LAKEVIEW-FORT OGLETHORPE WARRIORS
Head coach: Bo Campbell (6-24 in three seasons here and overall)
Returning starters: 4 offensive, 4 defensive
Key players: DB Jacob King (6-2, 185), OL Dylan Simpson (6-0, 240), DB Christian Vaughn (6-2, 170), WR/DB Ruddy Ware (6-1, 170), RB/LB Nathan Williams (5-10, 220).
Team strengths: The running game featuring Williams, who rushed for 1,200 yards a year ago, should again be strong. The Warriors have more guys who can make plays in space, led by senior Ware and new starting receiver Zion Martin.
Team concerns: Replacing the production and leadership from graduated quarterback Zack Vaughn was a major preseason concern, but sophomore Malachi Powell won the job and now has to get up to speed quickly.
Newcomers to watch: Senior wide receiver and defensive back Giovanni Barroso is new to the program and brings with him, Campbell said, a much-needed package of speed and playmaking ability. Senior Deondre Rowe will spell Williams in the backfield at times.
Season outlook: On the climb to respectability, the first step is often the most difficult to navigate. For the Warriors, a program that had won a total of six games the previous four seasons, it came in mid-September.
Sitting at 1-4 and having lost to Armuchee, which did not win another game last year, LFO won 17-14 at Region 6-AAA foe Haralson County on a last-second field goal. That sparked a surprising four-game winning streak, including a 28-23 defeat of Catoosa County rival Ringgold.
"We struggled those first two years, 0-10 and 1-9, and there were some games we should have won if they had just believed," Campbell said. "They just didn't until it happened. The hardest part of it is the mental side of it. If you have a team that's been beaten a lot, it's difficult for them to believe. They have to see it first."
The confidence gained by a 5-5 season that finished one game shy of the postseason has, Campbell said, changed everything and will be the biggest difference this year, even for a team that graduated 25 players.
To take the next step, the Warriors must first plug some big holes, most notably at quarterback, where Powell will step in. He'll have solid playmakers around him, including senior running back Williams, but how a rebuilt offensive line performs likely will determine the team's fate.
The strength defensively is in the secondary, where Ware, Christian Vaughn, King and newcomer Barroso form an athletic group. The front seven features linebacker Todd Thornburg, who will be joined at times by Williams, and tackle Braxton Jones.