Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Wheeler County coach Thomas Smith, whose team is playing Portal on Saturday in the 6 p.m. game of the Erk Russell Classic at Georgia Southern’s Paulson Stadium. McIntosh County Academy is playing Long County in the second game. The doubleheader is named for the late Georgia Southern coach whose 100th birthday would have been this year. (The Georgia Southern football team is dedicating its season to Russell on that account.) This is the 15th year of the Erk Russell Classic. Wheeler County is coming off a 12-1 season, the best in the program’s 60-year history, and the school’s first region title.
1. Why is it significant to be playing in this event as opposed to just playing it at home or away?
“It was actually a really tough decision because it was set to be a home game for us and we really enjoy playing at home and you don’t have to worry about travel. But in the end, we felt like it would be a great opportunity for our players to have the experience of playing at Georgia Southern.”
Note: This will be the first time Wheeler County has played a football game in a Division I stadium or any venue that holds more than 8,500 people.
2. Erk Russell was known as a great motivator. Very passionate. Would head butt his helmeted players before games, causing his head to bleed, but firing up the team. What player or coach do you have who epitomizes that spirit today?
“One of our core values is playing for the guy beside you, and I feel we have a lot of guys that represent that but the most recent would probably be senior running back/linebacker Malik Madison. He sprained his ankle in our first scrimmage, so we held him out of our second scrimmage. During the scrimmage we had a fumble and he tells me, ‘Coach I can get my pads on real quick.’ Jackson Scott, a tight end/linebacker, played every snap of the second scrimmage, and on film you can see him catch a cramp during a play, limp back to the huddle, work the cramp out and not miss a play. The last would be John Miller, a running back/linebacker. John dislocated his pinkie on a play, popped it back in and didn’t miss a play.”
3. What’s the scouting report on your team this year? We’ve got you ranked higher than any other poll in the composite rankings at No. 4 in Class A. Are we wrong?
“To be honest I don’t put a lot of stock in preseason polls. We graduated the region player of the year, Alvin Ricks, the region defensive player of the year, Justin Culver, and region athlete of the year, Reco Wooten and had five seniors sign to play college football. We do return a very good offensive line and fullback and top two wide receivers. On defense we return four starters, led by all-state linebacker Jaden Bridges. Our kids have worked really hard since January, but we have a long way to go to get to where we want to be, and a lot of first-year starters will have to grow up in a hurry.”
4. Is it hot enough for you? How have you dealt with the south central Georgia heat? (The high temperature in the Wheeler County seat of Alamo is 97 degrees Thursday. The forecast Saturday in Statesboro is 91.)
“The heat has definitely made us adjust our practice schedule. Instead of going straight to practice, we have a study hall, film review, gym walk through, and the Wet Bulb (temperature) usually allows us to go shells around 5:30. The other big concern with the heat is that we are one of the smaller single A schools, with about 230 students in the high school. A lot of our guys play both ways. That’s doable in October but tough in August.”
Note: Per GHSA rules, football teams must use a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature to determine whether a team can practice and for how long. It’s a metric that takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover.
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