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By Richard Dumas
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Expectations are always high for Mary
Persons football, but perhaps they’ve never
been higher in the past two decades than
they are in 2018.
Ifever there was a team capable of break-
ing through and getting MP to its first
state championship game appearance in 25
years or even its first state title in 38 years,
it could be the 2018 squad.
With 29 seniors, the Bulldogs possess
their largest senior class in the seven-year
tenure of head coach Brian Nelson and
most of the returners have extensive play—
ing experience. In fact, a whopping 13
Bulldog players who received All-Region
2-AAAA first, second or honorable men-
tion honors in 2017 are back in 2018.
THE SKINNY: .
keeps knocking on
the door of great-
ness repeatedly. The
gradually improving
Mary Persons Bull—
dogs football program
is trying to achieve the
latter in 2018, and the
time has never been
. better to bust through
that metaphorical door.
the aforementionedgoals yet again.
Sometimes long sports droughts end abruptly, such as
when the 2018 Philadelphia Eagles captured the city’s
first-ever Super Bowl crown seemingly out of nowhere.
Other times they conclude when a team or program
Under MP head coach Brian Nelson, the Bulldogs
have almost exorcised all of the program’s post -Dan
Pittsdemons. In 2012, MP won 10 games for the first
time since 1998, in 2013, MP reached the state quar-
terfinals for the first time since 1998, in 2015, MP
captured its first region title since 1997, in 2016, MP
reached the statesemifinals for the first timesince
1998, and in 2017, MP managed to reach every one of
Now, all that’s left for Nelson and his seasoned staff
wWwamww/w
Dogs huti state title ‘
This year’s senior class, led by quarter-
back ].T. Hartage and running back Quen
Wilson, captured the Central Georgia
Middle School Athletic League (CGM—
SAL) championship as eighth graders, lost
a single game as ninth graders on IV and
have played significant roles on back-
to-back AAAA state semifinal teams as
sophomores and juniors. In fact, in MP’s
six losses over the past two years, three
have come to eventual state champions
(Cartersville in 2016, Blessed Trinity and
Lee County in 2017), one came to an
eventual state runner-up (Peach County in
2017), one came to an eventual state semi-
final team (Peach County in 2016) and the
other came in the 2016 season opener to
AAAAAA Houston County, who featured
a quarterback in lake Fromm who started
a year later on a College Football Playoff
is for the Bulldogs to advance to
the AAAA state finals for the first
time since 1993 and possibly even to
win just the program’s second state
championship and first since 1980.
Nelson has set up a challenging
non—region schedule designed to test
a veteran squad with 15 returning
starters, including 13 players who
were all~region choices last year.
Two of those non—region opponents,
Lovett and Peach County, are once
again expected to be among the top
teams in AAA. MP’s region schedule
won’t be easy either, although the Bulldogs are heavily
favored to win a fourth straight region crown. But the
10 regular season games, of which MP should be the
favorite in 9 of them (all but perhaps the Peach County
road game, although it too is winnable), are just a mere
appetizer to the excitement of what could come in the
playoffs.
. Defending champion Blessed Trinity, who came
to Forsyth and ousted the Bulldogs from the playoffs
last December, is expected to open the season as the
consensus No. 1 squad in AAAA. State powers Carters—
ville, Marist, Troup County and Woodward Academy
v ' wmm-mwmwmmw
OFFENSE
POS. PLAYER YR.
QB J .T. Hartage #8 Sr.
LT Noah Davis #52 Sr.
LG Desmond Jones #56 Sr.
C V Charles Dean #55 Sr.
RG Luke Byrne #54 Sr.
RT Colton Dingmore #51 Sr.
TE Andre Jackson #87 ,Jr.
WR De’Adrek Alford #83 Sr.
WR Trippe Moore #1 Jr.
WR Antoine Davis #5 Sr.
RB Quen Wilson #6 Sr.
K Liam Spence #46 Sr.
runner-up team. Nelson said he thinks his
team’s confidence has been buoyed by how
it has performed against some of the state’s
toughest competition over the past several
years.
“These kids coming up now, they don’t
know anything different than winning,”
Nelson said. “This senior group’s won
three region championships and been to
the semis twice. Our name is being talked
about with those schools now. That’s the
whole goal of it. And now it’s just playing
the game and having the right pieces. And
a couple of things have got to go your way.”
With 15 returning starters, 8 on offense
and 7 on defense, Nelson said it was tough
to set a schedule this year. He said an
unforeseen negative aspect of MP’s success
in recent years has been that many strug—
gling middle Georgia squads are unwilling
FROM THEDOGHOUSE
Mary Persons
2016 Finish: 11—3
(6—0 in Region 2—AAAA)
of the AAAA state playoffs.
Key Returning Players:
Williams
Projected MP Varsity Starters
Lost 28-7 to Blessed Trinity in the semifinals
Offense: RB Quen Wilson, QB J.T. Hartage,
WR Antoine Davis, LT Noah Davis
Defense: DE Daniel Lavelle, DE Kendrell
Watts, OLB Ladamian Sands, FS Desmond
With 29 seniors, including backfield stars J.T. Hartage
and Quen Wilson, now is the time for MP to elevate
itself back to where Pitts kept the Bulldogs for nearly
three decades, squarely among the state’s premier
programs. Not only could MP enter the playoffs unde-
feated, but don’t underestimate MP’s potential to win]
the whole thing right now. ‘ '
Under Nelson’s steady hand, that door to greatness
is falling down sooner or later anyway. It might as well
be this year. In the words of the gridiron great Terrell
Owens, “Get your popcorn ready.” NIP fans very well
could be in for aseason for the ages.
August 15, 2018
.w w, wwmy-x
DEFENSE
POS. PLAYER 7 YR.
DE Daniel Lavelle #24 Sr.
NG Derrick Goodson #99 Sr.
DE Kendrell Watts #35 Sr.
OLB Iadanfian Sands#16 Sr.
MLB Jumon Wilson #9 Sr.
OLB Kanidric Jones #7 Sr.
DOG Laderik Barkley#19 Sr.
CB Antoine Davis #5 Sr.
CB Rico Harden #22 Jr.
SS Jaboree Goodson #29 So.
FS Desmond Williams#4 Sr.
P Desmond Williams#4 Sr.
to play the vaunted Bulldogs. However,
MP’s growing statewide reputation has
caused Nelson to start getting phone calls
from top AAAAAA and AAAAAAA
programs like Camde_n County, Northside
(Warner Robins) and Tift County that
could overmatch MP. In hopes of finding a
medium, Nelson said he settled on facing
longtime state power Gainesville and a
pair of Atlanta-area programs, Lovett and
Morrow, to join rivals Iackspn and Peach
County in the non—regiOn portion of MP’s
2018 slate.
“It goes back to my theory about Atlanta,
NorthGeorgia,” Nelson said. “You get your
name recognition out there. Up that way
is where people get talked about. You’re
playing Lovett, now it’s in the AIC (Atlanta
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are also among the teams
expected to challenge
the Titans. But perhaps
MP could mount the
strongest challenge. The
Bulldogs are just two
years removed from
knocking off the Titans
in one of the all-time
Mitchell Field classics
and are unlikely to be
intimidated by a poten—
tial rubber match with .
Blessed Trinity.
