Young
Tigers
looking
to grow
in 2020
By GIL POUND
GREENSBORO, Ga. — Greene County head football coach Larry
Milligan acknowledges that the 2019 season was not up to the
standard set during either of his two tenures with the school.
The Tigers finished 2-8 last year, making it only the program’s
second losing season in Milligan’s nine combined years at the
helm. His first go-round from 2002-08 was filled with playoff
runs, including a trip all the way to the state semis in 2005. He
brought some of that magic back upon his 2018 return when
Greene County won region and reached the quarterfinals. But
losing a lot of key guys from that ’18 campaign coupled
with some player discipline issues largely made
2019 a year to forget. The Tigers enjoyed only
one Friday night victory, a 49-9 homecoming
romp over GMC Prep, while the other came
via forfeit.
“We knew it was going to be a tough year,”
Milligan said looking back. “We had a very
small senior class that ended up going
through some discipline issues and didn’t
finish the season with us.”
The GC head coach went on to say that his
team will be very young again this year.
Of the 30 or so players expected on the
roster, only six are juniors or seniors
(four seniors, two juniors). Ask any
coach and they would say those
numbers aren’t exactly favorable,
but the hope is that the program
can begin building toward something
special.
“In probably two or three years we’re
going to be pretty good again,” Milligan
said. “We’re excited about those ninthand
10th-graders because we think they’re
going to be really good players. It’s going to
be a struggle again this year, but I think we’ll
start picking it up pretty good.”
On the field, the Tigers employ a hybrid wing
T and will mix in some shotgun. Taking the
snaps will be sophomore QB Arkiyus Wright who
started a few games toward the end of last season after
Milligan removed some of his players from the team.
Wright’s youth is part of the reason the GC head feels good about
the program’s future.
“He’s a good student in the classroom,” the head coach said.
“He’s a smaller guy at probably 5-8, 155 to 160 pounds, but he
moves real well. He’s a good leader and good worker for us.”
Behind Wright will be senior fullback Devyn Giles, who like the
young quarterback, stepped up in 2019’s later weeks.
Defensively the Tigers run a 4-3, and thanks to a few returners
it’s the side of the ball that has Coach Milligan a little more excited
for 2020.
“I think our team will mostly be built around our defense. We
won’t be big at all, but we can definitely run.”
Cornerback Qua Bolden along with linebackers Kentarius Reid
and Johnny Kilpatrick are the players to watch on that unit.
78 Football Preview 2020