Indians anticipate leaders to carry torch forward
Green imploring 2022 team to pick up where last season’s seniors left off helping program improve
The Armuchee Indians went from a winless season in 2019 to compiling a 5-4 record in 2021. It was the program’s first time reaching five wins since 2011 and the first finish above the .500 mark since 2009.
So what does this year’s team do with that momentum built over the past few seasons? Head coach Jeremy Green, who is going into his fifth season at the helm, said he knows this year’s group will need to carry the torch forward and make their own mark to build on what the leaders lost to graduation after last season laid the foundation for.
“When you talk about momentum, it can be a really good thing or it can be overrated,” said Green. “If these guys on this year’s team don’t pick up the mantle, then that momentum we had doesn’t really mean very much. We had really good leadership last year. Those seniors were my first group of freshmen when I took the head coaching job here, and we were very tough on those guys. And early on with them we didn’t have much success as a program. But they kept working and had to pull us across the finish line several times. So momentum only happens if the upperclassmen this year take on that role that they left behind. The biggest thing I want for these kids is to see the results of their work paying off. We tell these guys if they do it in the weight room and on the practice field, then they will see it on the field on Fridays.
We didn’t win five games last year because of luck. It was because that group last year worked for it. This is a different group and different season, but they are going to try to do the same thing.”
While the Indians remained in Class A after the GHSA’s most recent reclassification cycle, they will have a little bit different region makeup in 2022 as they move into Region 7-A Division-I and welcome several new opponents. Some are familiar from year’s past with Floyd County foes Pepperell, Coosa and Darlington among those in the region along with Trion, Chattooga and Dade County.
“It will be some people we are familiar with or at least our kids are,” said Green. “They are some of the same teams they played in middle school and grew up around. No matter what region we are in or who we play, we are going to be who we are. It is
going to be a tough region, but we are going to battle every week to try to be in it at the end.”
On the offensive side of the ball, Armuchee has some experience back with seven starters returning, including senior quarterback Chandler Desanto. Desanto is going into his third year as the fulltime starter and even played some as a freshman. Several are expected to contribute carries in the backfield as the Indians replace the starter at running back from last season. Luke Williams and Ryland Steen will both get chances to carry the football, and Desanto will have a committee of receivers that the coaches will look to have someone emerge from.
“We will be similar to what we’ve been in the past (on offense), but we will have a few tweaks here and there too,” said Green. “We want to run the football and throw it a good bit too in order to have some balance. We’ve got some guys that we feel we can throw it down the field to with Chandler’s arm and we will try to get it on the perimeter too. We ask a lot of Chandler in our offense. He
makes a lot of decisions for us on the field, and I think if I was another coach facing us, I would respect the decisions he makes.”
Defensively, the Indians have seven starters back as well with Steen and Jacob Seagraves each returning after very productive sophomore seasons at linebacker and cornerback, respectively. Those two will be the anchors of the back seven, and Hayden Phillips will be one to watch on the defensive line as a sophomore according to Green.
“We’ve got to replace a couple linebackers and defensive backs, but we feel good about the experience we have back,” said Green. “Our team speed has really gotten better in the past couple years, and that helps us fly to the ball. That’s what we are going to do defensively is fly to the ball and play hard. We aren’t going to
over-complicate things, just try to get as many people to the ball as we can.”
Green added that another area of strength will be the kicking game as Grayson Perry is solid on kickoffs, extra points and field goals.
With a smaller senior class, this year’s Armuchee team will have to grow up quickly and establish some new guys that they will count on as leaders. They will try to do that in their early nonregion schedule and have things more steady and established by the time the region slate rolls around in late September.
“We’ve got to mature and
have some leadership on this team,” said Green. “We definitely can’t play and carry ourselves like 15 and 16-year-old kids. We’ve got to
play like a mature, veteran team.”
Some of the best news for the Armuchee program came in April when Green, who missed the final game of the season in 2021 due to a cancer diagnosis and underwent treatment during the offseason, received a clean bill of health. He said he is still getting back to full
strength but looking forward to coaching for the full season and giving everything he can to try to help his team achieve success.
With that said, Green said he would never quantify success or expectations as a coach through wins and losses but rather the values his players are challenged to
carry to be part of the program.
“We have molded our core values, and those are do what you know is right, love your teammates and have fun,” said Green. “If we live up to those three things, we will have a great season. It’s that simple. If we have a great season as far as our win-loss record and
don’t do those three things, then what does it matter?”
Armuchee opens the regular season on Aug. 19 when they host Gordon Central for a non-region contest. Following three more non-region games, the Indians visit Coosa on Sept. 23 for their first Region 7-A Division-I matchup.