2018 Record: 4-6, overall (2-6, REGION 7 AAAAA)
Head Coach: Tony Plott 8-32, 4 seasons as Woodland Head Coach
All Time Record: 211 games 65 – 146 – 0 (31%)
Total Seasons: 22 First Season: 1998 All State Players: 3
Region Championships: 0
State Championships: 0
Schedule:
8.23 vs Southeast Whitfield
9.6 at East Hall
9.13 vs Cass
9.20 at Paulding County
9.27 vs Hiram
10.4 at Rome
10.11 at Carrollton
10.25 vs Villa Rica
11.1 at East Paulding
11.8 vs Kell
Woodland began the 2018 season on a four-game winning streak, then things went southtoward the last half of the season. One thing that differed from past Wildcats teams was that no one gave up; the players fought on. Head Coach Tony Plott explains, “our kids showed that they had some fight in them. We continued to compete every week. Our kids never gave up and our opponent got our best shot. I’m proud of the kids for doing that, because in years past, kids would pout and put their heads down.That didn’t happen last year.”
Woodland graduated 32 seniors from the 2018 team and only have seven on their roster this season. They are a young and talented team though. “We should continue to improve, and our kids still have a lot of fight in them. I think we will take another step forward this year,” says Plott.
On offense, the Wildcats will have a brand-new offensive line. “They are a bunch of big, very athletic kids. I expect them to grow and improve throughout the season,” says Plott. Behind that line will be junior quarterback Jonathan Thomas, a dual threat guy, who allows them to do a lot on the offense. The coaches describe him as a perfect fit for the offense. Another guy to watch is the highly recruited senior, DeMarcus Williams. “He’s a special athlete, a big fast guy with great vision,” says Coach Plott.
The strength of Woodland’s defense will be its defensive front. There are three rising juniors who are really special on the roster and provide a great presence.Defensive tackle Nick Bailey, defensive end Jovani Jacobo and Jahseim Henry will all be impact players this season.
Senior outside linebacker Blake Cash, who has great football instincts, will team with junior inside linebacker Brice Shedd to lead the unit. The secondary features senior safety Sean Heath and senior lockdown corner, D1 prospect Jaden Johnson.
Woodland’s special teams will be young and inexperienced, as is the team as a whole. “We are young this year, and it’s just a part of the process of building a program,” says Plott.“Our underclasses are strong, and we are excited about that. The junior varsity program should be very strong. One issue we will run into is some of the guys that should be playing JV will have to play some on Friday nights also.”
The Wildcats’ young players will gain valuable game-timeexperience this year, while taking their lumps and learning. Numbers for the team look good.They will have around 95 players suit up this year, only seven being seniors and around 40 in the middle school football program. Plott is building a winning culture at the school.
“Our kids take pride in competing. Our kids take pride in going out every Friday night and giving it their best shot. Not backing down from contact is important, as football is a physical sport,” he says. “You can’t shy away from contact of you want to be good in football. We take pride in being physical.”
