Today’s interviewee is Dutchtown coach Niketa Battle, whose team is 5-0 in Battle’s first season with the Bulldogs. Dutchtown defeated Warner Robins 14-7 last week in the first Region 2-5A game for both teams. Battle coached the previous six seasons at Mays, where he won three region titles. Dutchtown is a Henry County school that has reached the football playoffs the past five seasons and reached the quarterfinals in 2018 and 2019 with current Alabama star Will Anderson.

1. What was the significance of the victory over Warner Robins for your team? “We knew if we competed with Warner Robins midseason, it would be the clear indication that we’re heading in the right direction for the reminder of the season.”

2. Are you surprised that your team is 5-0? “Not surprised at all. The challenge for our coaches and players was to work extremely hard during the spring and summer months. Players had to learn the new systems that we implemented for the season. Everyone took the challenge, and this is the fruits of our labor.”

3. What attracted you to the Dutchtown job? “The Dutchtown job was always under the radar for me. I live in Henry County, not too far from the Dutchtown community. The program has been highly competitive over the last five seasons. So the thought was always lingering in my head, what an honor it would be to be able to coach in the area you live in. And principal Nicole Shaw has built an excellent culture of academic success at Dutchtown. Also, Coach Fedd [former coach Clifford Fedd, now at Sumter County] did a remarkable job laying the foundation of a blue-collared work mentality. The players love the grind of getting better. This has made the transition of building on the foundation fairly easy.”

4. What was the main thing that you felt you and your staff needed to do at Dutchtown? “The program has been striving and on the brink of becoming a contender of later-round playoff games. There were minor changes that we made as a staff. A new offensive coordinator [Terrone Owens] and defensive coordinator [Michael Bell] had to make their philosophies mend with what has previously led to the success of program. Some verbiage changed, and new packages were implemented. This was done after self-scouting to improve our overall success on both sides of the football. We are harping on finishing. As cliché as it may sound, that’s what the program needed more of. Our coaches and players have now continued to build on the abilities of focusing, attacking and finishing.”

Today’s interviewee is Colquitt County coach Sean Calhoun, whose team is 4-0 and ranked No. 3 in Class 7A entering an off week. Colquitt defeated Lee County 48-27 last week. Calhoun was the offensive coordinator for the Packers’ 2014 and 2015 state championship teams and returned to Moultrie this season.

1. What was the best thing that you did in the Lee County game? “The No. 1 thing was fight. Up to that point, we hadn’t faced much adversity outside of the weather. We hadn’t been down. We led in the first three games. We got down early to Lee County, and we knew it was a team that wasn’t going to quit. We needed a test. We were punching, and they were punching. And it was our first true road game. So it was a win, there was some adversity, and we won on the road. It checked a lot of boxes.”

2. Colquitt County has a pair of juniors committed to Georgia. What are the skill sets of wide receiver Ny Carr and tight end Landen Thomas? “Ny has elite speed and elite hands. He’s a good route runner. He possesses a giant wingspan, and for quarterbacks, that’s very friendly. You may not have to put the ball perfectly where he is. But Ny has that home run ability with his speed. We used the Catapult system [which monitors players’ in-game speed] against Lee County last week, and he got above 22 mph, so he’s elite. Landen, goodness, his skill set overall is good when you talk about an in-the-box player. Whether it’s pass blocking or run blocking, he’s really good at that. Then when we flex him out, he can be a matchup problem because he’s so big and strong. The other night he caught for 148 yards. There were a couple of plays where he got into the open field, and he’s so hard to tackle because he’s so much bigger than the defensive backs. He brings an element that I’ve never had as a tight end.”

