Today’s interviewee is Peach County coach Marquis Westbrook, whose team clinched Region 1-3A with a 48-17 victory over No. 7 Cairo last week. Peach County moved up to No. 1 in the Class 3A rankings, the Trojans’ highest standing since 2019. Peach finished 4-7 last year in Westbrook’s first season after suffering three losses of six points or less, including a controversial four-overtime decision to Savannah Christian in the first round. Westbrook came to Peach County from Warner Robins, where he won state titles in 2020 and 2021.
1. What did your team do well last week that made the difference in the Cairo game, and what did the win mean to your team? “I thought we were able to overcome some adversity that we hadn’t faced the last few games. It had been a while since we didn’t have the lead in the game. [Peach County did lead 13-0 in the first quarter but surrendered 17 straight points, including a 72-yard TD run from star Cairo running back Bryian Duncan, and trailed 17-13 just before halftime.] We got down but went right back up and took a small three-point lead at halftime. Our kids never hung their heads and never felt like they were going to lose the game. That’s when you know they are going to fight for you. Cairo has a running back that’s lights out. He’s a home run hitter. We were able to contain him [except for the 72-yarder] until the fourth quarter when he went out. The win means a lot. Peach has traditionally won region championships, and this team was hungry, and this graduating class wanted one under their belt to have some ownership in it. The win gave us the No. 1 ranking in the state, and it was our senior night, so it was a very emotional win.”
2. You’re averaging 44.8 points per game, most in Class 3A. Scored at least five touchdowns in every game. What is leading to that success? “Our guys are a year older starting with our quarterback, D.J. [Hudson]. He and our offensive coordinator, Tanner Smith, have chemistry. D.J. knows the play before it’s called now. He sees the game faster. He’s synced up with his receivers. His brother, Zion [Hudson], is explosive. Chris Scott is just as explosive. Cam Cherry can stretch the field. Justin Willock is another guy ripping it up on the outside. It’s a couple of things offensively helping us to score those amount of points.” [Westbrook also mentioned the offensive line’s development. Peach rushed for 364 yards against Cairo with Hudson running for 149 and Ashton Barton rushing for 135.]
3. From 4-7 to a region champion and No. 1 ranking. What’s different this season? “Being here a full year. It’s the trust level between the kids and the coaches. Last year there were some things we had to deal with from a discipline standpoint. The kids just didn’t know us well enough to have that full trust. These kids trust the coaches now, and I thought they did a great job of buying in during the offseason. They competed hard in the spring. It’s been a continuous climb of success. If we have some kids show up late in the weight room, they tell them they need up downs or grass drills. They’re handling stuff like that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a starter, or how many stars are beside your name, everybody understands everyone is disciplined the same way. We feed off that as coaches. It turned around.”
4. Has this season validated what you and your staff were trying to bring? “I guess you could say, yeah, we were validated through the number of wins. I think it would’ve been the same last year, but when it doesn’t work out that way, it’s hard for kids to see it. But when they started to win, they saw it. We had a hiccup early to Perry [losing 49-39 to the defending Class 4A champion on Aug. 23], but they saw they could play with a team like Perry that could win a state championship. That was an eye-opener for us. We got down big in that ball game, and we fought and clawed our way back and got within 10 points. You could say that was a turning point for us. But we’re not finished yet.”
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