CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — On a typical Thanksgiving afternoon, the Groce family will settle in after eating a meal with each side of the family, turn the TV on and gorge on football the rest of the day.
This, however, won’t be a typical Thanksgiving for Josh Groce and his family — and the Gordon Lee High School football coach wouldn’t have it any other way.
While there will still be football and family, most of Thursday will be spent on a bus as the Trojans travel nearly 300 miles to Sylvester in South Georgia in advance of their GHSA Class A Division I quarterfinal at Worth County, which is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“Usually, we’re eating tons of turkey and watching football,” Groce said. “There have been years we’ve taken off to Pigeon Forge after Thanksgiving, but this year I said we can’t make plans because we hope to be playing that week.”
It’s the first time in the quarterfinals for Gordon Lee since 2002 — which earlier this fall won the program’s first region title since 1978 — but making the week even more special for the seventh-year head coach is getting to spend it on the football field with his son, senior running back Peyton Groce.