3. You’re a former Colquitt County assistant, spending two years on the staff in 2014 and 2015. What did you learn from that stint and from head coach Rush Propst that helped you the most? “That was the No. 1 reason that I took the job, to learn, because we were at a place at Collins Hill where me and my wife were happy with a great house and neighborhood and awesome school, and we had done really good there. I started going on some head coaching interviews and came up short on a handful. Professionally, I thought I needed something on the resume, and I thought Coach Propst was one of the best at knowing how to run a program. I learned X’s and O’s too, but my main goal was to learn from him on everything from dealing with parents to weight training to his nutrition program. I’d go talk with him a lot and ask questions and see how he set up a yearly plan for the team, just the day in and day out of how to run a big-time Class 7A program. If I don’t come down here and learn that, there’s no way that we’re successful up there at Carrollton.” [Carrollton was Calhoun’s first head-coaching job. He led the Trojans to five straight quarterfinal appearances.]

4. What have you and your staff set out to do that’s tailored to what you felt was needed at Colquitt County based on your prior experience here? “To me, it wasn’t what I did after I got the staff. It was getting the correct staff, one that would fit this community and these kids because I’ve coached in Gwinnett County where I’m from, I’ve coached in Birmingham, I’ve coached in South Georgia. They’re all different. You’ve got to know where you are, and that was my No. 1 most important thing. I think I’ve got a great blend of young coaches and more experienced ones. We’ve got five guys that used to play here. I felt we needed great role models and male figures to be in the players’ lives. We’ve got some kids that don’t have that. And they need to be really good football coaches because we need to be competing for state and region titles. That’s the monster we’ve built here.” [The former Colquitt County players on staff are offensive line coach Bryce Giddens, inside linebackers coach Bull Barge, tight ends coach Kiel Pollard, receivers coach Quin Roberson and ninth-grade coach Ian Brinson. Offensive coordinator John Cooper and defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell were on the staff with Calhoun in 2014 and 2015.]

Today’s interviewee is Carver of Atlanta coach Darren Myles, whose team is 3-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 3A entering its game Friday at No. 1 Buford of Class 7A. Carver is coming off its best season in more than 50 years with a runner-up 3A finish to Cedar Grove in 2021. Myles is in his 18th season as Carver’s head coach.

1. What are the circumstances behind your decision to take on Buford? “We needed to find seven non-region games, and we were having trouble getting people to play us, even with the number of players we lost off last year’s team. We were looking at playing only seven or eight total games. It just so happened that Buford posted that they had an opening for the 16th. I talked it over with the staff. We were looking at playing Buford, or not playing Buford and having only eight games. We need the work. We can’t afford to have all these bye weeks. I know it’s playing the No. 1 team in the state and one of the top teams in the nation, but we’ve got one of the top teams in the nation in our region, Cedar Grove. What better way to get prepared for Cedar Grove, and Sandy Creek as well.”

2. How do you frame expectations with your team? “What do we have to lose besides the game? We have everything to gain. If we play well, our confidence is high. If we don’t play well, people are going to expect that anyway. It’s Buford. Our guys understand it’s a non-region game and that we find very competitive opponents, not just teams that give us a victory. You can become overconfident beating up on people and thinking you’re better than you are and then sitting home after the first round of the playoffs. The environment at Buford is going to be electric. They’ve got highly recruited players with all the stars by their name. That’s as close as we’re going to get to playing a team in the playoffs.”

3. For those who haven't seen your team, how would you describe it? “Our strength on offense is clearly the passing game because we have an outstanding quarterback, Bryce Bowens, and two outstanding wide receivers, Zyeek Mender and Deandre Buchannon, who had outstanding championship games last year. We’re able to run the ball to keep teams honest. On defense, we are fast, athletic and physical. We still have one of the best defensive guys, Aquantis Clemmons. He’s a valedictorian, as well. Our perimeter guys feel like they can match up with anybody in the state.”

4. Two Atlanta city schools are highly ranked right now, Carver and South Atlanta, both in the top five of their classifications. What's the secret to building and sustaining good football in Atlanta? “It starts with development. We’re not fortunate to have the feeder system that larger schools and some smaller ones have. We don’t have junior Panthers. So it’s up to the coaches to develop them from the JV up. Then it’s retention. We try to keep the players that come into our program. The next thing is to have a positive culture where they trust each other and the coaches. It’s easy to trust the coaches because I’ve been here 18 years, and it’s the same with the assistants. They know we can go somewhere else, but we’re staying here. We’re going to give them our heart. Then the biggest thing is administrative support. That starts on campus with the principal, and you can’t have two teams in the top 10 and not give Jasper Jewell [district athletic director] credit, too. They provide us with the things we need to have to be successful.”

