No spring practices, intersquad games

Cedartown and Rockmart football fans will have to wait several more months before the teams hit the gridiron again.

Last year, the two head coaches decided to allow for their players to work on conditioning instead of taking to the field in spring practice, and didn’t hold annual inter-squad football games in late May as previews for the upcoming season.

That policy is staying in place this spring as well.

Cedartown head coach Doyle Kelley said the Bulldogs are staying in the weight room and will be working out during what has traditionally acted as a practice session over around a two-week period in May to give the team a chance to knock off some of the rust, and show off the team to local fans.

That changed last year when Kelley, who was new to taking over the team and still working on the playbook, decided that he’d call off the annual Red vs. Black game.

Head coach Biff Parson also decided not to conduct spring practice this year, and now Gold vs. Black game is being held either for 2018.

Both teams are looking to capitalize off of good years despite loss of good players to graduation.

The Bulldogs are losing senior quarterback Trevon Wofford as the leader in the backfield, but will still have plenty of talent to show off this year. That include Tony Mathis, who is already being recruited by Division I schools as a junior running back heading into his senior season.

Additionally, Cedartown loses another cornerstone of the team in Cruz Rodriguez, who heads off to college this year as well and will be playing for the Shorter Hawks in the years ahead. He was key to both the Bulldogs offense and defense.

Rockmart’s losses weren’t as heavy, and several leaders on the team as juniors will be moving up to take on key roles in August, when the Jackets come back for scrimmage games and the start of the 2018 season. They have a trio of senior runners in the back field coming back — Zabrion Whatley, Ant Lester and Markus Smith — plus Dylan Bailey returning under center to lead the offense.

A number of players working as offensive linemen and defensive backs also return for Rockmart as well.

Rockmart and Cedartown both made it to the second round of the playoffs in their divisions for 2018, after both finished in top spots in their regions during the 2017 season.

Pre-season games hadn’t been announced yet for either team.

The Jackets and Bulldogs face each other at the start of the 2018 season on Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Rockmart hosts the annual rivalry game this year.