Region 6-AAAA: Defending champ Pickens opens season with target on its back
Realignment is coming to teams in the GHSA starting in the 20202021 season, and there are rumors of potential comings and goings, in Region 6-AAAA specifically.
However, the 2019 football season will still hold plenty of intrigue as the region, top to bottom, appears to be as balanced as it has ever been.
Pickens comes in as the team to beat after the Dragons ran the table to win the first region title in school history last fall. However, although a few key players are back, including last year’s 6-AAAA Player of the Year in quarterback C.J. Streicher, Pickens lost of number of All-region players to graduation and it remains to be seen if the Dragons can continue to hold off the rest of the teams in the region and repeat as champion.
While some standout players graduated, the region as a whole appears to be better. Ridgeland has speed to burn and an offensive line that has gotten much bigger in the offseason. Heritage also has size, strength and experience up front and a returning quarterback that threw for over 2,000 yards a year ago. Meanwhile, down in Lafayette, the Ramblers have looked solid all summer long in their second season under head coach Paul Ellis and are ready to build on last year’s 5-5 campaign.
With extended previews of the Panthers, Generals and Ramblers elsewhere in this issue, let’s take a close look at the other four teams that will be battling for state playoff berths and that all-important region championship.
Northwest Whitfield Bruins
Josh Robinson (9th season, 53-33)
6-5 overall, 3-3 region
The Bruins will definitely have a new look to them in 2019, especially on the offensive side of the equation. Ty Fisher, who threw for over 2,300 yards and 22 touchdowns a year ago, has graduated, along with running backs Dominique Sistrunk and Brady Hughes and seven of the Bruins’ top eight pass-catchers in terms of yards.
Junior Matthew Redmond, an All-region second team athlete last year, and fellow second teamer Jeb Booker (OL) are the only big names back on offense. Redmond has some experience under center and could be the new signalcaller, but Northwest will need some new playmakers to emerge and emerge quickly if they want to challenge for the 6-AAAA title.
However, there is some solid talent returning on defense. Lineman Zach Costlow was first team All-region last season as a junior, while second team honors went to lineman Chase Humble and linebacker Logan Akins, both of whom are also ready to begin their senior campaigns. In the secondary, senior Jacob Sanders is back after picking off three passes a year ago.
Pickens Dragons
Jeff Nelson (1st season, 0-0)
11-1 overall, 6-0 region
Dragon Nation is still basking in the glow of the school’s first-ever region football championship, but the team will be going through a few changes in 2019. The biggest change comes at the top as Chris Parker stepped down as head coach at the end of the season to become the county’s athletic director, while former defensive coordinator Jeff Nelson has been given the reigns.
Pickens lost eight All-region players due to graduation, most of whom starred at the skill positions, including 2018 6-AAAA Athlete of the Year Michael Barrett. But the Dragons will bring back senior quarterback C.J. Streicher, last year’s Player of the Year in the region, senior Bailey Cannady, the region’s Lineman of the Year, two more first team offensive linemen in seniors Aidan Sanchez and Chad Pacas, a first team kicker in sophomore Jose Sanchez and a pair of pass-catchers in senior Alex Snelgrove and junior Jared Whitmore.
Even more All-region talent returns on defense, led by first team linemen Dallas Mchale (61 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, five sacks). He’ll team with senior lineman Clayton Holland up front, while the front seven will also feature senior linebacker Andrew Macom. The secondary has two solid building blocks in experienced seniors Brady Moore and Jay Jones. 392 rushing yards, 15 total TDS) is back after earning All-region honorable mention a season ago. Also back is senior running back Christian Gillespie, who scored seven times and was just a few yards shy of 1,000 in 2018. Expect junior Ethan Hill and senior Colter Long to have increased roles on offense, while seniors James Winters, Bryson Waters and Junior Silvers will give the Raiders some big bodies in the trenches.
Defensively, senior linebacker Henry Vassell was an honorable mention pick a year ago, while he’ll get help from seniors Fernando Guijon and Matt Wojcik. Silvers will be a run-stopper up front as he will free up junior linemen Chris and Fredy Ambriz to get after the quarterback. Senior Juan Zepada is the team’s leading returning tackler (70 stops in 2018) and the secondary will count on leadership from seniors Alsender Miller and Abraham Jefferies. although Gilmer did come within a point of snapping their losing streak against Rabun Gap early in the year. However, the result was another winless campaign, which extended the Bobcats’ losing streak to 30 straight games, the current longest streak in the state. Gilmer’s last win was a season-ending, triple-overtime thriller against Heritage in 2015.
Gilmer made another coaching change in the offseason as Kevin Saunders was hired to fill the spot after Casey Wingard resigned. Saunders, a 30-year coaching veteran, has over 150 career victories in three different states and won a Virginia state title in 2011. He spent the past four seasons at Class 7A Pebblebrook (Ga.) where he won 20 games and took his team to the playoffs three times.
Longtime starting quarterback David Smith has graduated and sophomore Seth Darling could be the first in line to get a chance to win the job. Junior Nathan Carpenter will shoulder some of the load at fullback, while there are building blocks up front with seniors Dylan Ellington and Luke Morgan, both of whom earned All-region credentials last year. Morgan will also help anchor the defensive line, while senior Andrew Gooch will be counted on at linebacker.