Today’s interviewee is Early County coach Joel Harvin, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the new Class A Division II after a 4-0 start. Early County had played in Class 2A since 1984, and in recent years, the Bobcats competed in a region with 2021 state finalists Fitzgerald and Thomasville and sometimes with Brooks County. This season, the southwest Georgia school was assigned to the class for the GHSA’s smallest schools.

1. What does the creation of Division II mean for your school and those your size? What were your thoughts when it came about in reclass and why you support it? “I think the creation of Division II is great for the smaller schools in that it creates a more equally competitive league throughout the state. I think the GHSA had to act because of the large number of private schools still left in the association, and I believe they got it right. I would still like to see a competitive-balance formula used for all schools, though, much like the Alabama High School Athletic Association uses, in that if a school dominates in one sport and is continually winning or playing for a state championship, then that school gets bumped up in classification in just the sport they are succeeding in. This gives other schools a chance to play for a state championship for a few years.”

2. Early is ranked No. 1 this week for the first time since 1994. How do you feel about that? Does it require you to discuss with your team the outside attention you might be getting? “I think it is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it shows just how much our kids have bought in and worked through the offseason and that their hard work has paid off. It's also a curse because kids can be overconfident, and if they have never been in that situation before they may not be ready for what's to come. We will only get the best from the teams we play from here on out, and the target on our back has gotten to be pretty big. We will discuss making sure to keep our heads on straight and to carry ourselves like we are the No. 1 team in the community, classroom, and at practice.”

3. For those who haven't seen your team play, how would you describe your team, its style and identity? “We pride ourselves on being physical. Our coaches and players have bought into the concept to be the last man standing at the end of the fight and never give in. We play four full quarters of physical football, and our seniors have played against some really good physical football teams throughout their careers like the Fitzgeralds, the Thomasvilles, the Bleckleys. Our defense has played solid all year being in the right spot and making tackles, and we hope to get our main running back Ty Stovall back pretty soon. He has been recovering from a preseason injury.”

4. Not many Division II teams are still undefeated. You've got to play Irwin and Brooks and other good teams. Is it almost better not to be undefeated going into the playoffs if you have legit hopes of winning the state title in this class? “Well because of how everything fell with the reclassification [Early was originally slotted for Division I until winning an appeal to go to Division II], we had most of our schedule set and ended up having most of our region games first with our non-region games being last. I wanted to use the non-region games to give us a tune up for the playoffs, so I scheduled what I think are some of the best teams in two states in those three games. Brooks, Eufaula (Ala.) and Irwin will definitely give us a good look at what we need to fix heading into the playoffs.”

Today’s interviewee is Cedartown coach Jamie Abrams, whose team defeated Calhoun 21-7 on Friday, improved to 4-0 on the season and moved to No. 1 in the Class 4A rankings. It’s Cedartown’s highest ranking since 1995. Cedartown is 23-5 with two region titles in Abrams’ three seasons.

1. What did you do well vs. Calhoun that gave you the edge? “We were able to make a couple of big plays on offense and forced some turnovers on defense. Calhoun is a great program and has been for a long time. We have nothing but respect for them and knew it was going to be tough to go there and come out with a win.”

2. Your team is ranked No. 1 in some polls, including ours. How do you feel about that, and how do you handle that attention with your players? “We want to be 1-0 each week. We don't really talk about it.”

3. For those who haven't seen your team, what could they expect? “They will see a lot of kids who grew up in Cedartown who have been playing together since they were young who play for each other.”

4. You made the semifinals last season and lost to runner-up Carver by one point. What impact did last year's finish have on this year's team? “We all remember how bad it hurt. We know we can't change the past but can control how we go about our business moving forward.”

Today’s interviewee is Central Gwinnett coach Larry Harold, whose team is 4-0 in his first season. That Central’s best start since 1984. Harold had been Cedar Shoals’ offensive coordinator when he took the Central job. He has been a head coach at Americus-Sumter, Central in Macon, Brunswick and Macon County.

