>> GMC PREP
The Georgia Military College Prep (GMC Prep) football team finished the regular season strong after traveling to Jeffersonville and defeating Twiggs County 47-6 last Thursday night. The win marked the team’s third in its last four games and pushed the Bulldogs into the first round of the state playoffs after finishing the year 3-2 in their region.
Head coach Lee Coleman acknowledged that the contest started slow but that he was proud of the way both his offense and defense turned it on after the first quarter.
“Offensively, we played well most of the game. Defensively, we needed to get off the field more in the first quarter, at least,” said Coleman. “That’s why it was only 7-0, because we only had one possession offensively. They had most of the possession then, but otherwise we played well, and eventually started to get turnovers and stops which were the keys to the game.”
Heading into the second quarter is when GMC Prep decided to put more pressure on Twiggs County. The Cobras would score once in that period, but the Bulldogs scored 26 of its own and led 33-6 at halftime. The second half saw the same type of dominance and the Bulldogs scored a touchdown in each quarter to eventually win by a 41-point margin. The victory over the Cobras was the Bulldogs’ first and only win on the road this season and secured a spot in the first round of the state playoffs after finishing as the fourth seed in Class 1A Division II Region 5.
Looking ahead to this Friday, GMC Prep will have to face Schley County, which went undefeated in its region this year, and Coleman understands the difficulty of the task in front of them.
“We’re going against a big, physical Schley County team, but I wouldn’t consider us a typical four seed. The record may show it; however, we started figuring out how to play football towards the end of the season,” said Coleman. “That primes us for this matchup. We’re facing a No.1 seed, and they’re a good football team with some Division I recruits.”
As mentioned, the Wildcats feature two collegiate-level players in five-star linebacker Zayden Walker and four-star athlete Jalewis Solomon. Both players are being looked at by schools like the University of Georgia and could cause problems for the Bulldogs this Friday. The Bulldogs have only played the Wildcats four times in the two programs’ histories, and Schley County has won the last three. No matchup in this series has ever been decided by less than 21 points, but neither team has faced the other in the playoffs, which could lead to a closer contest. Regardless of how overwhelming the moment might be, Coleman believes that moments like these bring greatness at the next level.
“I tell the guys that I think could be Division I players that this is your opportunity and your moment to go be one of those types of players,” said Coleman. “If you think you deserve all the shine and glory, then you need to go out and go prove it. We need to go play our brand of football and not try to do too much, and we’ll compete and see what happens.”