Terrific job this year by Hester

It’s not really a surprise to see the Tattnall Square football team still playing this time of year.

After all, Barney Hester’s Trojans have pretty much dominated GISA Class AAA, winning 10 state titles through the years, and they are regular competitors in the AAA Final Four.

But this year has been different. While the Trojans teams in past years have had a star to hitch their wagon to — Brett Layson and DeAndre Smelter quickly come to mind — this year’s team has done things as a true unit. One week, the offense shines. The next week, it’s the defense. And the special teams have stepped up, too.

One game, Ryan Bartholomew is the offensive standout. The next, it’s John Rader. Or Andrew Layson or Ham Goodner.

The Trojans have gotten contributions from just about everyone on the team, and it seems when they need a play, someone different will step up and make it happen.

Things, however, didn’t look so good at the start of the season.

Without a star to turn to, Tattnall stumbled to a 1-2 start, and there was some grumbling that this would be the season that other teams would get some revenge on the Trojans. But Hester and his staff simply wouldn’t let that happen.

The Trojans went back to work after a 28-21 loss to Westfield, and they had some momentum from that game after falling behind big early only to rally late in the fourth quarter and come up just short. The good feelings they had from that strong finish carried over into a win the next week, and the Trojans just kept on winning.

In fact, they haven’t lost since then, and the season has featured a wonderful coaching job by Hester and his staff. It’s obvious that Hester knows how to coach winning football; a coach doesn’t win 10 championships by accident. But this year’s coaching effort may have been Hester’s best yet.

The Trojans started slow, but they rebounded from that, and Hester and his staff have gotten the most out of their players each and every week. Tattnall played within the team concept and did what it does best every week, knocking off team after team until it got things rolling.

The result is an eight-game winning streak that includes a victory over George Walton, tonight’s opponent in the semifinals. And while the path may have been different, the destination would be familiar with a win tonight — the championship game.

Contact Daniel Shirley at 744-4227 or dshirley@macon.com