As another season of Georgia High School Football kicks off for me tonight, I have many fond memories of attending and listening to the games on the radio. I grew up a fan of Georgia High School football. That’s who I am. People might think it’s silly, but you all have things too.
There have been numerous memorable moments both good and bad. I have definitely experienced the thrill of victories and agonies of defeats following my teams.
- Clinch County scoring on the last play of the game to beat Jeff Davis 7-6 in 1976.
- Villa Rica’s thrilling 20-14 overtime win over Darlington in 1979.
- Tompkins’ 18-16 upset of Coffee in the 1980 region semifinal.
- Villa Rica winning the 1986 State Championship over Worth County.
- Sitting in the coldest game ever in Athens in 1985 watching Warner Robins lose to Clarke Central
- Northside Warner Robins upsetting Warner Robins 7-6 in 1990 when Warner Robins was the #1 team in the country.
I haven’t attended a game in person since I moved from Georgia in 2014. I miss the atmosphere of being at the games. There is nothing like it for me.
My interest in Georgia High School football started in 1974 when my dad took me to my first game to watch his Clinch County Panthers. I got hooked from that moment on. When I started high school, I attended Ware County High School and was on the B-team. I never got to play but I was happy to at least practice with the team and stand on the sidelines. We then moved to Villa Rica, Georgia and I got into going to the football games there. I was on the football team one year. I had lofty ideas, but my size limited me to fulfilling them.
My Dad moved us before my junior year to Savannah, Georgia where I attended Tompkins High School. I never attended a game, but I would often listen to whatever game I could find on Friday nights. I followed many of the Savannah Christian games on the radio. After I graduated high school, I left for the Air Force and mostly lost contact with high school football. We didn’t have the internet then like we do today. When I ended up stationed at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, I attended my first Warner Robins football game. They were playing the Valdosta Wildcats in a state playoff game that night in 1984. Warner Robins lost but the following season I started attending as many games as I could and that continued for many years. I never had any children or anyone that I knew attending the school or playing on the football team, but I followed the team. It was a lot of fun. I remember once attending a game during a heavy rain in Macon. Someone asked me who I had out there playing to sit there in a driving rain to watch the game. I said that I didn't - I'm just a fan.
I actually spent a few years working for a local newspaper and covering some high school football games. This was probably the fondest memories I have. I only wish I could have started doing it earlier in my life.
Due to a few career moves, I have ended up in Nashville, Tennessee but thanks to the Internet, I can still follow the games. Some of my favorite routines are listening to the play-by-play, the Georgia High School Scoreboard show and watching highlights on Football Friday Night from 13WMAZ in Macon. I’m very thankful that we have today’s technology. The creation of the Georgia High School Football Historians Assocation website has been my textbook. I have downloaded a lot of information into my brain from that source.
I actually live about a mile away from a high school football stadium but it’s not the same for me. I have tried to move on from following the games but I can’t do it. That’s not me. Since I was 11 years old Georgia High School Football has been a part of me.
With this being my 50th season of following Georgia High School Football, I will share more throughout the season with my favorite games, players and other memories.
