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J. Ben Haynes had more than 300 yards of total offense in the win. (Photo/The Hartwell Sun's Grayson Williams) -
Tackle Devin Sullens, right, and the WCHS offensive line paved the way for 468 total yards with five rushing touchdowns and two more touchdows through the air. (Photo/Mark Turner)
Since 1958, the White County Warriors have lined up and played 627 football games, and it's safe to say none of them were quite like last week's game in Hartwell.
The Warriors made a big statement, knocking off Hart County, the No. 8 team in Class AAA, in an offensive shootout, 50-47.
The win pushed the Warriors to 2-0 on the year for the first time since 2017, and gained them so much deserved recognition from around the state.
The Warriors are now ranked in three different Class AAA polls. WCHS is sixth in the MaxPrep state pool, ninth in the Atlanta Journal Constitution poll, and 10th in the Score Atlanta poll.
The team was also named the Georgia High School Football Daily State Team of the Week. GHSFD officials were in town Wednesday afternoon to make the award presentation during a ceremony at the WCHS auxiliary gym.
“I think this is an honor for the community, the school, the students, and the team,” WCHS head coach Tim Cokely said. “It takes everybody to make something like this happen. It takes the administration, the coaches, and the players. It's a huge honor and is something we can proudly display at the school.”
The win over the state-ranked Bulldogs was only the 11th time WCHS has beaten a ranked opponent in the 60+ years of the program.
According to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, the Warriors had three wins over ranked opponents in the 1960s under head coach Wicky Loudermilk. Loudermilk and the Warriors added another win over a ranked opponent in 1970, and then head coach Bill White and the Warriors added three more wins over ranked teams in 1972 (two wins) and 1977.
Jerry Dorsey guided the 1983 team to a 21-14 win over Oconee County in Watkinsville, the last road win over a ranked opponent until last Friday night.
After Dorsey's team won in 1983, the Warriors didn't knock off another ranked opponent until 2013 when Bill Ballard and the Warriors beat No. 4 ranked North Hall.
Ballard picked up another win over a ranked opponent in 2016, beating North Hall again. The Trojans were ranked 10th, and ironically, the upset win was the only win of the season that year for the Warriors.
Cokely and the Warriors joined the club, winning a crazy game that included both teams holding two touchdown leads, and the two teams combining for three touchdowns in the final four minutes of the the game.
“My heart skipped a couple of times, and we might be the cardiac kids,” Cokely said with a laugh. “But the real story behind the win was how hard these guys played and they never gave up. We have a lot of faith in this team. We knew we could move the ball, we had done it all night. We just needed someone to make some big plays, and they did.”