Canes End Season In AA Division

The ‘Canes wound up their season last Friday night with a 56-13 loss at the hands of fourth ranked Greene Co. In spite of the loss, the team improved their last year’s record of 1-9 to 4-6 in one of the state’s most competitive regions.

Head Coach Doug Huff summed up the season by saying, “We just weren’t very good last year, and we’ve come a long way. I told the team that we were only really in two games last year, but this year we were in every game except two.”

“Even on Friday night against Greene, it was only 28-13 in the second half when we had them fourth-and-four with just five minutes to go in the third quarter before we fell apart on special teams. I’m proud of the team, of the way they worked to make themselves better, and of the assistant coaches as well.”
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Friday’s game was also the last game the ‘Canes will play in state classification AA. Next year they will move into class A competition in region 7A where their regional opponents will include Lincoln, Twiggs, Warren, Wilkerson, Hancock, GMC, and Aquinas in Augusta.

Coach Huff said, “I expect us to be very competitive in the new region. We got this thing turned around this year and we intend to keep it heading in the right direction.”

Several seniors have been recruited by various college programs. The coach said, “We’ve got four or five kids who are being recruited. Matt Hyde is being recruited by several schools. Alvin Bailey, Wichard Standifer, Patrick Kelly and Francis Pompey have all been recruited also.”

“I think the two with the best shots of playing for a division one team are Matt Hyde and Alvin Bailey. But we have to remember that recruiting and getting signed is publicity and the record of your team as well as ability. We’re just in a spot where we don’t get any coverage outside of the county unless we’re winning every game.”

To conclude the season, Coach Huff said, “The boys did a lot of things to be proud of and I appreciate all their hard work. I feel like we could have won a couple of more games, but from where we came from it took a lot of hard work and determination to get where we’re at. And we also appreciate all the support we got from everyone.”