Thomas County Central enters the 2013 season ranked No. 3 and, after they find replacements in the secondary, the Yellow Jackets are going to be tough to beat.
With a 9-3 season last year, head coach Bill Shaver will be putting a lot of faith in his current juniors and seniors Adam Choice, Deondre Cooksey, Caleb Autrey, Austin Bryant and Jarell Jones to lead this team in the right direction.
“We have to pretty much replace our entire secondary,” said Shaver. “We have some younger guys that we think will eventually be okay, but we’re going to take our starting offensive backfield our quarterback Adam Choice, Deondre Cooksey and Shaquille Coleman and were going to move them over to play a little cornerback. They are going to have to play a little double duty particularly early in the year until our younger guys get their feet wet.”
A lot of focus will be put on Choice and linebacker Austin Bryant. Adam Choice, at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, led the team in performance and leadership. Choice is approaching his third season as the starting quarterback for the Yellow Jackets.
Choice worked hard to make the AJC Class 5A all-state team after he rushed for 1,650 yards, 23 touchdowns, threw for 600 yards and scored five touchdowns. Choice has over 30 scholarship offers that include Stanford, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin to name a few.
“Adam is a leader by example,” said Shaver. “He has been a starter for us since his sophomore year and nobody works harder than he does. You can always count on him when you need him. He is just a great leader by example. If he is working hard, everybody else kind of falls in line with him.”
To complement Choice, junior linebacker Austin Bryant will return ready to pick up where he left off last season. Bryant ended with 92 tackles and four interceptions. Accompanying this duo will be Florida State recruit Jarell Jones (at linebacker), kicker Gavin Wilson who has won four games with field goals and Deondre Cooksey, a three-year starters who has more than 800 yards rushing and 300 yards of returns last year.
“Everyone plays a collective role in leadership,” said Shaver. “All of the seniors work hard and when they do everyone falls into place with them.”
TCC last won a state title in 1994.
“We played for it in 2002, lost to Thompson and then we have been in the final four, but we haven’t been quite able to get over that hump” said Shaver.
The Yellow Jackets begin the season with four of their biggest and most challenging rivals Thomasville, Valdosta, Marist and Cairo. “In southern Georgia you have a lot of football rivals,” said Shaver.
TCC will begin its season at home against Thomasville on Aug. 23.
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