DJ Shirley (82) and Josh Hart (25) combined for an eye-popping 12 touchdowns and 963 yards last season.

By Jeff Dickinson

Every high school football team wants to get off to a fast start to open the new season. Winning that first game can set the tone for the rest of the year and can help young players gain some early confidence.

Losing that opener, though, usually doesn’t mean the end of a season. After all, there are at least nine more games to play, right?

Not according to Fellowship Christian head coach Terry Luck.

First is the Worst

In his first game as coach of the Paladins last season, Luck had the unenviable task of leading his team on a long road trip about 20 miles north of the Florida border. Luck said that game at Brooks County did much more than put an “L” on Fellowship Christian’s record.

“I really think that having to travel four-and-a-half hours to Brooks County set the tone for our season,” Luck said. ‘We took a physical and an emotional whipping. We got beat 63-0 and we had four kids who had concussions in that game.

“We didn’t just lose that game. The next week, we had about six kids who couldn’t play because of the injuries they had suffered in the Brooks County game. I’m not sure we ever really fully recovered from that game.”

Steady Improvement

Fellowship Christian did play much better the rest of the season following that blowout loss to Brooks County. Luck said that the Paladins competed in every game after that point, but that opening struggle led to a 5-5 season in 2008.

Making it even more challenging for Luck in his first season at Fellowship Christian was the fact that he had to replace 16 seniors from the 2007 team that went 11-2.

Luck must believe in the old adage that says, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” His 2009 team is short 13 seniors from last season. Luck said that his Paladins only have six seniors this year, which will mean he is going to have to count on young, inexperienced players all over the field.

According to Luck, those green players will be battling for their starting spots all season: “I’m going to evaluate every starting position every week. We really need to create a greater sense of competitiveness this year.”

Establishing that competitive atmosphere will be more challenging without quarterback Jimmy Stainback and receiver Jake Philpotts. Stainback was the Region 5-A Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, while Philpotts made the First-Team All-Region squad.

Said Luck of Stainback and Philpotts: “Jimmy and Jake grew in every game. Jimmy was like a linebacker in a quarterback’s body and Jake caught 32 passes for us last year and did all of our kicking and punting.”

Although junior Will Butler has been waiting in the wings behind Stainback at the quarterback position, Luck said that right now he is a co-No. 1 with sophomore Coleman Poje.

Filling in for Philpotts in the kicking game will be a player Luck recruited from the soccer team. Luck said that junior Bryce Wells is going to take over for Philpotts and he has shown that his soccer kicking skills translate well to the football field.

Throw it to me

Luck said that the strongest area of his Fellowship Christian team this season is probably the receiving corps. All-Region performer D.J. Shirley returns, along with All-Region honorable mention Josh Hart. Shirley and Hart were two of only seven players in North Fulton last season that caught 30 balls. They proved to be the most prolific receiving duo in the area with a combined 69 catches, 963 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Despite the challenges of replacing senior leaders at several key skill positions, Luck said that his goal remains the same every year at Fellowship Christian.

“Our goal last year was to see at least 10 young people accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior,” Luck said. “We ended up with 50. This year, if we have at least 25 young people make decisions for Christ, this year will be a success.

“Our philosophy is to ‘Keep the main thing the main thing.’ We try to use football as the vehicle to build a foundation for God. We’re preparing these young men to be better Christians, better husbands and better fathers. The fruits of our labor won’t truly be seen for years.”

As Luck points out, sometimes it’s not always about winning and losing.

Hayden Boone, Chad Davenport, Tyler Hart, Conner Linnen, Landon Kadi, Fred Darnell, Jacob Weaver, Parker McClain, Bo Ibsen, Stephen Lantz, Trace Sells, Will Hays, Mike Baker, Evan Little, Coleman Poje, Phillip Cole, Jacob Miller, Bryce Wells, Trent Vanpelt, Aaron Wilson, Sam Floyd, Rob Garcia, Ben  Brigham, Hunter Boone, Cooper Weyant, Nathan O'Rielly, DJ Shirley, Creighton McElveen, Josh Hart, Will Butler, Sam Williamson, Zack Baker, Andrew Evans

Dickinson: Prognosis for the Paladins

Prediction: Fellowship Christian is going to be a very young team, maybe the youngest in the metro Atlanta area. With only six seniors on the team, there are going to be a bunch of unproven players who will be tested early and often.

There is some talent at receiver and on the offensive line, but the Paladins lack size. Luck said that Fellowship Christian would have to play the percentages in order to pull out some wins this season.

If one of the young quarterbacks can step up and show that he has the poise to lead the offense, Fellowship Christian can have a successful season. If not, it is going to be a long year. Look for the Paladins to improve by one game over last season with a 5-5 record.