One thing that has become the norm in November for the Peach County community has been Trojan football and the state playoffs.
As head coach Chad Campbell and his coaching staff prepare to play Burke County for the state title Saturday at the Georgia Dome, his team will be the 21st consecutive Trojan team that has continued playing after the regular season and gone to the state playoffs.
But it was not always this way for Trojan fans. Peach County High School came into existence in 1970 after desegregation was federally mandated in the South. Two separate schools were consolidated, and there now was only one football team -- the Peach County Trojans.
The decades of the 1970s and 1980s would not be kind to the Trojans in terms of playoff appearances or wins. Although Peach County would boast some great players during that time -- including NFL players such as all-pro linebacker Greg Lloyd of the Pittsburgh Steelers and running back Pete Johnson, who had a great career primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals, among others -- the Peach County Trojans just could not seem to turn the corner in terms of playoff victories or region championships.
In fact, the most wins the football team had during those two decades was seven. The first region championship and playoff win did not come until 1991 when the Trojans finished with 11 wins and two losses under head coach Neal Rumble.
You have to go all the way back to 1990 when the Peach County Trojans last failed to make the state playoffs. This is where the story begins.
The 1990 Peach County football team finished with a school record at the time of nine wins and one loss and failed to qualify for the state playoffs, thus failing to gain the notoriety or recognition they so deserved for laying the foundation of one of the best high school football programs in the state of Georgia.
The Peach County Trojans, Kendrick Cherokees and Baker Lions all finished the season tied with nine wins and one region loss during the 1990 season. The region tiebreaker was wins against AAA opponents, and one of Peach County’s non-region wins was against Turner County, which was at that time in AA classification. The Trojans were out of the playoffs by virtue of the tiebreaker.
The Trojans lost only one regular season game during the 1990 season, and that was at home at Anderson Stadium to Howard “Buzz Busby’s” Kendrick Cherokees. The Trojans defeated Baker High School, a team from Columbus and a school that would be closing its doors the next year, by a score of 9-8 on the last play of the game in a thriller on penetration in overtime on the great catch and run by senior Trojan Kelvin Hill.
Dan Ragle’s Baker team boasted a defense that gave up only 42 points in 13 games and was led by linebacker Frank Watts, who went on to have an excellent career at the University of Georgia, and defensive back Chris Shelling, who would eventually play for the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons. The Baker High team finished the year with a record of 12 wins and two losses, falling in the state quarterfinals.
Peach County coaching staff and players knew with three remaining regular season games remaining, the only way the Trojans could get into the playoffs would be if Kendrick could beat Baker. After playing both Kendrick and Baker, the players and coaches knew it would take a miracle for Kendrick to beat Baker. The Baker team was just that strong.
Kendrick and Baker played on Nov. 3, 1990, with Baker winning as expected 16-7. None of the Peach County coaches or players ever talked about the ramifications of that game or the “what ifs.” It was as if it just was not meant to be.
Seniors such as Charlie Polmatier at center; Ernest Harris at quarterback; Brent Solomon, who was later a four-year starter for Furman; Gerald Walker, who rushed for more than a 1,000 yards in only 10 games for the second time in his high school career; and linebacker Shay Williams, who would go on to have an outstanding career at Valdosta State, deserved to play in the playoffs.
The Peach County Trojans played their 10th and final game of the season at home against Spencer High School on Nov. 9, 1990. The Spencer High team featured a sophomore running back named Moe Williams, who would eventually be a Parade All-American and Georgia High School Player of the Year before his high school career was over and go on to shatter Kentucky rushing records and enjoy a 10-year NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Trojans won this game 68-14, and Williams never crossed the goal line that night. In fact, Williams never crossed the goal line for a touchdown in his career playing for Spencer and competing against the Trojans, which speaks volumes about the kind of defense fans are used to seeing from Peach County.
That November night was something I never experienced nor was it ever duplicated in my 16 years of coaching high school football in Georgia at good programs such as Camden County, Dodge County and Wayne County. I have never witnessed a football team more focused or ready to play than the team that took the field that particular night.
The Trojans were peaking and primed for the state playoffs, but they would not be going to the dance. The players responded and played like they were playing for a championship, and this would be their playoff game.
A fog rolled in during the second half, and it was eerie to say the least. There was no jubilation, patting each other on the backs or celebrations on the sideline.
The Trojans just took care of business, and the seniors knew it would be the last game of their high school careers. The entire Peach County football team seemed to take out their frustrations on a visiting team, and they were relentless. When the coaches began subbing for starters in the second half, the substitutes would not let up either.
As a coaching staff, we had to call time out twice in the second half inside the 10-yard line and tell the backup quarterback to fumble the football, tell the players not to recover it, so as not to score and humiliate our opponent. The final score was Peach County 68 and Spencer 14. After the game, there was no crying or long speeches from coaches, the players just put up there equipment and went home.
The whole experience of the 1990 season formed the catalyst that would change the environment for future Trojan football players and formed the basis of the winning playoff tradition the Peach County, coaches, players and community now expect. The returning players decided it was time to take the program to the next level, and the rest is history.
The character and work ethic exemplified by the 1990 Peach County Trojans show the qualities high school coaches try to instill in their players on a daily basis. Starting with the students who entered in 1991, there has not been a senior class to graduate from Peach County High that has not experienced going to the football playoffs all four years of high school -- now that is pretty impressive.
Daryl Fineran coached football and taught at Peach County High School for seven years during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He currently is the director of student services for Evans County schools in Claxton.
archived 4 Jul 2013 06:52:11 UTC
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