Georgia Region 7-AA football preview: Chattooga poised to end droughts

Foster twins make Chattooga a true contender

Chattooga High School quarterback Isaac Foster passes during 7-on-7 action this summer.
Chattooga High School quarterback Isaac Foster passes during 7-on-7 action this summer.

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REGION 7-AA AT A GLANCE› Team to beat: Defending champion Darlington is back in Class A, but this reworked region welcomes a new potential kingpin in Pepperell, which was a playoff team in Class AAA. Model and Chattooga also should be in the hunt.› Watch out for: Chattooga. Last year’s surprise team returns 13 starters and is poised to continue its rise in coach Charles Hammon’s third year in Summerville.› Best game: Chattooga will host Model on Oct. 14, seeking payback from last year’s loss and hoping to set the stage for a showdown with Pepperell in the final week of the regular season with the league title at stake.› Dream schedule: Armuchee begins the season with nonregion games against LaFayette, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Temple, which combined to win four games in 2015 (with three of those victories by the latter). However tough the region ends up being, this gives Armuchee a fair chance to build confidence with early wins.› Nightmare schedule: Chattooga may be ready to end a long playoff win drought, but the Indians will have to survive a brutal nonregion schedule that begins with Cedar Bluff (Ala.), which won 14 games last year. Dawson County, which made the Class AAA playoffs last year, and Ridgeland, which reached in AAAA, follow.› Players to watch: Chattooga seniors Isaiah Foster and Mike Adams are preseason all-state selections and will join QB/DB Isaac Foster as key two-way players. Another elite two-way star is Model QB/LB Kyler Eldridge, who accounted for 2,000 yards and 28 touchdowns to go with 134 tackles in 2015. Dade County TE Brandon Bell, at 6-foot-7, figures to be a nightmare matchup, and Pepperell junior RB Tae Hammond is coming off a 1,000-yard season.› Predicted order of finish: Chattooga, Model, Pepperell, Dade County, Rockmart, Coosa, Armuchee, Gordon Central

History isn't on the side of the Chattooga High School football team as it tries to put an end to two very long unkind streaks.

It's been 42 years since the program last won a region title and 36 since the Indians had a postseason victory of any kind. They've lost their past nine playoff games, in fact, but they enter the 2016 season with a very real shot at stopping those skids.

Ask two-way lineman Mike Adams, all 6-foot-2 and 315 pounds of him, why his team is getting so much early love and he quickly responds, "We've got the twins."

Brothers Isaac and Isaiah Foster are four-year starters who have terrorized teams on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Isaac had 1,600 total yards and 14 touchdowns while running back Isaiah racked up 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, and both were key parts of a very aggressive and physical secondary.

After leading the Indians to back-to-back playoff appearances, including last year's six-point loss to Lovett in the first round of the Class AA bracket, the twin terrors are determined to start a new streak at Chattooga.

"That's all we think about, and that's why we've worked so hard," Isaac said.

Added Isaiah: "We're confident we can do it. There's no reason we can't take the next step."

Helping their cause is the absence of region champion and perennial power Darlington, which was shipped back to Class A in reclassification. In the Tigers' place, however, will be three schools that have dropped down from AAA: Gordon Central, Pepperell and Rockmart.

Pepperell made the playoffs last year, when it also won a close game over Chattooga in the regular season. The Dragons figure to be in the mix of region title contenders with Chattooga and Model, which won nine games in 2015.

"Pepperell beat us by five last year, and it was a real good football team," Chattooga coach Charles Hammon said. "Rockmart always has good athletes. The shakeup in the region just made it tougher, even though we lost Darlington and Gordon Lee. Model is very good and will be tougher. Coosa will be improved.

"It's up in the air, really, but we're excited about our chances."

Dade County, also a playoff team a year ago, lost 16 starters and likely will fight it out with Coosa, Rockmart, Armuchee and Gordon Central for the final playoff berth.

"It's tough when you bring in a triple-A playoff team like Pepperell, and Rockmart is always good," Dade County coach Bradley Warren said. "Add them to a Chattooga team that should be better and a Model team that brings back its entire backfield, and you've got a tough region."

Is Chattooga, though, ready to ascend to new heights?

Adams, who is receiving major college recuiting interest from Power Five conference teams, has no doubt.

"We aren't going to back down from that fact that we should win the region," he said. "We're looking to go undefeated this year and get past the first round of the playoffs at least. We are most definitely motivated.

"This is our time."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.

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