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