Griffin Christian High School's Chase Jones runs with the ball during practice Tuesday at Nix Field. The Crusaders open the season Friday at home against Central Fellowship. (John Sullivan/Daily News)
GCHS and FCA will be playing their season-openers Friday night while Skipstone will be playing its third game of the season.
Central Fellowship at Griffin Christian: Griffin Christian plays its home and season opener Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Nix Field against the Lancers of Central Fellowship Christian Academy. It might be rough sledding at the start for the GCHS Crusaders, since offensive coordinator Stuart Gottlieb decided not to resume coaching duties due to his recent foot surgery.
Crusaders head coach Bobby Brogdon said he and defensive coordinator Randy Wilson will pick up the slack on offense to go with a new defensive package the Crusaders have implemented. Brogdon said the team may struggle a bit, but it will do its best to beat the visitors from Macon this week.
Junior Dillan Brogdon will return at quarterback, a year removed from a broken collarbone, and he will be flanked in the backfield by senior Rusty Duffee, junior Sean Montgomery and sophomore C.J. Lewis. Griffin High transfer Donovan Adams will also be in the mix for the Crusaders.
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Skipstone Academy at Anderson (S.C.) Cavaliers: The Skipstone Academy Warriors football team (0-2) travels out of state to Anderson, S.C. Friday, looking to put the past two games behind them and get a win against the Cavaliers in Glory For Christ League (GFC) East division action at 7:30 p.m. It will be the home and season opener for Anderson.
Skipstone head coach Dan Salvador said the Cavs are similar to the team’s opponent from last week, the East Atlanta Mustangs. He said Anderson likes to stack the box and dare teams to throw the ball.
“We just have to execute better and limit our turnovers,” Salvador said. “We also have to cut down the mistakes on the passing routes so we can throw the ball better. We’ve added some wrinkles to the blocking schemes and I’m confident we’ll play much better Friday.”
Salvador said he feels good that Jamiro Winston, the team’s best offensive threat last year, will be returning at running back for the Warriors. He said Winston’s knee looks good and he looks ready to play this week. The Warriors will need Winston’s skill set to win their first division game of the year, which will put them in first place despite the first two setbacks.
“We just have to take our game to another level. We’re in a good league and we’ve got to play to their level,” Salvador said. “As coaches, we have to find and fix the mistakes and get the guys in the right position to make plays.”
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Faith Christian at Shiloh Hills: The Faith Christian Academy Lions will finally strap on the pads and butt heads with a different team Friday night, traveling to Kennesaw to face Shiloh Hills Christian School at 7:30 p.m. in the Lions’ season opener.
Lions coach Jim McClelland said he will have about 13 varsity players for the game and said the team is about as ready as it can be for action.
“We have a long way to go, but I believe we’ll be okay for our first game. The guys are learning our new offense and should be okay,” McClelland said.
McClelland said they will run a “read offense” which will give responsibility for check-offs to the quarterback, which is slated to be senior Nick Preston.
“It’s a base set offense that goes by what the defense shows us. If Nick or I see something, then the set can be changed,” McClelland said.
Flanking Preston in the backfield Friday will be junior Vincent Blackmon at fullback and Quendarius “Bingo” Williams at tailback.
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