Countdown to Herald Pigskin Preview — ONE day: A feeling of optimism alive and well in Calhoun County

EDISON — Pride.

That’s what it’s all about for the boys on the Calhoun County football team.

Forget about last year’s 1-9 season — that’s in the past. This year, it’s all about potential for the Cougars.

“You gotta establish (team pride) as much as you can,” head coach John Williams said. “(You have to) give them something to work towards and be proud … If there are some (players) that are new, and they don’t know what we’re talking about, we just take them for a visit down (to the old fieldhouse). “All it takes is one day down there to realize how great it is now.”

Williams is referring to the team’s new fieldhouse, the first new one in 30 years and where sixth grader Josh Turner accidentally walked one of the two the “CC” logos before Tuesday’s practice.

“We treat (the logos) like wet paint,” Williams said. “You don’t go in there with your cleats on, that’s one of the main (unwritten rules).”

So when Josh later went onto the fields, one of the coaches joked he “was gonna get beat up.”

“They have a lot of pride,” Williams said. “Those middle schoolers get serious about football.”

That’s because they have the high schoolers to look up to, especially the only four seniors on the team – Josh Figgins, Jaylen White, Corey Ingram and Rodney Coleman.

“Everbody out here loves eachother,” said White, who was part of the 2007 team that went 6-4 when he was a freshman. “We try to push eachother and just go hard. We gotta set the tempo for the rest of the team, and everyone else will follow.”

Added White: “(Our goal) is to win our region and try to make it to the playoffs.”

The only way to do that is practice, but Mother Nature hasn’t been too kind to Southwest Georgia football teams lately.

“So far, practice has been slow because of the heat. I would not have this item walking around with me if it wasn’t so bad,” said Williams as he looked down at his Digital Psychrometer, which measures things like temperature and humidity. “Right now, i’m looking at it, and it’s 98 (degrees), so it’s just a tough situation to try and give them adequate breaks, because you don’t want to want anybody to get hurt or anything because of heat exertion.”

Williams may be taking extra precautions because of what happened around this time last year, when basketball coach Jerome Carter died of a heart attack during a football practice.

So if it means canceling a few practices because of the heat, Williams said he’s willing to do it to ensure the team will be healthy and ready for the season.

“We can’t do anything but go up,” Williams said. “That’s the main thing, we can’t do anything but improve from this point. When you win one ballgame out of 10, the only thing you have to look forward to is improving on the last season.”

The Cougars will start working on that improvement when they open their season at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Lanier County.

“Our goal there is to just maintain (our momentum) and give ourselves the opportunity to win,” Williams said.