Rebels ready to play both ways
50 Football Preview 2020
By GIL POUND
SPARTA, Ga. — John Hancock Academy head football coach Ricky
Worsham is not hoping for a repeat of last season in 2020.
The Rebels completed their 2019 campaign at just 3-8, but that
win-loss record isn’t as difficult to swallow when you learn that six
starters on a 20-player roster missed significant time due to injury.
Unexpected adjustments had to be made, and by the end of the
season John Hancock was dressing out only 15 guys while playing an
11-man football schedule. The Sparta school had participated in the
8-man version of the game for a few years, but last year was its third
getting back into the conventional product most fans are used to.
With just 16 players signed on for 2020, keeping players healthy
will be even more crucial than it was last season for the Rebels. Coach
Worsham, entering his third year at JHA, hopes last year’s trials can
serve his team on the field this season.
“One thing that did help from last year was we had some younger
kids that really weren’t going to get a lot of playing time, but had to
because of our injuries,” said Worsham. “I was real pleased with how
quick they came along, so I think that experience will really benefit us
this year.”
Based on the players who finished out 2019, John Hancock has
eight starters back on offense and a whopping 10 on defense. Many,
of course, will have to contribute on offense and defense and even
multiple positions on the same side of the football.
“I’ve told the kids that they’re going to have to know several positions
because we’re going to have to give some guys some breaks,”
Worsham said. “Everybody also needs to be ready in case a guy gets
banged up a little bit. We’ve got some kids that we can move around,
but we really concentrate on trying to get in good shape. You can
never run enough to get yourself in the shape you need to be in for
a football game. We talk about being ready often at practice, and so
far the team has responded well and pushed themselves.”
Offensively the Rebels will line up in multiple sets while mainly
operating out of the split-back and I-formations.