Colts looking to relay high emotions into big win

Football is back. And if you live on the north end of Whitfield County, it’s back with a bang, as inter-county rivals Coahulla Creek and Northwest Whitfield tangle to start the 2024 season. The Bruins will make the short 7 mile trip from Tunnel Hill to The Creek Friday night, as the Colts play host.

Coach Drew Carter has taken time to reflect on last year’s loss against Northwest, “We’ve talked a lot about the mistakes that were made in that game… [and] the mistakes were under our control.” Carter claims that his team has been on the positive trend of correcting these mistakes, so his hope is that the trend continues through Friday.

The team is eager to prove something different from last year’s performance. Starting quarterback Waelyn Baliles knows the doubts that have circulated him and his team going into this game, especially with it being his first year as starting quarterback, “It’s my first time playing Northwest, and I just want to go in and prove them all wrong.” He has motivated his teammates throughout practice this week and describes their efforts with confidence. When asked how he feels about going into Friday’s game, Baliles says “We’ve prepared all week… I just think that if everybody collectively does what we need to do to win, there’s really nothing to be nervous about.”

Rivalry games can present a lot of emotions too, and Coach Carter is hopeful that the Colts can positively channel that emotion, “The energy level is so high for a rivalry game, so I feel like maybe some of that can be in our favor as motivation since we haven’t had the kind of success that we wanted to over the years with them.”

Starting WR/LB Wyatt Mann echoed that, saying “We need to keep the same energy level throughout the entire game.”

The Colts have many moving pieces going into this Friday’s game against Northwest. After the struggles faced in the preseason game vs. Gordon Central last week, Coahulla has devoted time and energy to improve and learn from the mistakes that were made.

“We definitely have had some stuff to work on this week” adds Mann, with Carter saying “I think we’ve improved every day.”

Carter’s final thoughts were “I think if we can keep high energy and be physical, then we can give ourselves a chance, and the little mental mistakes here and there from a missed assignment, if those can keep decreasing, that’s just going to help our chances too.”

The excitement of this rivalry game is pushing Coahulla to keep chasing greatness. The Colts are hoping these mistakes in the preseason have helped the team learn and grow, with their eyes now solely focused on Friday night.

Kickoff for Friday’s game is set for 7:30pm at The Creek. You can listen to the game on the Coahulla Creek Sports Network.

Article written by Jenny Cook