In small communities, those places where there is only one high school in the county, high school football is just different. It is the center of activity on Friday nights in the fall and no place is that more apparent than in Chattahoochee County.
In the past few years, the Panthers of Chattahoochee County have had some hard seasons. In 2014, the team went 6-5. Last year’s record of 3-7 (1-4 region), was another disappointment. ChattCo named a new coach, Drew Fowler, just prior to the end of the school year. He is a part of an entirely new coaching staff at the school which has plans to bring good times back to Panther Stadium.
One unique feature about ChattCo is that many students are military dependents. Sports programs at CHS benefit greatly from the talent that flows in from all parts of the country. It causes a flux in athletics because these same athletes sometimes transfer out, too.
Coaches adapt and focus on the year at hand. For Fowler, his program this year consists of 50 athletes, 7 are returning starters and four of those play both sides of the ball. Setting the foundation for Fowler’s team are Seth Jordan (QB/CB), Zac Nixon (OT), Kedrick Harvey (OT), Zac Farrow (RB/SS), Fletcher Jordan (WR/CB), Billy Wischnewsky (DL) and Trey Mafnas (WR/FS). Several of these key players are potential college prospects.
This is Fowler’s first experience as a head coach. He spent 16 years as an assistant coach allowing him to watch and learn. Because he has seen what works and what doesn’t, Fowler’s observation about his team’s greatest weakness is unexpected. Others might cite a young team, loss of key players, turnover in coaching staffs, etc. He says they need to continue to work on doing the little things right to reduce the number of mistakes that have been made in the past.
As far as the strengths of this team, Fowler again has a surprising answer.
“This is a close knit group of young men who work hard and enjoy playing the game. There are some really good returning players with some young guys to mix in to make a potentially good football team,” he says.
If Fowler had a theme for his team, it might quite possibly be “Do the right thing.” He cites that often in discussing his objectives and expectations of the Panthers. Breaking down his offense for the preview, Fowler says it’s multiplicity with simplicity and establishing a downhill running game to open the play action passing game. Also to be more physical than opponents in their gap scheme pro-style offense. For defense, again it will be multiple yet simple and stop the run first to make our opponent one dimensional. Slant and blitz to create confusion for the opposing offense and put them in long yardage situations to capitalize on big plays.
His three goals for his first season are to beat their rival, win the region, and get out of the first round and beyond. Sounding like a player’s coach, Fowler is looking forward to the first game of the season against Marion County, the Panthers’ rival. It isn’t a region game but it’s the first time the two teams have met in a few years. The matchup will take place on the Panthers’ home turf.
If the Panthers defeat the Eagles, Fowler will have accomplished his first goal. That should be a big start to charge up ChattCo fans looking for something to cheer about again.
“It will be an electric atmosphere to start our season,” says Fowler.
Chattahoochee County Panthers
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Written by Beth Welch
Photo by Hudl
