By: Brett Greenberg
Day two of the four-day Corky Kell Classic is headed to Dacula High School on Thursday, Aug. 19th with games three and four of the eleven game slate. Westlake will face Archer at 5:30 p.m. and Dacula plays Tucker at 8 p.m. Both Dacula and Tucker welcome in new head coaches while Archer and Westlake return the same staff as last season.. We checked in with all four teams following spring football to get a feel for where they were at and how there are approaching the 2021 high school football season.
Westlake
The Westlake Lions enter their third season with Bobby May as their head coach fresh off a final four finish (11-2). Coach May says this Spring was extremely important to get stronger in the weight room because he feels as if size/strength was the difference in the playoffs.
State passing leader Reginald Johnson is back under center after throwing three touchdowns in the spring game, the offensive line returns all five starters and will be blocking for senior running back Zina Mulbah who tallied two scores in the spring game. The defense is led by four-star CB and the #19 player in the class of 2023 for Georgia, Avieon Terrell. Senior DE Zion Young and DL Demareon Davis-Andrews fill up the middle for the defense.
The Lions have the same coaching staff as the past three years which creates continuity for the returning crop of players. All three of Westlake’s rivals will be on the schedule as well in Creekside, Mays and Langston Hughes.
“The first three weeks are all against perennial state contenders against Milton (preseason), Archer and Colquitt County, so it will be good to test our players and see where we’re at,” said May “We’re going to be a pretty good football team, but we might not be as flashy as before.”
Archer
The Archer Tigers completed the 2020 season reeling off six wins in the last seven weeks before losing in the first round of the playoffs to Milton. Coach Andy Dyer enters his 13th season looking for his fourth region title and first since 2017 with the Tigers. Looking to push the Tigers past the final four round (2018) is 3-star senior safety Caleb Wooden and first team all-region offense award winner DJ Moore. Moore is also ranked as a 3-star with offers from Georgia Tech, Maryland, Air Force and Pittsburgh. Wooden holds offers from Louisville, Georgia Tech, Duke and others.
The offense is commanded by junior quarterback Caleb Peevy and senior running back Chase Sellers. The Tigers have participated in the Corky Kell Classic every year since 2014 holding a 3-4 record with one of those wins coming against Tucker.
The 2021 schedule features three teams that Archer lost to in the 2020 season: Warner Robins, Grayson and Norcross. The Tigers will face Warner Robins and Grayson in back-to-back weeks after their season opener and will try to avenge the 31-14 loss to Norcross as well later in the season.
Dacula
The Dacula Falcons have a new head coach at the reins in Casey Vogt who kept a lot of the same coaching staff because as he knows, “there is a winning tradition and didn’t want to disrupt things as much.” Vogt took total advantage of an unknown roster in the Spring forcing different players to try different positions which created a sense of competition and gave Vogt a good idea of his roster makeup.
Overall, the Falcons have a very young roster led by Senior running back Kyle Efford who is the “heart of the team,” according to Vogt. The defense returns plenty of production on the defensive side of the ball with all three linebackers and get a year older in a secondary that featured only sophomores.
Vogt says this was one of the most productive Springs he has had and looks forward to getting his guys back together for summer workouts. The 2021 Falcons return their best player but are a very young squad.
Tucker
The Tucker Tigers welcome in new head coach James Thomson after Bryan Lamar took the South Gwinnett job. Lamar won four region championships in nine years at Tucker thus Thomson understands the winning tradition at the school. Thomson is in his fifth stint with a new program and says this was the most difficult transition, but also added the spring season was the best he’s coached.
Thomson is focused on becoming a better team and building that continuity and would not name an individual who has improved during the Spring. Quarterback Amir Streeter returns for his senior season after a good spring and coach Thomson says the players were fully engaged while implementing new schemes.
The 2021 Tigers look to get back to their winning ways as most of their roster is made up of seniors.
“My role is to build and improve upon the winning tradition,” said Thomson. “The kids are great, the administration is wonderful, we have all the ingredients to be a successful program.
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