Author: Robert Preston

Our runner-up for 2023’s Story of the Year isn’t nearly as fun as Coffee High’s state title. No, this one is story of the year for all the wrong reasons. Did it put Coffee County on the map? Yes. Did it bring visitors from all over the world to our community? Yes. Have some of the most powerful people in the United States been paying attention to our little community? Yes again. Has all this attention been positive? Not a chance. I am, of course, talking about what has become known at the Fulton 19…

At Monday morning’s regular county commission meeting, commissioners appointed new county officers, approved new contracts, and rejected three rezoning requests — among other items of business. As is customary when the new year comes in, a new county commission chair took the gavel. Ted O’Steen, 2023’s chairman, passed the gavel to this year’s chairman, Jimmy Kitchens. Johnny Wayne Jowers was named vice chairman; as such, he will serve as chairman in 2025. The agenda for the meeting was lengthy; in addition to new business, commissioners had to make decisions on two items that were tabled during…

2023 was filled with crazy crimes, hall of fame mug shots, local headlines that grabbed the eyes of the world, and one meth’d up situation after another. In spite of all the insanity, the top story of the year is overwhelmingly positive. It’s the Coffee Trojans football team’s undefeated state championship season. Hands down. No discussion. No debate. It’s the biggest Coffee County story of the year. It’s the best Coffee County story of the year. And it’s one that won’t soon be eclipsed. I’ve said it several times and I’ll say it several more: I…

The news of the month, and the year, to be honest, is the Coffee Trojans’ first-ever state football championship. It’s one of the biggest local stories I’ve ever covered and it’s had the most profound effect on our community of anything that I can think of in the last 10 years. Overall, a winning football season has a positive effect on the community, particularly the school system. I remember listening to Jimmy Roberts give a presentation on the history of Coffee football a few years ago. A former administrator in the school system (and the Trojans’ long-time stadium…

I’m not particularly good with numbers. I’m certainly no statistician. I don’t do well collecting stats, interpreting stats, and drawing intelligent conclusions from stats. But my lack of intelligence has never stopped me from stating opinions in the past, and I’m not about to let it get in the way now. I’ve looked at a lot of statistics and history over the course of the 2023 Coffee Trojans football season. There are some really surprising stats out there. And they’re not terribly difficult to find. Here are a few facts and figures, in no particular order,…

December has been a memorable month for Coffee Trojans ATH Anthony Paulk. In the last couple of weeks, he’s been a part of Coffee High’s first-ever state football championship, graduated from high school, and signed a scholarship to continue his football career at Charleston Southern University. Earlier in the season, Paulk committed to the Buccaneers. Wednesday morning at the Coffee High School Performing Arts Center, he signed a letter of intent to play at CSU. The Buccaneers want Paulk to come to school as an early enrollee. A 4.0 student, Paulk has satisfied his academic requirements for graduation…

“This is the first meeting we’ve ever held in the city of Douglas as state champions,” stated Mayor Tony Paulk as he banged the gavel to begin the last city commission meeting of 2023. It was also the final meeting of Ward 3 commissioner Olivia Pearson’s 24-year tenure on the board. Commissioner Pearson chose not to run for re-election this year and as such, her time as a city commissioner officially ends on December 31, 2023. Since Monday’s meeting was the last of the year, for all practical purposes, her term has ended. Commissioners had a…

Minutes after the Coffee Trojans won their first-ever state championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta 31-14 over the Creekside Seminoles last Wednesday, head coach Mike Coe was asked if his defense was underrated this season. “Yeah. The whole team has been underrated — because we don’t have all these Power 5 guys. But I’ve got a bunch of dang good high school football players who will hit you slam in the mouth and won’t quit,” he replied. At the time, I didn’t necessarily agree that Coffee was underrated, particularly as it pertained to the defense. In every story…

I was standing on the sidelines at Mercedes-Benz, staring across the field at the scoreboard. The Coffee Trojans were leading the Creekside Seminoles 24-14. It was the fourth quarter with 7:30 remaining in the game. The Seminoles had just scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Vinson Berry to Shane Kelley and the Seminoles were teeing up the ball to kick to the Trojans. And I was scared. Terrified in fact. Coffee had dominated Creekside in the first half. The Trojans had taken a 21-0 lead into the locker room and, quite honestly, it wasn’t even…

“This means everything. It’s the first state championship for the Coffee Trojans. It means everything for me, everything for my team,” said Coffee Trojans quarterback Maurice Hansley after the Trojans defeated the Creekside Seminoles 31-14 in the Class 5A state championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Coffee not only finishes the season with the first state title in program history but also with a perfect 15-0 record. Hansley book-ended the Trojans’ scoring with a pair of touchdowns — he scored the first and last touchdowns of the night, the final one an eight-yard run put an exclamation…