Canes Inching Closer to New Season

A new football season gets closer with each passing day for the Jasper County-Monticello High School Purple Hurricanes.

With there still being an unknown element involved, to be approximately a month away from the 2020 campaign is viewed as a positive by coaches, players and school officials.

“Our summer work is going well,” coach Rydell Jackson said. “The coaches are trying to keep the kids motivated. Of course, the main thing is to keep everyone healthy. The virus is on everyone’s mind but we are also dealing with the middle of Georgia summer now so the heat is an issue as well.”

The Canes have been able to work on both offensive and defensive drills during their four workouts each week since the GHSA self-imposed “dead week.”

While in the past the team has traveled to various camps, all of that is cancelled this summer. Players were originally scheduled to be at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro this week. Two initially scheduled camps in full pads have also been cancelled, Jackson said.

“We cannot do anything right now with other teams,” the coach said.

The team’s home preseason scrimmage on Aug. 14 against George Walton Academy is still set to take place.

“There are certain things we cannot control,” Jackson said. “We will just keep working and preparing as if the season will take place.”

Region 3-AA opponents will include Southwest Macon, Bleckley County, Dodge County, Lamar County, Northeast Macon and Washington County. This will be a new region setup for the Canes although the team remains in Class AA.

In addition to new region foes for 2020, Jasper County-Monticello has a solid non-region slate with games against Mount de Sales (away, August 21), Putnam County (home, September 4), Morgan County (away, September 11) and Greene County (away, September 18.)