Region 7-AA at a glance
* Last year’s champion: Darlington went 6-0 to win the regular-season title, but Coosa and Model one-upped the Tigers by each winning a playoff game.* Team to beat: There is not a consensus pick among region coaches, though last year’s runner-up, Coosa, gets the nod here due to returning offensive production.* Watch out for: Chattooga returns 17 starters after reaching the playoffs a year ago.* Best game: The Oct. 16 matchup of Chattooga and Gordon Lee in Chickamauga likely will decide a playoff berth.* Dream schedule: Gordon Lee’s nonregion slate includes two Class A teams at home and road games at bigger Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (3-7 last year) and LaFayette (2-8). The Trojans also host Darlington, Coosa and Model, last year’s top three teams.* Nightmare schedule: Dade County’s early schedule includes two out-of-state opponents and Class AAAA teams Ridgeland and Northwest Whitfield. The Wolverines open region play at Model before hosting Darlington.* Players to watch: Coosa running back Justin Ware is back after rushing for 1,522 yards and 16 touchdowns, while Dade County senior running back Teddy Cole is expected to have a breakout season.* Predicted order of finish: Coosa, Chattooga, Darlington, Model, Dade County, Gordon Lee, Armuchee
SUMMERVILLE, Ga. -- Among the five area regions represented by northwest Georgia football teams, none appears more wide open than 7-AA.
The teams at the top last season - Darlington, Coosa and Model - suffered heavy graduation losses. The next three teams in the standings - Chattooga, Gordon Lee and Dade County - return a combined 45 starters.
Is a changing of the guard at hand?
"Coosa, Model and Darlington have to be right up there," Chattooga coach Charlie Hammon said. "They did lose a lot, but they can reload. We hope to be in the hunt, but we've got to walk before we can run. Our goal is to win one more game than last year, and we aren't going to add any goals until we get that one."
The Indians earned a playoff berth last year despite winning only four games, but it was the way they ended the season - combined with 17 starters back - that has the folks in Summerville excited. In the final five games they won 30-0 over Gordon Lee and 20-7 over Dade County, and two impressive efforts in defeat might indicate the Summerville team is ready for more.
Chattooga lost 27-14 to region champion Darlington before falling 24-20 to Region 8-AA champion Rabun County in the first round of the playoffs.
"Rabun County was fun," Hammon recalled. "We finally figured out if we played hard for four quarters we could play with anyone. We had a lot of kids grow up, but with us it's 100 percent about mentality. Bad things are going to happen to us, so it's a matter of how we deal with it."
The talent is there, led by the Fosters, Isaiah and Isaac, who combined for nearly 2,000 total yards, and defensive end and tight end Dee McCutchins, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior who runs a sub-4.7 40-yard dash and is a mismatch on both sides of the ball.
At any given time Hammon can run out six players who have been timed in the 40 at 4.5 or under.
"Chattooga has a lot of athletes, more than any other team in the region," Gordon Lee coach Greg Ellis said. "They're my pick to win it because they're hard to match up with skill-wise."
Hammon believes a key to living up to those expectations will be coming out of the nonregion schedule both healthy and confident. The Indians open with Class AAAA Ridgeland and triple-A North Murray, teams that put a combined 77 points on them last year. They end the pre-league portion against Class AAA playoff team Pepperell.
"We've got a gauntlet right off the bat; it's not for the faint of heart," Hammon said. "We want to win a few of them and get better as a football team. We've also got to stay healthy for our region games."
Chattooga's biggest improvement, overall depth, will help in that area. Whereas a year ago the staff was just trying to find starters, there's experience at nearly every position this year.
"We played kids on one side of the ball last year, which helped us a lot, so they got a lot of playing time," Hammon said. "We're three-deep everywhere with kids that have played a lot of football games. We're seeing a lot of competition in camp, which is always good."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.