Rome earns a spot on USA Today Super 25
A late night at the office during the first week of the season admittedly left head coach John Reid and the Rome High football team worn out. But the final result gave the Wolves some notoriety on a national level.
A back-and-fourth battle with Marietta in the Corky Kell Classic ended with Rome standing atop the 51-41 final a few minutes prior to 1 a.m. Friday morning. The win was the Wolves’ 28th straight dating back to the 2016 season when Rome won its first of two Class 5A state championships.
“Being the first game out, I thought it might play out like that. I thought it might be a slug fest. We were kind of prepared for that,” Reid said after his team had wrapped up practice Wednesday. “We had some uncanny penalties and fumbles which we have to clean up or we’re not going to have a very good season. But it’s probably easier to fix those things with a win than a loss.”
The impact of the win was felt all the way into this week when USA Today released its new Super 25 football rankings and had Rome at No. 24, a first for the program that has seen an abundance of success in the last three seasons.
“That’s a big poll,” Reid said. “As a coach, I’d rather have it that way in December. But the way we’ve worked, and the blood, sweat and tears we’ve poured out on these practice fields, played people that are bigger and stronger, and remained a good team, I think it’s a nice recognition and we’ll take it for now.”
USA Today is just the latest outlet to list Rome among the state and nation’s top high school teams. The Wolves are No. 1 in Class 5A in the AJC and Georgia Sports Writers rankings, sixth in the USA Today Super 25 Southeast rankings, and 15th according to the national rankings on MaxPreps.
Marietta was ranked 16th on the Super 25 last week and dropped out this week after the loss to Rome, who finds itself on the same list with perennial powers like Mater Dei and De LaSalle, both in California.
“When you’re recognized on that poll, with those teams, it’s a little humbling to say the least. They are some of the best programs in the country that have been on there for years and years,” Reid said. “So that’s a feel-good thing, but it’s also one of those things where if you look at it for too long and don’t block and tackle, you won’t be on there long.”
Rome was off last week and will host 4A squad North Clayton at Barron Stadium at the end of this week.