Torrents of sweat drip through the facemasks and ear holes of the Charlton County Indians as they begin the 2013 football practice in the Swamp in the sultry August heat. Pads sticking to their bodies, the Indians’ players couldn’t have imagined that 90 plus days later they would be playing for the Class A Public School State Championship on Saturday, in the Georgia Dome, December 7, 2013 at 11:30 am against Marion County.
The Indians are certainly no strangers to the Georgia Dome. Charlton County Head Coach Rich McWhorter led a team to the title in 1999. The Georgia Dome became the adjunct of the Swamp North when the Indians won three titles in a row in the mid-2000’s in Class AA.
Graduation and region changes and finally division changes have impacted Charlton County. Though the football team hasn’t been the state power they once were, Charlton’s baseball team won a state baseball title last spring and finished runner up in 2012.
Coming off of an uncharacteristic 5-6 season, McWhorter was unsure of what to expect from the 2013 season. The well wasn’t necessarily dry this season for the Indians, but the pump was still in the process of being primed.
“Finishing my junior year at 5-6 helped us come back strong the next year. Nobody wanted to have another year like that again, especially the veterans. We worked hard over the off-season going through summer workouts and camp. We were determined to have a better season than the year before, so it was kind of a momentum builder for the year to come,” Indians’ senior quarterback Trae Harrington says.
Sophomore running back Andrew Lee was expected to play a significant role in the Indians’ offense this season, but a broken arm derailed those plans.
“My career as a Charlton County quarterback has had ups & downs, but it’s been fun. Having the starting role for a little bit at the end of the season was a fun experience as a sophomore. Making it to the second round of the playoffs. And as each year passed I could feel myself getting better each year. Charlton County is a great place and a great community to play high school football. The coaches were really supportive and helped me to become a good quarterback,” Harrington says.
Charlton opened the season against rival Brantley but then hit a brick wall in the Indians’ annual contest against nearby AAAAA power Ware County. Ware dominated every phase of the football game blanking Charlton, 49-0.
The Indians learned the power of resilience, earning a 38-25 road victory against an upstart Bradwell Institute and then experienced its second loss of the season in a battle against traditional South Georgia power Fitzgerald.
Sitting 2-2 as the Indians went into region play, Charlton County started to show signs of life, winning five region games and setting up a showdown on November 8 against Irwin County.
Irwin County was considered one of the best teams in Class A this year and handed the Indians a heartbreaking 29-26 loss, forcing the Indians to become road warriors for the Class A state playoffs.
Though Harrington threw for 1,778 yards this season and also handled the punting duties, he got help when Lee returned to the lineup for the Indians after the midway point of the season. In six games played, Lee rushed for 985 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.
“I’d like to give everybody credit on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. As an offense, we built great chemistry with each other and were comfortable with what our plan was as a team. I’d also like to give our defense credit because they had faith in me and my offense,” Harrington says.
Charlton posted a first round win at Commerce which set up a trip across southwest Georgia to number one seed Seminole County. The Indians absolutely shocked everyone in the state, including themselves, shutting out the Seminoles, 42-0.
The next week Charlton got a chance that most teams never get—a chance to play a team that beat them just three weeks ago. Irwin County was the only thing that stood between Charlton and going back to the Georgia Dome. “We worked hard the week going into Charlton. The early part of the season obviously didn’t go how we wanted it to, but we hung in there and kept fighting. This gave us an opportunity to win some games, and the loss to Irwin made us a lot hungrier during the playoffs,” Charlton County Indians Head Coach Rich McWhorter says.
Ever the motivator, McWhorter came with a phrase that he sold to his team, and they adopted it and lived the idea of playing a “Great 48” during region play and the playoffs. “We knew if we could just play a great 48 minutes for ourselves, everything else would take care of itself, but we had to be great on both sides of the ball and special teams. We had been tested during the playoffs, having to play on the road. We were excited about getting a second chance at Irwin County,” McWhorter says.
Charlton’s second attempt would become part of the legend of Indian football. Lee rushed for 210 yards on 26 carries, scoring four touchdowns, the last one to retake the lead late in the fourth quarter. Irwin was on the ropes but still punched in another score in the final seconds of the game. Playing every minute and second of a great 48 minutes, the Indians blocked the extra point, securing a 34-33 victory and a trip to the Class A Public School title game at the Georgia Dome. Later the Indians would learn that their opponent would be Marion County, who was the team that put Charlton out in the second round the previous year.
“Probably the biggest difference maker was being able to run the ball. Sophomore running back Andrew Lee helped out our offense a lot with our game plan going into the game. And our defense stepped up big to the challenge of playing a team as good as Irwin, and we were really determined and focused on what we needed to do to win,” Harrington says.
Though it had been a few years since the Indians entered the Dome Week practice, Charlton settled into the week like the veteran program it’s been under McWhorter for the last 24 years. Though wide-eyed as any other team, the different turf, outline of the NFL hashes, the mere size of the Georgia Dome didn’t affect the Indians the way it did some teams in their first trip.
“We hit dome week, and at that point the way the season had gone, we were over the awe that usually hits teams. We started the week with preparing to win the game not just to be there,” McWhorter says.
This trip to the dome was even more special for McWhorter, because his daughter was a senior cheerleader and wanted the opportunity to cheer for her school and her Dad’s team in the Georgia Dome. “She started asking me last summer about being able to cheer in the Dome, and I told her I just don’t know because it’s tough to get there, and I didn’t know how good we were going to be. It was great for her to be able to realize her dream,” McWhorter says.
McWhorter’s even keel philosophy towards the state championship game was shared by his players. “Practicing for the dome was fun. We had a really focused and
determined week of practice. And we, as the seniors, were just trying to tell our guys that this was just another game on another football field, and we just had to go out there, have fun, and do what we’ve been doing,” Harrington says.
The Indians prepared and boarded the buses for the trip north to Atlanta on Friday morning. “Just being in the dome was an awesome feeling. Walking the field and getting dressed in the locker rooms was almost unreal. Then you run out of the tunnel before the game, and you’re just like wow. It was truly amazing just to be in the dome and getting to play for the state championship,” Harrington says.
Since the teams had played before, a twitter and social media war ensued during dome week. Both sides were expecting a large ground game from Lee and Marion County’s double threat running attack of Johnny Royal and Lorenzo Smothers.
The game’s deciding factor was the kicking game. Charlton’s only points came off a 25-yard field goal from Thomas Johnson, giving the Indians their only lead in the first quarter.
Marion County tied the game 3-3 in the second. The Eagles’ punter A.J. Wells nailed punt after punt, forcing the Indians deep into their own territory. One of those punts put Charlton in such a hazardous field position, Marion was able to record a safety in the third quarter for a 5-3 lead.
The Eagles put the game away in the fourth quarter, scoring their only touchdown. It was the eighth time that Marion had held a team to a touchdown or less this season. Marion has only been playing football for eight seasons.
Charlton will return several underclassman at key positions on both sides of the ball. “I know people have talked about the future of this team, and it looks good. This senior group that I have had this year, they have worked hard their entire careers, and I am so proud of them to see how they got here this year. I am going to miss this bunch,” McWhorter says.
written by: John Wood
Photography by: Tammy Bell
Excellent article, great pics. GO INDIANS!!