DADE COUNTY WOLVERINES
Head coach: Jeff Poston (first year here and overall)
Returning starters: 7 offensive; 8 defensive
Key players: QB MaKinley Everitt (6-0, 175); OL/DL Austin Sorrelle (6-0, 210); RB/LB Isaac Pangle (6-0, 185); RB/LB Cody Williams (6-0, 200); DL Bailey Floyd (6-3, 350); WR David Cole (6-2, 175).
Team strengths: The Wolverines have several versatile players who will allow offensive coordinator David Swader to make the most of the team’s new spread attack. Not blessed with ideal size up front, Dade’s bevy of playmakers – Cole, Pangle, Williams, Brody Swader and Zeke Wheeler – should be able to find and exploit mismatches on the outside.
Team concerns: Depth is always going to be a concern for one of the smallest Class AA schools in Georgia, but another challenge Coach Poston has is finding a way to establish a winning attitude in a program that has just 10 victories in the past four years.
Breakout candidate: Brody Swader did not play last year, but Poston said he “will be a huge part of our game plan every week.” The athletic Swader will line up in the backfield or out wide on offense, and he can play multiple skill spots on defense.
Season outlook: A team’s ability to stay healthy is something that keeps every football coach awake at night, and during the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it will likely keep Poston up more than usual.
Recent attrition has cut the program’s roster numbers even more, and with several players likely to be pressed into double duty on Friday nights, it’s no wonder Poston is concerned about keeping his guys healthy.
“We have a total of 38 kids right now,” he said. “We’ve had six or seven kids quit because they didn’t want to do the things the new way, so we have no depth whatsoever. We’re going to have to rely on a couple of ninth graders, which is never what you want to do, but the guys who are playing have worked hard.”
Cole, Pangle, Swader, Wheeler and Williams are set to start on both sides of the ball. To that end, Poston and his staff had to scale back a bit on contact at practice, though the hitting started to ramp up after the first week.
Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / Jeff Poston is in his first season as head coach of the Dade County football team.