When football schedules came out earlier this year, both Coffee and Ware County fans circled Friday, November 3, 2023. That would The Game of the Year for both teams — the last game of the regular season, most likely with the region championship on the line.
Preseason predictions are notoriously unreliable. This time, however, the crystal ball was dead on. And November 3 is almost here.
Friday night, at Memorial Stadium in Waycross, the Trojans and the Gators will face each other for the Region 1-5A championship. Coffee, with a 9-0 record, is ranked #1 in the state. Ware County, with a 7-2 mark, sits at #4 in the state. It’s going to be a match up between two heavyweights — the Gators are the defending state champions while the Trojans would like to avenge last year’s 31-6 home loss to Ware.
Throughout the season, Coffee head coach Mike Coe has refused to talk about Ware County. When asked about the Gators following the October 20 Homecoming win over Jenkins — with Greenbrier a week away and Ware two weeks in the future — Coe said, “Don’t ask. I’m not going to answer if you do.”
Now, however, it’s time to talk about the Gators. “To be the man you’ve got to beat the man. Right now, they’re the man. I don’t care what their record is. They’re a heckuva football team. It’s in their house. I have a lot of respect for Coach Strickland and his staff. They’ve obviously gone in there and done a tremendous job. They play fast and physical and do things the right way,” said Coach Coe on Monday.
Throughout the season, Coe’s Trojans have moved through the schedule with almost surgical precision. They’ve been very business-like, playing each week with purpose and intensity, never getting ahead of themselves and always taking care of that week’s opponent. The sting from last year’s loss is still fresh and they’ve never lost sight of their goal. “This is why you work all year long. This is why you give up vacations and Thanksgiving breaks. This is why you lift before Christmas when other people might take off those two or three weeks. This is why you go out there in the mornings in the summer when it’s 110 degrees and the field is still wet and you roll around on it. This is why you go to OTAs in Lee County and Thomas County Central — to play people of this stature,” said Coach Coe.
Both teams have trod a similar path through the region schedule. Neither the Trojans nor the Gators have had any trouble with their region foes. Coffee has outscored the other teams in the region 203-13 while Ware County has outscored the same teams 222-40. Four of the top five running backs in the region will be on the field Friday night — Coffee’s Fred Brown is leading the region with 1,434 yards and 16 touchdowns. Ware’s Dae’juan Dennis is second with 595 yards and 10 touchdowns. Tyrese Hansley (Coffee, 452 yards, four scores) sits at #4 while RJ Boyd (Ware, 450 yards, seven touchdowns) rounds out the top five.
Coffee has relied more on its running game than has Ware. Luke Hooks, Ware County’s junior quarterback, has about three times the passing yards and attempts that Coffee’s Maurice Hansley has. Hooks has completed 107 of 170 passes for 1,515 yards and 19 touchdowns to five interceptions. Hansley has completed 28 of 47 passes for 519 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s only thrown one interception. However, Hansley also missed several games in the middle of the season due to an ankle injury. “We’re not a team that’s just going to throw the ball a lot. We can do it but that’s just not us,” said Coach Coe.
Defensively, both teams are loaded with talent and don’t give up very many points. Coffee’s bread and butter has been more of a traditional, punishing style of play — rely on a bruising running attack and a fast, physical defense that wears opponents down. After the Statesboro game, Coach Coe stated, “The first team defense has given up 30 points in seven games. You win championships with a defense like that.”
For over two months, the season has been building to this point. And Coach Coe couldn’t be happier. “We’ve put ourselves in a position to have an opportunity to go chase some history and at the end of the day, regardless of what happens, both of us are going to be playing next week. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Obviously we’d like to be the #1 seed and the region champions. It’s why you play. It’s exciting. It’s go time,” said Coe.
Tickets are available at www.gofan.com.