Two of the most successful programs in the history of northwest Georgia high school football are about to share a region for the first time, and neither is the favorite to take home the league championship this season.
After 40 minutes of football scrimmage action in Friday night's Best of Preps jamboree, if McCallie coach Ralph Potter wanted to go old school this year, no one would question the logic.
The label of state champions will follow the South Pittsburg Pirates all football season, but it won't win any games for them this year.
There isn't a Georgia team in the area breaking in more new starters than the Indians, and to that end Coach Peek and his veteran staff packed as much as they could into the spring and early summer.
Four wins may not seem like a lot to some football teams, but for the Colts it was historic as they doubled the previous best single-season total at a program that began varsity play a decade earlier.
Bryan, who won three region titles in four years as Ooltewah's head coach, won't predict a win-loss record for the Warriors this season.
Logic would say the mood should be a tad gloomy around a football team facing the reality of replacing the players responsible for nearly 6,000 yards of offense and more than 90% of its tackles last year.
The regular season will be a bit different for Poag's team because of the GHSA's most recent reclassification.
The way their coach looks at it, the Catamounts are already winners in 2022.
High expectations are a good thing to have as a football coach. Living up to them depends on a myriad of factors.
