MURRAY COUNTY INDIANSCoach: John Hammond 0-0 (here and overall)Returning starters (O/D/K): 2/2/1Remember these names: Lineman Blade Lequire (Sr., 6-4 255) is the biggest and most physical player on a small and young team. Adrian Brinkman (Sr., 6-1, 180) is one of few seniors and will be required to show leadership as a running back and outside linebacker. Lequire and running back Jake Born (Sr., 5-10, 175) are the two most experienced players. Quarterback Brady Todd (Jr., 5-10, 165) will handle many responsibilities after getting into a few games late last season.Will be a memorable year if: The rebuilding Indians can show continual weekly improvement, regardless of the results on Friday nights. It’s very likely they will have several more losses than wins. They can have only dreams of the playoffs.ScheduleAug. 26 Southeast WhitfieldSept. 2 at DaltonSept. 9 at HeritageSept. 16 at LaFayetteSept. 30 at Pickens*Oct. 7 Allatoona*Oct. 14 at Cartersville*Oct. 21 Gilmer*Oct. 28 Cedartown*Nov. 4 Region play-in game* District 7B-AAA game
MEMORY LANECurrent basketball coach and former football assistant Greg Linder still may not have dried off from one of his fondest memories.He coached the defensive line in 2000 when the Indians beat Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington 14-13 in the second round of the Georgia playoffs.”A hurricane came all the way up and we got an absolute downpour, sheets of rain pouring down sideways,” Linder said. “We knew it was going to rain, so we just ran and ran and ran the ball. You couldn’t see across the field.”Quarterback Joel Statham and running backs David Bejar and R.J. Feely each had more than 1,000 rushing yards that season, which ended against Shaw in the quarterfinals.
Coach John Hammond knows the situation at Murray County, and he’s not shying away from it.
“We’ve been in a slump the last few years,” the Indians’ first-year coach said. “We split schools and [North Murray] is establishing their identity and we want to re-establish what we used to be, and that’s a physical and fundamental football team.”
Hammond, the fourth boss in six years, has been an assistant since 2002 and was promoted in the offseason to head coach for the first time in his life. It’s a little more time-consuming than being an assistant.