’s going to be a big atmosphere.

“They’re deeper than normal, and that’s saying a lot.”

Like Dr. Phillips, Peach County was a stop on Fabrizio’s coaching journey prior to arriving at Lee County a decade ago. Fabrizio was an assistant on one of head coach Chad Campbell’s first coaching staffs at Peach County in the late 2000s, the final coaching position Fabrizio held prior to taking over in Leesburg.

Peach County has claimed six region titles and a state title during Campbell’s tenure, which began in 2007. Last year, Peach County faced Calhoun in the Class 3A title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a controversial 10-6 Calhoun victory in which an apparent go-ahead touchdown catch by Peach County was ruled incomplete.

Lee County’s offensive coordinator, Nathan Clark, has ties to the Peach County program, as does former Lee County defensive coordinator Jhon Smith, who became Crawford County’s head coach during the offseason.

“Chad’s a good friend, and he was good to work for,” Fabrizio said. “A lot of things we brought into our program came from him and what he does. He’s a good coach and an even better person.”