Harrison to take over Hab Central football; Apalachee hires Norcross assistant Sims

MOUNT AIRY -- Benji Harrison grew up just around the corner from Mt. Airy, so he knows well the traditions of Habersham Central football.<br /> <br /> Now the coach wants to return the Raiders to their winning ways.<br /> <br /> "Habersham has had a tradition of success, and there's a lot of pride in the football program here," said Harrison, who played his high school football for rival Stephens County. "I'm real familiar with the community here, and now I'm excited to get a chance to work these kids and this community."<br /> <br /> Harrison was confirmed as the Raiders' new head coach by school board vote on Monday, taking over a program that has gone 2-28 over the past three seasons while competing in the state's largest classification. The new coach comes from Jackson County, where he resigned his position after leading the Panthers to back-to-back state playoff appearances for the first time in program history (2012-13) and Jackson County's first winning season in 20 years (2012).<br /> <br /> After beginning the building process with the Panthers, Harrison -- who took over Jackson County after working as an assistant coach at Flowery Branch -- is excited at the prospect of rebuilding the Raiders.<br /> <br /> "There's no magic formula, but we're going to do it the right way -- no one's going to out-work us," said Harrison, who will continue to utilize the wide-open styles of offense and defense that he used to turn around the Panthers. "The coaches' job is to fit what we do with what we have."<br /> <br /> The coach, who will meet with his new team for the first time on Wednesday morning, believes he has the players to help re-build quickly.<br /> <br /> "We've got some good players, and I know they're anxious -- especially the (rising) seniors; they've been without a coach for a couple of months now. But we want to show them that there is a process in place, and we're going to send them out the right way (next season)," Harrison said.<br /> <br /> The Raiders' last winning season came in 2011 -- also their last playoff appearance -- and they have had just one other winning season (2008) since consecutive state quarterfinals appearances in 2006-07 in Class AAAA. Habersham Central will again be in Class AAAAAA in 2015 in Region 6-AAAAAA with teams from Alpharetta and Forsyth County.<br /> <br /> Harrison was 12-20 in his three years at Jackson County. He was an assistant at Flowery Branch under coach Lee Shaw before taking over at Jackson County.<br /> <br /> "This was a unique situation because we were happy in Jackson County," Harrison said. "But this was just the right opportunity for us at Habersham. It's a little bittersweet because there are great people here (at Jackson County). I'm leaving a great group of kids, and I made some great memories here. It was my greatest time in coaching so far."<br /> <br /> <b>In other prep football news...</b> Apalachee hired Norcross assistant Steve Sims to take over its football program. Sims was part of back-to-back state titles teams for the Blue Devils in 2012-13.<br /> <br /> Sims takes over for Shane Davis, who resigned at the end of last season after going just 1-19 over the past two years. Davis was 48-59 overall at Apalachee in 10 seasons, including a Class AAAA quarterfinal appearance in 2009.

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