1. Is this where you expected your team to be at this point of the season, and what’s the most important thing that you and your staff have done to make things better? “I'd be lying if I said I expected us to be 4-0. Central had only won two games in the previous two years, many of the starting players transferred to other schools within the county, and the morale of the staff/players was extremely low. Taking over my fifth program, I usually expect a slow start as both coaches and players take a while to buy into the new demands and culture created by a new head coach. However, at Central Gwinnett, our administration has been very supportive, the teaching staff has gotten behind us, and the coaches and players have done everything that we have asked of them.

“The biggest thing I think our staff has done is let our kids know that despite what the scoreboard says, they are winners in life. I am a big proponent that outside circumstances don't define you, but your character, discipline and hard work can change your life's position. Our staff is a collection of great men and role models who pour into our boys and care for them with ‘tough love.’”

2. What is your team doing on the field that’s made a difference? “The key to our 4-0 start has been our defense, led by defensive coordinator and Georgia alumnus Shed Wynn, who has our defense giving up a mere 62 points in four games for a 15.5 point per game avg. Last season's Black Knight defense gave up 31.1 points per game. We also have an outstanding kicker in Michael Sarmiento, who is averaging 45 yards a punt, has kicked a 37-yard field goal this season and is 8-for-11 in PATs and kicked two kickoffs into the end zone vs. Habersham. Offensively, we are able to control the clock running the football, especially late in games, which helps our defense stay fresh. Also, we've scored 94 points already this season (23.5 pts. per game) vs. last season's team that scored 62 points the entire season. All three facets of the game, defense, special teams and offense, have come together to give us our best start since 1984.” [Harold added, ‘’We are not a very big team physically. However, we are very feisty, play aggressively and try to remain fundamentally sound in every contest.”]

3. What did you see at Central Gwinnett to make you go after the job? “I honestly was not interested in the Central Gwinnett job. I have always been a middle Georgia/south Georgia football coach, and working in the metro area really didn't appeal to me. I got a call from a fellow coach who asked me if I'd be interested in speaking with A.D. Jason Carrera about the position, and I agreed. After speaking with Jason and our principal, Mr. Shane Orr, it was evident that they had a vision and passion for the football program that matched my own. I was blown away by the facilities that were available at Central, the hunger of the players was evident, and the amount of community support/resources available in Lawrenceville was overwhelming. The Central job definitely wasn't in my plans, but God obviously saw something for my family and me in Lawrenceville that I could not see with my natural eyes.”

4. You've been a head coach for many years at multiple programs. How are you different now than you were years ago, say at Macon County? “The biggest difference between my Macon County days and now is I'm older, don't have the same energy and require a lot of sleep to get going for the next school day. Seriously, I know who I am and what the Lord called me to do. I know that God created me to use the game of football to change the lives of young men. I don't let the scoreboard, team records, complaints from parents or any distractions prevent me from focusing on my assignment – improving the lives of young men that I am blessed to coach. I try my best to focus on that. Everything else is secondary. Our family creed of #FaithFamilyFootball has been adopted by the Black Knight football program, and every individual in our program attempts to live by it daily.”

Today’s interviewee is Rusty Mansell, 247Sports recruiting analyst, color commentator for Peachtree TV’s Friday night football telecasts and co-chairman of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame. Mansell will be in Watkinsville tonight commenting on the game between Jefferson and Oconee County.

1. What are you looking forward to seeing in the Jefferson-Oconee County game? “I picked this game because of two programs that have been very successful but have not had the opportunity to be on television as much as others. I am big on two factors – a great football atmosphere and players. This game was an easy choice for me. We locked this game in early.”

