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Colton Adam, left, and Malachi Russell, No. 31, try to bring down running back Jackson Krilla during a drill Monday morning at WCMS. (Photo/Mark Turner)
It's been a busy summer for the members of the White County Middle School football team as the Warriors prepare for the upcoming season.
WCMS will field two teams again this fall, competing in the seventh and eighth grade divisions of the Mountain Athletic Conference.
Today, the Warriors will be the host school for the FCA 7-on-7 tournament at the Tesnatee Gap athletic complex.
The annual event features teams from all over Northeast Georgia. The teams will play five sessions of mini-games throughout the day, with the Warriors set to compete against Banks County, South Hall, Hart County, Lumpkin County, Habersham County, Chestatee, Madison County, Gainesville, East Hall and Lanier Christian. The WCMS games begin at 9:45 a.m.
“I've been going to this since I was at Rabun County and Banks County,” WCMS head coach Robbie Bailey said. “FCA has been doing this thing for years, and it's really a good tournament, and it seems to get better and better every year. Our kids are really excited about it; they've been talking about it all week. It gives us an opportunity to compete against some really good teams and see what we need to work on.”
The Warriors have been participating in the summer program since early June, and they put on the pads for the first time last week.
“We've done a lot of good things this summer,” Bailey said. “We've averaged between 48-52 kids pretty much every day, so our numbers have been really up. That carried over from spring practice; I don't think we've lost very many kids. The kids are getting better. We aren't ready to play a game yet, but I'm pleased with the progress we've made.”
Last season, Bailey's program produced the school's first middle school title since 2010 as the Warriors won the MAC eighth-grade championship. With all of those players moving to the high school level in the fall, the team will look completely different this fall. Bailey said the Warriors will have their hands full with the MAC schedule, but he's excited with what he has seen this summer.
“These eighth-graders have really improved since last year,” Bailey said. “They have been working hard since spring practice. They are bigger and stronger, and they have had a good summer. We had a really good practice Tuesday, probably the best one we've had, and we're excited this group.”
The Warriors will host a pre-season scrimmage Aug. 12 against Hart County, and open the regular season on Aug. 26 with a road trip to Dawson County.