DALTON, Ga. – If there is one thing to take from Southeast Whitfield’s impressive season-opening football win over Murray County, it’s not that the Raiders ended a 13-game losing streak to the Indians, it’s that the win was not a surprise.
Such is the atmosphere within a program so recently so bad that last week’s win was the first time in 10 years Southeast has started a season 1-0.
Third-year head coach David Crane wasn’t around during the years the Raiders were nonfactors, but he fully realizes what the win over Murray symbolizes to the fans who were around.
“Around here, it probably means more for the fans than for us as a football team,” said Crane, who directed the Raiders to a 5-5 season last year, the program’s best record since 1992. “I’ve had a lot of people call this week since it’s been 20 years since the program has beaten Murray County. For us as a football team, getting off to a 1-0 start for the first time in 10 years is important.”
The 35-6 win featured what Crane hopes is a more balanced version of the spread. With the graduation of quarterback Tanner McCutchen, the Raiders entered the season expecting to lean on junior running back Coty Burch, who had 947 yards rushing last season. Burch didn’t disappoint against Murray, getting 177 yards on 26 carries, but the Raiders also passed for 151 yards and two touchdowns in junior quarterback Levi Sams’ first start.
“I think we’re more balanced than what people thought considering we lost our starting quarterback,” Crane said. “Most people thought we wouldn’t be able to throw the ball, but Levi threw the ball well and he’s a smart quarterback.”
Not lost in Raider-land is the fact that the program is the only one in either Whitfield or Murray county with a win last week. Burch, like most of his teammates, is feeling a strong sense of pride that has been missing at Southeast for some time.
“Last week meant a lot,” Burch said. “We’re more confident. We have people back with major playing time, and it’s a different feeling here. One game can mean a lot. We learned that last year when we came so close to making the playoffs. It feels great, considering how the other area schools don’t have a win. I guess it’s good to have bragging rights, but we know we have to keep try harder at the same time.”
Southeast is off tonight, giving Crane the perfect opportunity to bring his players back to reality.
“We had a real hard practice yesterday to try and get their feet back on the ground as quickly as possible, so to speak,” he said Wednesday. “This off week kind of comes at a good time in that, considering the big win last week, it might bleed over to this week if we had a game. We can now take the extra time to get that out of our system.
“We want them to feel good about themselves, but we also want them to remember what it took to get the success.”