Southeast Whitfield coach Sean Gray calls the pass play for Corey Barnes to run in and that play defeats Heritage 7-0 at Coahulla High School field in this file photo.DALTON, Ga. - They are the kinds of moments few ever know about, but for a football team - especially one trying to shed decades of negativity - they are priceless.
Long before the 2014 season began, before training camp or the assigning of the first jersey, the Southeast Whitfield Raiders came together for a common cause. It had nothing to do with X's and O's, lifting weights or trying to establish leaders.
This was about pride.
As the sun bore down on 40 or so players on the Memorial Day holiday, the common goal of a group headed by coach Sean Gray was to create something lasting and meaningful. The group spent the next several hours putting new sod on what had been an unsightly area around the athletic fields.
"I guess it was a grass roots campaign," Gray said with a laugh. "We had this bank of dirt that was ugly and the guys wanted to do something about it, so we got together on the holiday and worked. I don't know that it made us a better football team, but I do know kids play harder when they get more invested in each other and the program."
Moments like that led to overnight gathering among some of the players, nights when they would stay up late and talk about what it would be like to play past week 10. That feeling will be realized tonight when the 6-4 Raiders take on arguably the top prep program in Georgia.
Beating Buford may be an unrealistic dream. Many would say the same about Southeast being in the playoffs in the first place.
"This is all about the hard work we put in before the season started," junior quarterback Will Swantic said after helping lead the Raiders into the playoffs for the first time since 1986 in Monday's mini-playoff. "It's just a great time to be a Raider, and we can forever say we made it."
Southeast hasn't been just a bad program. It's been epically bad. This is the first winning season for the Raiders since that 1986 team went 6-5, and since then 18 seasons have ended with two or fewer wins. With one of the state's most successful programs, Dalton, just a few miles away, Southeast often lost players that might have helped turn things around. At the very least, the Raiders were, well, irrelevant.
"The biggest problem we had before was the first time we had any adversity you would see the guys just deflate," said Gray, a former Southeast player. "Now the one thing I can guarantee you is that they will not stop fighting. Last week we were down 17 to Northwest and came back to take the lead. We were down two touchdowns to both LaFayette and Heritage and came back to win."
Regardless of how tonight turns out on the scoreboard, the experience will be memorable, and Gray strongly believes this is just the start for a program that will return most of an offense that's averaging 30 points per game.
"This is a great learning experience for us," Gray said. "We expect to play with them, and I know we won't be intimidated. Above all, we want to build something lasting here."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.