by Mark Turner
White County News
The White County Warriors kick off the 2025 campaign Friday night in Clayton, taking on the Rabun County Wildcats for the 38th time in school history. The Wildcats hold a 27-10 lead in the series, and have won the previous three meetings including a 40-27 win last fall.
For the Warriors, the squad is undergoing a rebuilding process after losing a big group of players to graduation. The year's roster includes only a handful of returning starters, so a lot of young and/or inexperienced players will be asked to do some heavy lifting this season.
The Warriors got a chance to get in some preseason work last week with a scrimmage against Fannin County, and it turned out to be a tough night as the Rebels ran out to a 41-14 lead after three quarters of varsity competition.
“The effort was good, but we made too many mistakes,” WCHS head coach Chad Bennett said. “This was the first time we've played this new defense in a game. We've been practicing it for two months and we're trying to replace nine starters. We had some busts in the secondary, but the effort was good. We have to tackle better and do our job better. We have worked really hard to try to clean up some of the mistakes this week.”
Bennett is also working to rebuild the offense, which also took a hit due to graduation.
“We've got to execute better and take care of the football. We threw two interceptions and put the ball on the ground a few times. We can't do that and have any chance to beat a good team. We've got to execute better on offense and take care of the ball. We've tried to simplify some things this week on both offense and defense to help the guys.”
To make matters worse, the Warriors have taken a huge bit from the injury over the past few weeks, with several starters being ruled out for the season opener. As far as injuries heading into the season opener, a few players have already been ruled out. Sophomore receiver Gaines Clark is nursing a back injury, but could return to the field in 3-4 weeks, while linemen Josiah Williams, Mikey Moreno and Zay Cheek are all dealing with injuries.
“It's unbelievable,” Bennett said about the run of bad luck dealing with injuries over the past several years. “You ask yourself when will we stay healthy? In the summer, we were dealing with some skill kids getting hurt. When we put the pads on, three or four of the linemen get hurt.”
Rabun County brings back most of their key skill players from last year's state playoff team, including quarterback Ty Truelove, running back Reid Giles and All-State offensive lineman Zach Gordon. The Wildcats have a new coaching staff, led by Rance Gillespie, who replaces Michael Davis. Gillespie is a 21-year head coach at five schools in Georgia, most recently at Brookstone. Gillespie, a Rabun County native, won a pair of state titles at Peach County, and has also served a stint as the offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern.
Gillespie brought another big name coach with him to Rabun, hiring Bill Stewart to run the defense. Stewart won a state title at North Gwinnett and has been a Georgia Tech analyst for the past two years.
“Coach Gillespie is a great coach and he's done for a really long time,” Bennett said. “I think they will be really good offensively. Rabun is going to be good. They have a really good quarterback and the running back is one of the best in the state. We're going to try and get some pressure on Truelove and get him off his spot. They have a great defensive coordinator in Coach Stewart, so they will be coached up and it will be a huge challenge.
Roster
The Warriors head into the season planning to run the ball as much as possible on the offensive side, while using a new scheme on defense to hopefully slow down some of the high-powered offenses that on the schedule.
“We are trying to figure out how we can score 28 points,” Bennett said. “We may have to slow it down, not try to go super fast like we have done in the past. I still think we can be pretty good defensively, if we can stay healthy,” Bennett said. “I've been very pleased with the new defensive staff. Coach Zac Grace has come in an implemented a new defense that based out of a 3-4 look. It will be very multiple with the fronts where we will have six in the box. You'll see us doing more stuff in the back end of the defense. The kids really like the system. Coach Grace tells the kids that we want to 'strike people' not hit them. The goal is to run and strike.There are lots of answers in the system. Once the kids get comfortable, I think we will get better.”
Along with Grace, the Warriors new defensive staff includes Jayden Barron and Seth Deering, along with former WCHS player Hunter Williams and returning assistant Micah Adams.
“Coach Barron has been at some good programs and the kids love him,” Bennett said. “Hunter Williams coached offense and defense for last year and he's sliding in to coach the inside linebackers. Coach Deering has coached 19 years, coached a lot of football in some good programs. He'll do a good job with the outside linebackers. Micah Adams is our lone holdover, he's a good young coach and he'll coach our corners. I feel good about the staff.”
With the injuries to Moreno, Williams and and Zay Cheek (ankle), the Warriors are having to make adjustments to the defensive front. Jbo Kastner will get the start at the tackle spot this week, with Branson Smith starring at nose and Matt Turner lining up at defensive end. Turner had been working at inside linebacker throughout the preseason. Chris Nunnally, Jackson Burford and JJ Morris may also play on the defensive line.
