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Georgia's small colleges geared up for season

Scott Chancey

MACON — New Georgia Southern football coach Chris Hatcher, who led Valdosta State to the 2004 NCAA Division II championship, was not at Wednesday’s Peach State Pigskin Preview at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Albany State coach Mike White, who only beat Hatcher once — in 2004 during the regular season — was asked if it would be different playing at Valdosta State on Sept. 1 since longtime offensive coordinator David Dean now is the Blazers’ coach.

“(Hatcher) may be gone, but the team’s still there,” White said. “Coach Dean will have the team firing on all cylinders. They won’t miss a beat.”

MISSING THE PLAYOFFS

Valdosta State receiver Jeffrey Felton, who was a standout at Crisp County, still feels the hurt from his team not being included in last season’s playoffs. The Rams earned the sixth and final spot from the Southeast Region over Valdosta State because of the “earned access” rule, which states that any conference not represented among a region’s top six teams may be included if one of its teams is ranked among the region’s top 10. Albany State, the highest-ranked SIAC team, finished eighth, and the Gulf South Conference’s Valdosta State finished sixth, behind fellow conference teams North Alabama (second) and Delta State (fifth).

“It hurt really bad,” said Felton, who had 26 catches for 321 yards and a touchdown for the Blazers who went 8-2 last season. “It was one of those deals where we were planning and waiting to see where we were playing. It left us with a little motivation.”

Dean will be expected to continue the tradition Hatcher started at Valdosta State, and will be helped by 10 starters returning on both sides of the ball.

“We’ve got great kids coming back with great senior leadership,” Dean said. “This will be big on both sides of the ball.”

AMERICUS CONNECTIONS

At Fort Valley State, Americus-area player Nate Samas will try to regain his starting quarterback position, and brothers Chauncey and Jerel Hall will battle for the starting tight end spot.

Samas, who graduated from Americus-Sumter, was last year’s starter at the end of the season and had 724 passing yards and five touchdowns.

“Last season, he took a lot of pressure, so he had to get his feet wet,” said Wildcats coach Deondri Clark, who was hired July 1 and went 5-6 in his first year.

Savannah State transfer Garrett Williams, however, replaced Samas atop the depth chart at spring practice, but Clark expects the two to be on the field often this season.

“We were looking for leaders,” Clark said, “and both stepped up, and we’ll have two lions helping us out.”

At tight end, although Chauncey Hall exhausted his basketball eligibility last season at Fort Valley State, the former Sumter County standout has one season left at tight end. In 2006, he had six catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, and redshirt sophomore Jerel — who graduated from Americus-Sumter — had 15 catches for 313 yards and a touchdown.

“Chauncey didn’t really get the chance to prove himself last spring because of basketball,” Clark said. “Maybe he’ll take over the starting spot again this fall, who knows?”

TOUGH DEFENSE

Clark Atlanta led NCAA Division II in total defense last season, allowing an average of just 223.4 yards. The Panthers’ offense, however, gained just 201.5.

Only time will tell if coach Ted Bahhur’s team will catch up soon on offense, but he seemed excited about 10 defensive starters returning Wednesday, including middle linebacker Michael Porter and defensive end Curtis Johnson. Porter had 86 total tackles, including 15 for loss and six sacks, two fumble recoveries and a safety.

“He’s the best linebacker in Division II,” Bahhur said. “I’ll go as far to say that.”

Johnson led the country in forced fumbles with nine and he also had 70 total tackles, including 18 for loss and five sacks, an interception, four recoveries and a blocked kick.

“I told everyone that we would work toward having the No. 1 defense in the country, and our defense is just getting better,” said Bahhur, whose team — despite its defense —went 5-5 last season.

STILL BUILDING

Theo Lemon is approaching his second year as coach at Savannah State, which is an NCAA Division I-A independent. He has had some big obstacles already, as the team was placed on three years probation in May 2006; and as a result, the MEAC rejected the school’s application for admission.

The Tigers, who went 2-9 last season, were part of the SIAC until leaving in 2002.

“We would have loved to be included in the MEAC, but now we’re trying to build support and wins,” Lemon said. “We’re trying to build wins, though, more than anything else, because you have to have wins before you have support.”

Perhaps the biggest impact player the Tigers have coming back is defensive end Dominique Clark, who played with a broken leg against Morehouse last year and returned a fumble for a score.

TUCK OUT FOR SEASON

Former Albany High player Stephen Tuck, who played receiver last season, injured his knee at spring practice and will not play this upcoming season at LaGrange College, which will enter its second season of NCAA Division III football.

“We’re going to miss him, but his surgery went great,” said LaGrange coach Todd Mooney, whose team went 0-10 last year. “We’ll make sure he’s 100 percent and ready to go next season.”

Tuck had 13 catches for 169 yards in 2006.

HARRIS IMPRESSES

Former Lee County standout Joey Harris, according to his West Georgia coach, Mike Ledford, had “a fantastic spring.” He currently is the team’s No. 2 tailback behind first-team All-Gulf South Conference pick James Kinnebrew.

“He’s a powerful runner,” Ledford said of Harris. “He might be a step slower, but he does have a bit more power.”

In the one game Harris played, against Presbyterian, he had four attempts for 17 yards. The Wolves went 1-9 last season.

OF NOTE

No representatives  from Morehouse or Shorter attended.

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