Football Preview Union Recorder 2020 | Page 70

flying east in new region assignment By GIL POUND EATONTON, Ga. — The Putnam County War Eagles will be looking for their first winning season since 2015 when they take the field this year, but the program did take a big step in 2019. Putnam played its way to a 5-5 regular season record while going 4-3 against region competition, which was good enough to end a three-year postseason drought. “One of our goals is to be playing our best football at the end of the season and into the playoffs,” Putnam head coach Shaun Pope said. “Other than against Elbert County, I feel like we did that. We started the season 1-4 and finished 4-1. I thought we were playing our best football near the end.” Upon reaching the postseason, the War Eagles ran into an Atlanta area buzzsaw known as Hapeville Charter, but many of Coach Pope’s boys return in 2020 to try and get the team further than last year. In order to do that, Putnam will have to fight through an almost entirely new slate of region competition due to the recent GHSA realignment. The Eatonton school is set to become very well acquainted with Interstate 20 East with this year’s move to Region 4-AA, one almost exclusively made up of Augusta area schools. Jefferson County has held that region’s crown the last couple years. “It’s going to be a different look for us, but we’re excited about it,” said Pope. “Those Augusta schools are always athletic, so we’re looking forward to competing in this new region.” Oglethorpe County is Putnam’s lone region opponent holdover from recent years, but Pope has kept Monticello and Social Circle on the 2020 schedule as non-region foes. After the end of last season, the War Eagles got their offseason program rolling in January and was going strong into March when the COVID-19 pandemic closed school buildings, which slowed some progress. GHSA told its members that summer workouts could begin June 8, and Putnam took an extra week from that date to get all the supplies needed to create a safe workout environment. Pope, who is entering his third year as the War Eagle head, has been encouraged with what he’s seen since then. He’s expecting between 55 and 60 kids, which is right in line with the roster size carried a season ago. Team-wide the War Eagles return seven starters on offense and eight on defense, numbers that bode well for them as they aim to get back to the postseason and make a run. Putnam’s new region also seems to be working in the team’s favor. They’ve dropped powerhouses Rabun and Union County, and Jefferson County is their only new region opponent who has pieced together consecutive winning seasons in recent years. Coach Pope may have commented on his new region opponents’ number of athletes, but he’s got a fair number running around his practice field as well. The quarterback position is a question mark, though not due to ability. Three guys, a senior and two juniors, are vying for the starting job this preseason. Then-junior Waylon Wooten took first snaps at the outset of 2019 before Cedrion Brundage was handed the job. Those two are back and new to the mix is junior Gerald Kilgore, a transfer from nearby Baldwin High School who took a majority of the starting snaps for the 4A school last season. Asked to evaluate the trio based on what he’s seen during summer workouts, Pope said, “Looking at the tape, Cedrion and Gerald are a little more flashy, but Waylon’s a pretty good athlete himself in seeing him run around. Whoever shakes out as the starter, we feel comfortable with them leading the team on a Friday night.” The Putnam head coach added that the two who aren’t playing quarterback will still see plenty of the field as they’ve all practiced at positions other than the one behind center. When throwing, the quarterback will likely be looking to athletic wideouts Jalon Kilgore and Malik Thornton, a sophomore and junior, respectively. While those will be the main names fans see handling the football, Pope referred to a couple of his seniors playing other positions as the “backbone” of the team. Kaden Corbitt is the Mike linebacker on the Putnam defense and will come over to tight end occasionally. Brandon Unash anchors an offensive line he could play any position on. “They are both four-year guys in our program and are the leaders of this team,” Pope said of Corbitt and Unash. 70 Football Preview 2020