VARNELL, Ga. — The pause before the answer said as much as the words that followed.
The Coahulla Creek High School football team is one of the best success stories in the area. A program that averaged one win a season for its first nine years is going to the playoffs in year 11.
When veteran coach Danny Wilson took over prior to the 2020 season, the Colts were basically an afterthought in the fall. Good players left the program in seek of wins and respect. There was little of either to be found in Varnell when it came to football, where teams made up of as few as 30 players tried to compete in one of the area's toughest regions.
So Wilson's first job — even before changing the players' physical habits — was to find leaders in the younger classes who would dedicate themselves to putting the team first and work to build a foundation for success at the Whitfield County school.
He didn't have to look far. Kace Kinnamon was a 150-pound sophomore quarterback, certainly nothing special physically at the time, but Wilson and offensive coordinator Drew Carter saw a leader who could grow into the position as he was making those around him better.
The climb was slow with mostly sophomores on the field that first year. A 2-8 season, though mediocre by most standards, was good enough to equal the best record in program history. The Colts doubled that total last year as those scrawny sophomores grew up and area teams took notice, especially after Coahulla Creek opened by upsetting neighbor Northwest Whitfield, a decades-old program from a higher classification and just a 10-minute ride away.
This year's 7-3 Colts, by anyone's account, didn't overachieve to reach the playoffs, where they will travel to play state power Sandy Creek (8-2) on Saturday. In fact, players such as Kinnamon believe they should have won at least one more game.
Satisfied? No. Appreciative of the respect they've earned. You bet.
Which is why Kinnamon, when asked if he could have seen this moment happening three years ago, took a moment to form his answer.
"Let's put it this way, if you were to ask my sophomore self if Coahulla Creek would go 7-3 and be in the playoffs, I would have thought you were out of my mind," Kinnamon said, perhaps reflecting on the hills that had to be climbed.
"This was a dream of ours, and it's a big privilege to be a part of it. I'm just happy that my friends and I got to make this dream a reality of ours."
Kinnamon has started every game during Wilson's tenure, beginning with the ground floor of a sophomore season that included 530 yards passing, 32 rushing and seven interceptions to just four touchdowns. The numbers blossomed last year to 1,540 yards passing, 317 rushing and 11 touchdowns to 10 picks.
This season, now 25 pounds heavier and in full control of the offense, Kinnamon put up 2,190 yards through the air, added 449 on the ground and produced 25 touchdowns. He threw only three interceptions despite the huge uptick in pass plays as Carter opened up the playbook to take advantage of a deep group of receivers.
Physically, Kinnamon put in the work, training with Carter on mechanics and attending "more football camps than I can recall." Wilson saw early in training camp that his quarterback's passes had more zip. The confidence radiated out of Kinnamon, whose leadership took another step forward.
"He will outwork anyone in the weight room or on the field," Wilson said when asked about Kinnamon's effect on the team off the field. "After that, no one questions him."
The physical improvements in the Colts are easy to see. Bigger, faster and stronger always equates to progress, but Kinnamon goes deeper when asked the differences between the old Colts and this new version.
"It's easy. Team leadership is the key," he said. "People being more committed to the team and putting their all into it. That comes from the coaching staff and their work ethic, showing us the right way to do things.
"We've put in a lot of work, especially in the weight room, and it's noticeable. But, to me, the big thing is we're all-in. It's all about how much you want something, and this season is something we very much wanted."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.