Coming off of an impressive 10-3 season during which Brooks County went a perfect 6-0 in region play, the Trojans will look to continue to establish themselves as one of the best teams in AA. After falling in the team’s two opening games in 2015, the Trojans caught fire, winning 10 consecutive games before bowing out of the postseason in the Round of Eight at the hands of Greater Atlanta Christian.
This season, coach Maurice Freeman will hope that leaders such as DB Jarrious Rose, RB Jonathan White, and LB Kendrick Wade will help fill in the void left by the graduation of quarterback Demontay Jones, who was the heart and soul of the Brooks offense, if not the team, in 2015. However, outside of a few star players, Brooks County will boast a roster without much experience entering the new season.
“We’re trying to work 100 miles an hour to get ourselves prepared because we’re so young,” Freeman said of his team’s offseason preparation. “These guys are eager to play. They’ve been working their butts off and I think they’re tough, strong, and fast, we’re just young mentally. We only have six seniors, so we’re just really starting over fundamentally and getting these young kids ready to do battle with some older high school teams.”
Despite the fact that Brooks lost a significant amount of offensive production from 2015, including Nate Vick, who had been the team’s top receiving option for the last several seasons, an odd early-season schedule could afford Maurice Freeman some extra time to figure out what works best offensively and defensively for his team.
After opening the season a week late on August 19 against Cook, the Trojans will have a bye week before facing Clinch County, one of only three teams to defeat Brooks County in 2015, on the road on September 2. Freeman’s team will then have yet another bye week before playing its third game of the season on September 16 versus Pierce County.
When asked if there were any games on his schedule that he was especially looking forward to, laughing, Freeman said, “We’re always looking forward to the Fitzgerald game. They are absolutely loaded, so that’s going to be a huge one for us.”
The Trojans have proven on numerous occasions over the past several seasons that size and number of players has nothing to do with talent, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Quitman’s team turn in another season of exceeded expectations. With expanded roles out of the backfield for Sutton and White, expect the Trojans to be solid yet again.
Brooks County Trojans
Trojans Seek To Continue Winning Ways
Written by Jacob Dennis
Photo by Hubby Brooks