2. The best-known players on each side are probably Jefferson’s Sammy Brown and Oconee County’s Whit Weeks. What’s your assessment of them? “I think most will get their first look at both around the country on Friday night. Both are household names in the recruiting world, but not many have seen either play on live TV. I love the upside of both, I am very familiar with both families. Both players are really good kids, but they are really high-level football players. Sammy has the potential to finish as a top-five player in the country for the class of 2024. He checks every box as a prospect. Whit Weeks is big-time underrated. He did not do the camp circuit. He came to one MVP Camp to get a verified height and weight for his 247Sports profile, and he has let his tape do the talking for him. I will tell you this, he had committable offers when he made his decision, and that is what really matters at the end.” [Weeks is committed to LSU, where his brother West is a sophomore. Brown is uncommitted.]

3. A common question that we get at GHSF Daily but aren’t experts on the topic: Are players who don’t play for a marquee program, or those outside of metro Atlanta, underrated in recruiting services? “Ten years ago, I would have probably said yes. Nowadays, you take two players by example from tiny Schley County in Zayden Walker and Jalewis Solomon. Walker is a 2025 OLB, and he’s already a top-15 player in the country. I saw both at Georgia Elite Classic, and they held their own with anyone. There are so many opportunities for players now to compete against 'larger' or 'higher profile.’”

4. What Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame candidate (or more than one) did you come away thinking, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize how good he was,’ based on the process of learning about the candidates and voting? “I had heard the name before, but to hear so many people speak about Andy Johnson, the 1969 quarterback, I had to look at his stats. He had to be special, but hearing Buck Belue, Lynn Hunnicutt and others talk about him, I knew he was special.” [Johnson led Athens to a 1969 state championship and played eight seasons in the NFL with the Patriots. Hunnicutt, a Hall of Fame board member, was Mansell’s high school coach at Pepperell and a teammate of Johnson’s at Georgia.]

Today’s interviewee is Glynn County Schools athletic director Steve Waters, the organizer of this week’s seven-game Border Classic between Georgia and Florida teams. The event begins tonight with McIntosh County Academy vs. West Nassau (4:30 p.m.) and Glynn Academy vs. Creekside (7:30 p.m.) The other games are Charlton County vs. University Christian (4:30 p.m.) and Brunswick vs. Bolles (7:30 p.m.) on Friday and Fitzgerald vs. Madison County (1 p.m.), Coffee vs. St. Augustine (4 p.m.) and Richmond Hill vs. Baker County (7:30 p.m.) on Saturday. All games are at Glynn County Stadium in Brunswick.

1. When and how did the idea for the Border Classic come about? “I have wanted to put on a football classic similar to the Corky Kell in Atlanta since 2012 when I became athletic director. This year, our school system invested in Field Turf, and that allowed us to host a football classic. I needed a couple of sponsors to step up to help us pull off a huge event like this. Baker’s Sporting Goods out of Jacksonville and Under Armour stepped up to the plate big time. Not only have they become huge sponsors, but they have helped us get seven really good teams out of Florida to come to southeast Georgia and play every year. We have a five-year contract, and our plan is to expand the event in two years.”

2. What are you hoping the event will accomplish? “Our main goal is to provide a quality football experience for teams from northeast Florida and Georgia to play in each year. In the southeast part of the state, you have to travel one to two hours just to find a non-region game. This event will provide our teams in the southern part of the state a chance to compete without having to travel far. This event will also allow teams from Georgia to play a different opponent almost every year. Our coaches are very excited to be playing a team they have never played before. I hope this might create some border rivalry games. We hope this will be an event that every team in the states of Florida and Georgia will want to compete in every year. Our facility is first class, and we will treat every team like they are from Glynn County.”

3. What did the planning of the event entail? How did you go about putting it together? “There is no doubt that to put on a major event like the Border Classic, you have to have great partners. Once I met Josh Baker, I knew we had that partner. Josh has stepped up and brought in Under Armour. Every player that plays in the Classic will get a nice UA shirt. Josh also had a lot of media connections in Jacksonville. With that partnership, we were able to partner with News4Jax and televise or stream all of the games. Josh has been a huge help. On the planning side, I have a great group of support staff in Glynn County. We are small, but we do not mind working hard to make sure the event is run professionally. Now that we are in game week, I feel like we are ready. We just need good weather.”

