Cougars Heading to Playoffs to Defend State Title

Increasingly, it's feeling like 2010 for football players.

The defending Class AAAA champion Cougars haven't run the table like they did in finishing 15-0 a year ago, but entering the playoffs unbeaten since losing this season's opener isn't much different.

"That first game we made a lot of changes and weren't sure who we were," Chattahoochee coach Terry Crowder said of losing 24-7 to Lambert. "It took us a little bit to figure out who we'd be offensively. When we played Lambert, we were pretty much a JV team."

This season has been a study in resilience for the Cougars, who have rebounded from that initial loss with nine consecutive wins, including last week's 21-13 victory over Region 7-AAAA counterpart Rome that capped a second consecutive region championship and fifth this decade.

"We're playing better every week," Crowder said. "I don't know if we're quite there yet, if we're quite as dominant as last year, though."

The next test to the Cougars' win streak is this week's first round of the state playoffs against visiting Habersham Central. And while Chattahoochee (9-1) never has played Region 8-AAAA's fourth-seeded Raiders (6-4), scouting reports and film have Crowder believing the Cougars might face their toughest test yet.

"They're as good a team as I've seen since I've been coaching," Crowder warned. "They've lost four games, but were certainly in all of those games."

The Cougars approach Friday's 7:30 p.m. kickoff averaging 300 yards a game and outscoring opponents by three touchdowns. Running backs C.J. Leggett and Chase Nelson have chipped in 652 and 602 yards rushing, respectively, and quarterback Travis Marshall comes in having passed for about 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns. Wideouts Marcus Sayles and Will Johnson have eight and six scoring catches, respectively.

Linebacker Jake Kingree leads Chattahoochee's defense with 85 tackles, and safety Trey Hart has five interceptions. Kicker Kevin Hady has made eight of 10 field goal attempts, including a season-long 38-yarder.

Sayles agreed with Crowder that nobody's individual statistics are eye-popping, but rather, the Cougars have achieved success cooperatively.

"We're all making it a team effort," Sayles said. "When one of us has a good game, the next guy does, too."

The Raiders come in having won consecutive games for only a second time this season, but having not reached state since appearing in the quarterfinals in 2006 and '07. But Kingree pointed out even that feels like 2010, when the Cougars played the first round against a Pope team that hadn't reached state in 10 seasons.

"It feels like nobody really respects us coming into the playoffs, just like last year," Kingree said. "Everyone doubted us last year at this point, and look what we did."