High 5 Sports Caravan Day 3
COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Day three of the High 5 Sports Football Caravan couldn’t have been more exciting as the fans of Cobb joined us on our ride through the County.
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The day got started early when the Warriors of North Cobb came out to play with us in the hallways and ended with the students of Walton and Wheeler fighting a Twitter war to see who could bring the most students to cheer on their teams at PRACTICE. That’s right, we said PRACTICE!
There were plenty of highlights in between, so hop on board and enjoy our third day on the road.
Here are the teams we visited:
Kell Longhorns
Our first stop on the Cobb County edition of Caravan was at the home of the Longhorns.
Kell High School hasn't been around that long, but they're already known for their explosive offense and competitive play in region 7-AAAAA. Derek Cook's team have a streak of three consecutive double-digit winning seasons, and they hope to add that elusive state title to their resume in 2015. The Longhorns open up the season against Carrollton in the annual Corky Kell Classic inside the Georgia Dome on Saturday.
Pope Greyhounds
After two straight losing seasons, the Pope Greyhounds hope to turn things around under first year head coach Kyle Adkins. The team and cheerleaders met our crew in front of the school and gave us a mini-pep rally, chanting "I believe that we will win" over and over until our guys believed them!
Pope opens up at home against Harrison this Friday night. If you haven't seen a game in person at Pope Stadium, you're missing one of the best student sections in the state.
Lassiter Trojans
The Trojans dedicated their field to Philip Lutzenkirchen last week. The former Lassiter and Auburn University tight end died tragically in a car accident last year, now his name will live on as the Trojans look to erase the memory of a one win season in 2014.
Head coach Jep Irwin's club opens up with the tough Hillgrove Hawks at home this Friday.
Sprayberry Yellow Jackets
Sprayberry head coach Billy Shackelford likes the talent on this year's team, even if they haven't been particularly sharp in preseason workouts. The Yellow Jackets suffered two devastating losses at the end of 2015 and narrowly missed the playoffs.
Running Back Trey Sermon will get the majority of the ink on the offensive side of the ball this season. Sermon is attracting attention from Georgia and Georgia Tech among others, and as recruiting season heats up, you'll hear his name mentioned a lot..
Walton Raiders
The Raiders had an uncharacteristically bad season under first year head coach Mo Dixon in 2014, but this year there's hope that the team can rebound from their 2-8 record. Walton brings back their entire starting offensive line and quarterback in 2015, so they'll have experience on their side when they open up with South Gwinnett on the road this Friday.
Wheeler Wildcats
Much of the Wheeler football student section met Cody Chaffins and Justin Felder on the practice field during our caravan stop.
Meanwhile Coach Michael Collins and his team gave them a show with a full speed practice!
They'll need to save some of that energy for a home game with Duluth on Friday.
North Cobb Warriors
High 5 Sports always gets a warm welcome in Acworth at the home of the North Cobb Warriors. Head coach Shane Queen is pumped up for the team's opener Friday night against perennial central Georgia power Northside-Warner Robins.
You can expect the usual high octane offense from the Warriors as they look to bring back the magic of the 2013 and 2013 seasons when Queen's son Tyler was behind center.
Harrison Hoyas
Head coach Matt Dickmann has posted back-to-back 5 win seasons at Harrison.
The goal this year is to make the playoffs in one of the state's toughest regions. During the offseason, the Hoyas put in the work in the weight room setting several team lift records.
They hope that toughness translates on the field, starting with the opener against Pope.
Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs
The last time the Mustangs posted a winning season was way back in 2008, so the task is a tough one this year with games against North Paulding, Hillgrove, McEachern and Marietta on the schedule.
When Ken Rodriguez visited the team on our caravan they were working hard in the weight room in preparation for the opener against Sprayberry.
Mt. Paran Christian Eagles
There's lots of excitement on the campus of the reigning single-A state champions as their new stadium is just days away from hosting its first football game. Sewell Stadium will be the site of the home opener against rival Whitfield Academy on August 28th, but head coach Mitch Jordan is focused on keeping his kids humble and hungry as they look to repeat in 2015. Jordan is the only head coach in the history of the school- he's coming off a perfect 14-0 season.
Pebblebrook Falcons
The final stop on our tour of Cobb County took us to the home of the Falcons at Pebblebrook High School in Mableton. Once again, K-Rod and photographer "Super Blaine" Kummet had to dodge major thunderstorms to watch practice with first year head coach Kevin Saunders. The Falcons open up with a Dekalb County's Miller Grove Wolverines next week. Saunders has a winning pedigree, taking Gretna High School in Virginia to a state championship back in 2011. Pebblebrook has won only five games over the past three seasons.
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Wednesday is the fourth and final day of the 2015 High5 Sports Football Caravan takes you on a ride through DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta. If you’re a fan of South Atlanta, Maynard Jackson, Grady, Douglass, B.E.S.T. Academy, Lithonia, Miller Grove, Dunwoody, Chamblee or St. Pius X high schools—make sure you join us. As always, follow along on social media using the hashtag #High5Sports.