4. If you had to pick one game that you or fans in general are most looking forward to seeing, a marquee game if you will, which would it be? “The Border Classic will feature seven games. The highlight game is probably the Brunswick High vs. Bolles game, which will take place on Friday night. However, Florida state champion Madison County will be playing Georgia state champion Fitzgerald, and that should be a great game. I really do not think there will be a bad game. Coffee County is loaded with talent, and they play Saturday. There will be a lot of Division I athletes taking the field over the course of the three-day event. I can't wait to get it started.”

Today’s interviewee is Don Fendley, a retired Georgia high school football coach living in Martinez and best known for his time at Westside of Augusta from 1984 to 1996. For several years, he has been a researcher with the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, where his main contribution has been tracking NFL players from Georgia. GHSF Daily’s spotlight today lists Georgia players on opening-day rosters, but Fendley’s job continues through the season as he documents which Georgia players actually play in an NFL game – which is the criterion to make the GHSFHA’s list.

1. How did you get involved in the GHSFHA’s NFL project? “After discovering the historians group about 2006, I had a lot of the booklets that the Georgia High School Association put out listing coaches and started looking up missing coaches, and after that ran its course, I got started on NFL players. I believe that Bobby Hodges [the GHSFHA’s original webmaster] asked me to do it. What I like about it is finding an NFL player from Georgia that I didn’t know about that got lost in the shuffle.”

2. What does keeping up with Georgia’s NFL players entail for you? “Drafted players from Georgia are not hard to find. Undrafted free agents from Georgia are the great puzzle. A guy’s name might show up on a roster a year or two after college for some reason. There was a player from the Atlanta area, Eric Smith, who played at Virginia. By accident, I found that he played at Columbia. [NFL rosters don’t make it easy to know where players went to high school.] You have to toe the line and keep up with it. Like today, I saw that Duke Shelley [from Tucker] got put on a practice squad and a guy got cut, T.Y. McGill [from Wayne County], who was on injured reserve. I keep a transaction roster on all 32 teams through the season.”

3. Who is the most interesting player that you've learned about? “Probably Kyle Sloter. He was a quarterback at Mount Pisgah Christian. The first three years at Southern Miss, they used him as a wide receiver and he caught seven passes in two years. They dropped his scholarship. He transferred to Northern Colorado, where he was a wide receiver and played on punting and kickoff teams. He moved back to quarterback in the spring of his senior year. The starter got hurt in the second game, and he was the quarterback the rest of the season. His college career shows lots of sticking it out. He signed with Denver and was released. Signed with Minnesota’s practice squad and was activated and on the roster for two years but never played in a game. He signed six more times to practice squads and active rosters. So I have had him on my lists for pretty good while. He must be fairly smart to pick up these teams’ offenses if they are as complicated as they make out to be.” [Sloter was taken in the first round of the 2022 USFL Draft and was named to the All-USFL team. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him in July but released him in August. He’s still not on the GHSFHA’s list of Georgia NFL players because he’s never played in an NFL regular-season or playoff game, which is the requirement. “But I guess he’s made a dang dollar or two if he’s been on a roster so many times,” Fendley said.]

4. What has been your attraction to high school football? “From the time I was a 130-pound lineman at Putnam County, I always wanted to coach. I spent three years with the great Dan Pitts at Mary Persons. I spent 45 or 46 years coaching overall. I enjoyed letting the players all have a chance and watching them improve. When I was at Westside, I had people in the ninth and 10th grades that didn’t play much, and then you look up when they’re in the 11th grade, they’re on first team. I still follow it pretty closely. John Small at East Coweta, Lee Chomskis at Lincoln County, Matt LeZotte at Richmond Hill and the late Bert Williams at Georgia Military Junior College all played for me at Westside. Plus, my late brother’s son, Richie Fendley, is at Bowdon. Football or any high school sport just gives a person a chance to be part of something.”

Today’s interviewee is Chip Saye, who co-founded Georgia High School Football Daily in 2009. Saye has covered high school football for the Athens Banner-Herald/Daily News, Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail and Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspapers since 1985 but began attending games long before it became his profession. In the past 25 years, Saye has kept a record of the nearly 600 games and more than 200 teams he has seen in person.