For the week before Thanksgiving, it sure is quiet around football fields in Southwest Georgia.
That’s because a disappointing season leaves Miller County as the only GHSA school in The Herald’s coverage area left in the playoffs.
These swoons come in cycles, but for two consecutive years, no major public school team from the Albany metro area (Monroe, Westover, Dougherty, Albany, Terrell County, Worth County, Lee County) advanced past the second round. In fact, a Westover run behind Jason Jones to the 2007 state quarterfinals is the only significant mark this area has left on state high school football picture since Dougherty played in the state title game in 2005.
Is anything wrong here?
Comments have been flowing into The Squawkbox this week over one squawk criticizing our Deerfield-Windsor coverage, claiming “private school football is a joke.” Most of the retorts that came in defending the Knights point to the lack of competitiveness of many of the local public school programs.
First of all, The Squawkbox is mostly full of mud-slinging, (usually unfounded) political talking points and people complaining about other drivers. I hate to even bring the forum into this, but that is the glory of The Squawkbox — it’s what people are talking about.
And many say private school football is a lesser brand of football and athletes on the whole than public schools.
The size of the schools prove my point more than it would appear I am taking a shot at these institutions. Take a look at Tony Zenon at DWS or Dontavious Brown at Sherwood Christian Academy and you will find individual athletes that will play and, hopefully, excel at the next level. But the depth of those athletes doesn’t exist like it does at Monroe, Dougherty, Worth County, Lee County, etc.
People can call private school football a joke if they want, but of late the public schools shouldn’t be laughing.
The days of state titles at Dougherty, Mitchell-Baker and Americus went out of style right along with pagers in 2001.
No public school from The Herald’s coverage area has won a state championship since Americus eight years ago. You can even argue the metro area has been a non-factor all decade, with only Dougherty (2005) even making a Final 4 appearance since ‘01.
Once again, is anything wrong here?
I say yes — and no.
Metro Albany, in particular, will always be a basketball city. The tradition and championships that have come from the likes of Westover, Albany High and Mitchell-Baker, among others, dictates that. So, some of the best athletes are not spending as much time focusing on football at a young age. They are busy on the basketball court. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
This has been a long down-cycle of football players around here. The biggest prospect to come out of the area in recent years is D’Vontrey Richardson, whose Lee County team was blown out in the second round his senior season.
The teams that do have the talent too often are lacking in the fundamentals. How many times must we watch a kicker miss PATs? Is anybody
watching every collegiate kicker out there? I’m pretty sure poking it with the toe was last used by Tom Dempsey in 1970. Yet, every game I go to there is a kicker poking it off the crossbar.
I refuse to believe the playoff struggles are from a lack of athletes, and perhaps an area-wide refocus on the youth programs could turn the culture around. Look at some of the smaller towns on the outskirts of the area like a Miller County (playing tonight in its third consecutive second-round game) or Early County (three Final 4 trips and a state quarters trip this decade). These towns are dedicated to developing football players from a young age. The younger siblings fill the stands every Friday night and dream of playing on the field when they grow up.
Is that happening here? Perhaps that’s what every athletic director should be asking themselves right now.
Judging by the crowds I (don’t) see at Hugh Mills Stadium and other football venues across the area, I’d say probably not.
So to those calling private school football a joke, well, you may be right. But guess what: They are the only ones still playing.