There are just 19 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2024 high school football season. But make no mistake, preparations for the upcoming campaign began months ago. And teams throughout northeast Georgia already are in full countdown mode.
With that in mind, we spent the last couple of weeks catching up with programs around our area to get a feel for how spring practice went, how the summer is going, and what coaches believe the fall will look like. Our "Two-a-Days" series honors those old-school grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall, asking each area coach two key questions about the state of their respective programs.
Over the next two weeks, AccessWDUN's Friday Game Night will get you prepped for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia.
(Teams run in alphabetical order)
RABUN COUNTY (9-4 in 2023; quarterfinals Class A D1 playoffs)
The Wildcats had a young team in 2023 and saw their streak of nine straight region titles end. But most of that group which advanced to the quarterfinals is back, as is the area’s top quarterback in Ty Truelove, who played through an injury most of last season.
They should once again be in the mix in a very competitive and balanced Region 8-A Division 1.
We caught up with coach Michael Davis to check in to see if Truelove has recovered from his injury and how summer practices have gone.
QUESTION: Coach, y’all have a ton of key returning starters with experience on both sides of the ball in 2024. What has been the main focus so far during the summer?
A: Our main focus this off season is getting bigger, faster, and stronger. We do return a lot of starters this year but so does Commerce and Elbert County in our region, which may be one of the best from top to bottom in the state.
Q: Ty Truelove is the top returning quarterback in northeast Georgia despite playing through an injury last season. How close to 100-percent is he and how has he looked this offseason?
A: Ty has fully recovered and is back to 100-percent. His surgery was in December and so June 6th was our target date for him to start throwing live. Ty has a tremendous work ethic. He was constantly working all offseason to build his strength back. We are excited about the upcoming season for him.
BONUS QUESTION: The offensive line is big and may be one of the more experienced units in the region. How excited are y’all to see just how that group can be and will that change some of the philosophy of the offense?
A: We return a lot of really good players on the offensive line and they will definitely be one of our strengths. We are blessed to have some size, experience, and senior leadership coming back. Our philosophy on Friday nights is to put our kids in the best possible position to win. We always say we would like to be 50-50 run-to-pass in every game but some nights we may throw more and in some we may run it more.
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: RIVERSIDE PREP
- Previous Two-a-Days: NORTH HALL
