School always came a little easy for Austin Cain. He knew he wanted to make good grades, but it was never anything he really had to work that hard to achieve. All Cain had to do was manage his time, make sure he didn’t forget anything, and the grades came pretty easy. He was such a good student that a friend nominated him for a scholarship to Deerfield-Windsor several years ago. After learning of his nomination, Cain took the test and qualified for the scholarship. He was a sophomore when he made the transition, and that is when things began to change.
As soon as he set foot on the Deerfield-Windsor campus as a student, the “easy” part of school became a thing of the past. “Once I got to Deerfield-Windsor, I had to develop good study habits,” Cain said. “It was much harder here. It took a few weeks to adjust but I made it.”
The academic environment at Deerfield-Windsor is different – tougher coursework, smaller classes, faster pace, and more individual attention from teachers. It’s a recipe for academic achievement, and one that Cain readily devoured.
“It didn’t take long to see that I had to do things differently,” he said. “The teachers move faster but it’s easier to develop relationships with the teachers because of the smaller classes. But I still knew I had to make some changes.”
It didn’t help that Cain plays football in the fall and he’s on the track team in the spring. With the exception of a few weeks early in the second semester, he plays sports year-round. So, not only does he have to keep up with a demanding academic load; he also has to balance that with a demanding athletic schedule.
The Knights have a strong program – they won a state title in 2012 and went to the semifinals last year – so he plays football through most of the first semester. Despite the obvious challenges of attending school at Deerfield-Windsor and maintaining a good grade point average, Cain says it’s not hard to keep everything in balance. “It’s not too difficult. All you have to do is set your priorities and keep them in order,” he said.
While he has excelled under Deerfield-Windsor’s academic program, he has done the same thing on the football field. During the 
state title run of 2012 – his first year with the Knights – he was primarily a special teams player. Last year, he started at linebacker and totaled 118 tackles, two interceptions, and three sacks on a team that went to the semifinals of the playoffs. This year, he would like to leave Deerfield-Windsor with another state championship.
“Every player in Georgia wants to win a state title,” he said. “I’m no different. I got a feel for a championship when I was a sophomore. That feeling never goes away, and I’d like to win one as a senior.”
For the 2014 season, Austin Cain is getting to play a little on offense at the fullback position. Linebacker will always be his top position, but he enjoys mixing it up on the offensive side of the ball as well. At the time of this writing (two games into the season) the Knights were 1-1, and Cain had already scored two touchdowns. “They didn’t let me play much offense last year. But I’m getting to this year. I get to play fullback some and it’s fun,” he said.
Two years ago, the state title team had tremendous senior leadership. The seniors set a tone for the rest of team and encouraged the underclassmen to do their best every practice and every game. Cain wants to be that kind of leader and he knows he – and the rest of the seniors – will have to exhibit those same leadership qualities if they are going to be the last team standing in the GISA’s 3A classification. “It’s going to take that same kind of leadership,” he said. “I want to be a leader like our seniors were two years ago.”
When the season ends – whenever that may be – Cain hopes he will get to continue playing in college. He has some aggressive career goals – he plans to major in biology and would like to be an orthopedist – but he would also like to find time to play football on Saturdays. The 6’0,” 215-pounder has made tremendous progress from a year ago. He has gained 25 pounds and dropped his 40-yard dash time to 4.6 seconds. Cain is eying Georgia Tech; the Jackets haven’t offered him a scholarship, but have encouraged him to attend school as a preferred walk-on. “This is just my third year playing football. When I started playing, I realized just how much I love it, and I don’t want it to stop. I really like Georgia Tech, but I’m still not sure. I would like to play football in college, though,” he said.
Favorites:
• Football player: Patrick Willis
• Sport you wish you could play: Basketball
• Super power: Super speed
• Person to meet: Rev. John MacArthur
• What animal reminds you most of you: Gorilla
• Subject: Science
• Best movie of the last year: When the Game Stands Tall
South Georgia/Academic Athlete/October 2014
Austin Cain
Deerfield-Windsor Knights
Albany, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Knights linebacker leads in classroom and on field
