North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) vs. Camden County (Kingsland, Ga.)
Dante Sawyer and North Gwinnett have a brutal early schedule, and it kicks off with Camden County this week.
File photo by Cecil Copeland
North Gwinnett has five returning starters on both sides of the ball ready to tackle a schedule that starts off with three of the last four champions from Georgia's biggest classifications. After playing Camden County Saturday at the Georgia Dome, the Bulldogs have a week off and then will meet 2011 champion Grayson followed by defending 6A champion Norcross on Sept. 13. This is the first meeting between these teams since Camden County shut out North Gwinnett, 35-0, during its march to a state championship in 2009. North Gwinnett senior quarterback
Hayden Sphire did not start last year but, as the son of head coach Bob Sphire, knows the playbook inside and out. On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs will count heavily on the pass-rushing prowess of four-star defensive end
Dante Sawyer.
After capturing three state championships and winning 158 out of 176 games in 13 seasons under coach Jeff Herron, Camden County is ready to kick off the Welton Coffey era. Before becoming head coach in the spring, Coffey was an assistant coach at Camden County since 2006 under Herron, who left to take the reins at Prince Avenue Christian (Athens, Ga.). Even with a new head coach, one thing that's not expected to change is the Wildcats' offense. The vaunted Wing-T attack is flush with outside quickness thanks to the return of the Alabama-bound running back duo of
Kalvaraz Bessent and
Chris Williams.
Mitch Stephens: Camden County 24, North Gwinnett 17
Kevin Askeland: Camden County 28, North Gwinnett 21
Jamie DeMoney: North Gwinnett 31, Camden County 21
Stephen Spiewak: North Gwinnett 24, Camden County 17
Leland Gordon: Camden County 27, North Gwinnett 21
Colin Ward-Henninger: Camden County 35, North Gwinnett 14
