Tattnall Square’s Rodgers shows leadership, gets his championship

Not much was expected from the Tattnall Square football team by outsiders in 2016.

With a new head coach and a sub-.500 record from the year before, it could have been easy to write off the Trojans. But a big group of seniors saw to it that Tattnall would do better than that.

The Trojans wound up winning all 10 regular-season games, claiming the GHSA Region 7-1A title and going to the Class 1A private school semifinals. In the process, the Tattnall defense recorded four shutouts and had nine games in which it allowed 10 points or fewer.

In the middle of that defense was a tackle who served as the point of attack, the person who in multiple ways served as the leader of the defense.

That player, Christian Rodgers, also had a standout year in wrestling, reaching the top of the podium as a senior after close calls in the past, winning the Class 1A title at 220 pounds.

“It was a crazy transformation,” said Rodgers, who is The Telegraph’s Selby Buck Male Athlete of the Year.“It was an exceptional feeling. After you see all the work, all the times that coaches said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this, do this right, do this more, practice makes perfect,’ it did for our regular season.”

Rodgers wasn’t the biggest lineman on the field, coming in a 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds. But he competed much larger than his size, helping put up a strong rush defense. He finished with 150 tackles, five sacks, 15 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

“He was a four-year starter, and as a senior coming in, he did a heck of a job for us at a one-technique where he’s really undersized,” Tattnall head coach Chance Jones said. “He played undersized, he played quick, and he had a motor that would run to the football. That was huge for us.”

Rodgers rolled right into wrestling season following Tattnall’s semifinal loss at Eagle’s Landing Christian. A loss early on failed to slow his season, as he wound up reaching the Macon Coliseum for the third time.

A longtime title contender but never a winner, Rodgers recorded a pin and a 9-3 decision to reach the championship round. The title match, however, wound up being a bit anticlimactic as Rodgers’ opponent suffered an early injury and could not continue once his injury time elapsed.

“It felt nice to finally get that championship,” Rodgers said.

At this point, Rodgers isn’t looking at participating in college athletics. He’s planning to attend GMC in the fall and is undecided on his major.

“The years of practice that I put in and all the coaches that taught me, it was a really good ending,” Rodgers said. “I enjoyed it.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 8:43 AM with the headline "Tattnall Square’s Rodgers shows leadership, gets his championship."