At inside linebacker, Reid Penrose and Casey Crane will man two spots, with Turner, James Hart and Jack Johnson also in the mix. In the outside linebacker group, Lammers will start at the STAR (field), Hart providing depth. At RAM (boundary), Easton Drew is the projected starter with Lammers and Johnson also in the mix
“We have some linebackers,” Bennett said. “This group is a key to the defense.”
The Warriors' secondary is young, except for junior Zach Godfrey, who had a breakout season last fall. He returns at safety, with Savion Anderson lining up at the other safety spot. On the corners, Kody Tuhey and freshman John Jarrard are projected to start, with Clark on the injured list. Jarrard can also play safety, along with fellow freshman Jack Clark. Davey Waller is the nest player up at cornerback.
Luke Bryne, the projected starter at kicker and punter, is also injured, so the Warriors will turn to sophomore Wesley Seabolt. Carrson Ward will also be in the mix for the kicking job, along with playing receiver and defensive back, once he gets healthy from a hip injury.
The Warriors' returners will be Godfrey, Tuhey, Lammers, Clark and Jarrard.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Warriors have five returning starters in Godfrey, Turner, Kastner, Lammers and Clark.
With Turner and Kastner in place on the interior line, one of the main goals going into the season was to try and build up some depth to give OL coach Nathan Riddle some options on Friday night. But the early injuries have put a strain on that process.
As of Wednesday, the Warriors plan to start Burford at center, Kastner and sophomore Brayden Shubert at guard, and Turner and Crane at tackle. The Warriors will help the interior linemen by using a tight end much more than they have in Bennett's previous seasons. Penrose, Hart and Drew will be used at the position, along with Johnson when the team goes to a two tight end set.
With Gaines Clark out of the lineup, Godfrey will be the lone experienced player in the receiver group.
Waller will start at the X spot, with Tuhey at the Z receiver, with Jarrard backing up both of those spots. Godfrey will be inside at the slot position, with Isaac Lerch also playing in that spot.
Jack Clark could also be used in the slot when he's not in the backfield.
The Warriors plan to play three running backs, led by Lammers, who put up solid numbers last year as a junior. Anderson will be next, with Jack Clark expected to see lots of playing time with Lammers and Anderson both playing a ton of snaps on defense. All three running backs had some good moments in the scrimmage. Anderson and Lammers both had short-yardage touchdown runs, while Clark show good vision, speed and quickness during the game, including breaking off a 60-yard run that set up Anderson's touchdown.
At quarterback, starter Alex Freeman and backup Brinn Robinson have been working to replace Tripp Nix, who led Class AAA in passing last year. Both quarterbacks played extensive minutes in the scrimmage.
Freeman was the team's back up last year behind Nix and, and while he doesn't have much experience on the football field, he is a four-year starter for the baseball team and used to the competing at the high school level. The development at the quarterback position is pivotal for the Warriors have success on the offensive side of the ball.
“Alex is pretty mature, and he leads,” Bennett said. “Brinn has done a good job and he's getting better.”
Lane Bray is the third quarterback on the roster and he will be the JV quarterback.
Region
With non-region games against Rabun, Habersham Central and East Jackson filling up the first month of the season, the Warriors have some time to fix some of their issues heading into the seven games against Region 6-AAA opponents.
“Top to bottom this region is good and there is a lot of parity in the region,” Bennett said. “There are a lot of good football coaches in this region who have coached at a high level. A lot of the teams are very similar, and it comes down to who is going to block and tackle the best. Who takes care of the ball and doesn't turn it over. Who can make the big play in critical situations. A lot of games come down to five or six plays, and the question is who is going to make the plays in those situations.”
North Hall, who is the only team from the region ranked in the preseason Class AAA state poll, is the defending region champion and returns a wealth of players.
Dawson County has a new look this year as former Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern standout quarterback Jaybo Shaw takes over as head coach after Sid Maxwell retired last spring. Lumpkin, Chestatee and Pickens all are expected to be in the hunt for a state playoff berth. Greater Atlanta Christian is also back in the region and will be good once again, but they don't participate in the public school state playoffs.
“Without a doubt, North Hall is the frontrunner,” Bennett said. “They have 26 seniors and have almost everyone back from a region championship and they will be really good. I'm curious to see what Lumpkin looks like without Cal Faulkner, but they have two receivers that are both 6-6. Jaybo will do a good job at Dawson and they have been young the last couple years, so that team will mature. GAC was really good at the 7-om-7s this summer. Coach Stuart Cunningham is an outstanding football coach and Chestatee was a good team last year. They have a really good running back, he's special in the Wing-T. Pickens has a good quarterback and couple good receivers. They also have a freshman running back. It's' going to be a war every week and we have to bring our A game every week to have a chance to win some games.”