[JonInMiddleGA]

I guess I ought to at least thumbnail what I'm expecting from Athens Academy this year.

On paper things looked pretty tough. We go into the spring with no experience at QB at all, only one undersized RB, were looking at starting a freshman at MLB.

Meanwhile a D1 recruit RB transferred from a 4A school to one of our newest rivals (George Walton Academy) I don't see anybody in the region who can hope to stop him, most won't even be able to slow him down. Then our crosstown rival (Prince Avenue Christian) was coming off a final four appearance led by their coach's son who was region PotY last season ... except that LB/RB and two other starters withdrew from school after "violation of rules" (widely known to be drug related, it was withdraw or be expelled) and set them back considerably although they still return a lot of experience. Add in a rebuilding traditional powerhouse (Commerce) and the enigma of the dirtiest recruiting program in the state (Athens Christian) and it looked like a 5 team race for the post-season.

Confusing things further is the brand new public/private split that only applies to the playoffs. Instead of top 4 region finishers going into a 32 team playoff bracket, now it's region winners only guaranteed, with a "power rating" system to determine the at-large berths in each of the separate 16 team fields.

As so-so as our season looked in the summer, it might be at least a little brighter after watching the scrimmage against a bad but larger school last week. Just days before camp opened we got a big addition, a lightning fast basketball star whose parents are decidedly not thrilled with him risking his future playing football. He caught 2 TD's in the scrimmage, simple routes where he just outran everybody. With our all-state kicker (with remarkable speed) starting at the other WR, suddenly we become a team that looks a little dangerous offensively ... IF a thin OL holds up and IF the starting QB can learn on the job very quickly.