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NOVEMBER 13, 1997 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Despite record, Josey has future
It’s been a long and frustrating
football season for T.W. Josey’s
first-year head football coach
Tommy Macon and his entire
staff. The reason for their frus
tration is pretty clear. Thus far,
the Eagles have posted a 2-7 over
all record, heading into their sea
son finale against the Thomson
Bulldogs (5-4). It has been a long
time since Josey won only twice
in a season on the football scene.
Macon, a dedicated 41-year-old
coaching veteran, has definitely
heard the jeers, the whispers con
cerning the effectiveness of his
Power-1 offensive scheme, and the
murmurs regarding the present
state of the program overall. Opin
ions vary from fan to fan and
booster to booster (to no great
surprise), but to his credit, Ma
con has taken all the personal
assaults and criticisms about the
program and his style of coaching
in great stride. It hasn’t been
easy, but Macon fully under
stands the undercurrent that fu
els all the second-guessing and
fan displeasure. He’s been down
this road before, not too long ago,
in a little college town south of
Augusta called Statesboro.
Macon knows that all the com
plaints emanating from the
stands and local call-in sports
shows hinge on winning. Yes, it’s
true. Winning, according to some
local football purists, solves all
ills, pains and bellyaching by fans,
boosters and alumni. Macon un
derstands this mind-set all too
well. Afterall, last season, hewas
part of the football coaching staff
at Georgia Southern that faced
the wrath of another group of
victory-starved Eagle fans dur
ing a down year for a proud colle
giate program. A program, by the
way, that had established a year
ly goal of winning not only confer
ence championships, but nation
al championships. Winning was
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part of who they were and what
they are all about at Georgia
Southern. Josey has had the same
mentality for the last three sea
sons. Erk Russell, the legendary
coach who rekindled the GSU
program in 'B2, had a lot to do
with the high level of expectation
from local fans and media alike.
The same parallel exists at T.W.
Josey. Departed head coach John
Starr wanted Josey fans to ex
pect (and sometimes demand) the
best. Mediocrity would no longer
be accepted for any member of
the Eagle program. Playing with
pride would be the rule, and not
the exception. What many of the
Josey fans have missed this sea
son is that Starr’s philosophy is
no different in nature than that
of Tommy Macon. The spin may
come at you in a different direc
tion, with a touch more subtlety
and calmness, but the core na
ture of both men is definitely the
same. Winning, the right way,
and developing student-athletes
to excel on the collegiate level are
important to Macon, as was the
case with John Starr. The main
difference is that fans gave John
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Starr (and the entire program)
far more support than has been
afforded Macon. If you need proof
of that claim, just check home
attendance figures this season as
compared to those of the past.
The thousands of Josey faithful
in the city of Augusta, and
throughout the entire CSRA,
must realize that winning is more
involved than which team has
the greater number of points on
the scoreboard when the final
horn sounds at Eagle stadium.
Winning is also an attitude. A
mentality that doesn’t allow for
backbiting, bad attitudes and fin
ger pointing. Examine, if you will,
the prep football programs at Lin
coln County, Washington Coun
ty, Valdosta or Thomas County
Central. These championship
driven programs have suffered
through down years without loy
al fans giving up on the program,
the players and especially the
coaches. Why hasn’t this been
true of the fans that have proudly
worn green and glad in years
past? In Lincolnton and Sanders
ville, the fans aren’t motivated to
fill the stands of their respective
stadiums just to see their team
win every Friday night, as much
as they are overwhelmed by the
tradition of each program. Red
Devil fans get caught up in the
emotion. The atmosphere that
surrounds high school sports. It’s
thesame casein Sandersville and
Valdosta. Fansin thosecities have
an innate pride in the local foot
ball programs. Fans have a tre
mendous amount of respect for
the student-athletes who have
dedicated so much of their life in
the pursuit of excellence. Excel
lence not solely for themselves,
but for their classmates, neigh
bors, church congregations and
families. That’s the key factor that
separates the true powerhouse
prep football programs from the
rest of the field. Tradition. It can't
= be u:umnd danlopg
must be n
over time. Throughout triumph
and tragedy; victory and celebra
tion. Tradition evolves like a fine
wine. It can’t be rushed, only
cured and cared for.
Despite posting a dismal 1-6
slate so far in region 3-AAA com
petition, the once-feared Eagles
still have the opportunity to get
back on track in regards to their
quest to build a Georgia prep foot
ball powerhouse. The questions
asto whether they have the heart
to look deep within themselves
and play with the passion of cham
pions do remain. The great factor
to remember is that Josey is a
young team with a tremendous
talent-base at the skill positions.
If these young Eagles can stay
together, work hard in the off
season (both in the weight room
and the classroom), the awesome
job of building a football program
with a proud tradition of excel
lence can continue. The real ques
tion is, will the once-faithful Jo
sey fans give this head coach and
these youthful players the sup
port they need to be the very best
in the Peach State once again? It
wasn’t too long ago, so-called foot
ball experts laughed when the
thought of Josey securing a state
championship in the 90s was
broached in polite conversation.
The laughing stopped in 1995
when Josey posted a perfect 15-0
record. It’s time to get back to the
late business of building a pro
gram with tradition for T.W. Jo
sey. Thetrue Eaglefans are ready,
willing and able to get the ball
rolling this “Football Friday
Night” during Homecoming 1997.
Tony Cornish Jr. is a freelance
sports columnist and host of
Sports Talk Live with Tony C!
aired weeknights at 10 p.m., ex
clusively on WBEK-TV 67. |
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Demarco Lovett
T.W. Josey
High School
Senior, Running Back/
Defensive Back
6’2”, 205 Ibs.
Coach Macon’s Comments:
Demarco played great defense
against Lucy C. Laney helping to
secure a 14-6 victory. He also scored
the winning 21-yard TD
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