Washington County has had consecutive winning seasons since 2008 (according to GHSFHA.org) and last year was no different. Coach Joel Ingram led his team to an 11-2 record in 2012, losing a close game in the third round of playoffs to St. Pius X.
“(We need to) build upon what we did last year,” said Ingram about this year’s goals. “We changed some things from an organizational standpoint, the way we go about things in terms of our schemes will help us out. Also, every year is a challenge because you don’t mold your players to your offense, you mold your offense and defense to your players and it’s just a matter of matching up what we do based on what count we have.”
Last season, Washington County’s offense scored an average of 41 points per game. With the help of a new quarterback, A.J. Gray, who will run a multiple spread offense, the Golden Hawks will have a good chance of continuing the high scoring average. Gray was an all-state safety last year, and also was a first team all-state basketball player. He comes from an athletic family. His older sister, Alisha Gray, was an All-American basketball player and Gatorade Player of the Year last year and signed with University of North Carolina.
“He’s very dynamic with the ball in his hands and will do big things for us,” said Ingram about his QB.
Wide receiver Damion Sanders has college offers from UAB, Marshall and Middle Tennessee State. Running back Melvin Hill is another returning player for the Golden Hawks who, in the third-round playoff game against St. Pius X, had over 220 yards rushing and 1,233 total yards last year. Bryan Hypolite, cornerback and free safety, Logan Hunt, tight end and defensive end, and Will Calloway, middle linebacker and fullback, will each be a vital part of this year’s team.
The schedule this year will be similar to last season’s where Washington County begins with a tough set of teams before they start region play.
“We feel like playing a real tough schedule out of the gate, which will do nothing but prepare us for our region schedule,” explained Ingram.
Washington County will play both the Class A private and public champions in Eagle’s Landing Christian and Emanuel County Institute. These challenges will give the players a chance to prepare themselves for region play and another chance at the playoffs.
“The main reason of it [playing non-region schools] is because we’re such a small region,” said Ingram. “Schools like Thomson, Jefferson County, Swainsboro, and Dodge County all fall under a lot of the same problems that we do and have to schedule all these heavyweight teams because when you call someone to play, they do a second glance at you because they think the only reason you want to play them is because you think you could beat them. So, really, the only time when we call on someone to play is when we can play other really good teams.”
Washington County’s first game of the season will be played against ELCA on Aug. 23. The first region game will not be played until Oct. 11 against Jefferson County.
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