End Zone Game of the Week Preview: Washington-Wilkes at Johnson County
Johnson County finished the regular season 7-3, with a 5-0 region record.
WRIGHTSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) –The high school football state playoffs are officially here, and the End Zone Game of the Week features a GHSA Class A Division II first-round battle between the Johnson County Trojans and the Washington-Wilkes Tigers.
The Trojans finished the regular season with a 7-3 record while going 5-0 in region play, claiming back-to-back region titles.
“They’re a good group of kids that play hard. We don’t have any superstars,” said head coach Don Norton. “We just got some kids who play together as one, and that’s really all you can ask. They give it all that they have every single week.”
The Trojans made a great run in the playoffs last season, falling in the semifinals, and now they’re looking to do the same or even better, but with different circumstances.
“This year’s a totally different team. There’s no comparison. Last year was a big play team, and all that this year is a grind it out. It’s totally different,” said Norton. “They have their own personalities and we’ve had to adjust our schemes and our mindset to fit this team’s personality.”
A significant part of the Trojans’ success this season is due to their large senior class.
“Mostly the character of our senior class has kind of led us through. We have some of the smartest kids in the school. We have the valedictorian and salutatorian, and probably the top three or four or five kids in our senior class are football players,” said Norton. “This group figures things out and finds a way to win, and sometimes it’s not exactly the way we say, but they come up with their own solutions, and that’s always a good thing.”
This senior class has been together for several years now, so being able to get at least one more home game in their high school careers means a lot.
“It’s really nice. We’ve been playing with each other since rec, all the way through middle school. Basically the same team that you see starting now, we started in middle school, our eighth-grade year together,” said Benvonte Murray, a utility player for the Trojans. “It’s great because we all know each other. We all know what each other is capable of.”
“We’re all best friends. We’ve all been friends for a while. So, I think that kind of means a lot to us, and it really does affect our style of play,” said Brantley Martin, an offensive lineman for the Trojans.
The Trojans begin their quest for a state title in the End Zone Game of the Week as they host Washington-Wilkes at Herschel Walker Field in Wrightsville at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 10.
