Written by Gene Termunde
As I walked into Deerfield Windsor High School to talk with Coach Allen Lowe about the upcoming Knights season, I was surprised to see about a dozen or so players in the weight room working out. This is the kind of determination that shows that this Knights team is serious about exceeding last year’s results.
Sitting down with coach Allen Lowe entering his 9th season as the head coach and has a record of 71-20-2 over this time period, it is very easy to the optimism he has about the 2012 season. He bases this optimism on the fact that the Knights have 18 players with game experience returning this season 10 on offense and 8 on the defense. One of the offensive players returning is starting quarter back Dallas Margeson and the versatile running back/receiver Kh’ron Mclain, and one of the stalwarts of the line is Patrick Forrestal who coach Lowe says will be playing at the next level and says that there are several schools looking at him right now. The other area that has the coach excited about the upcoming season is the teams over all speed. Although he is optimistic about this season he says everyone in the division has gotten better this year and that the first 5 games this season will be tough this year.
The one area that the coach is looking for is 5 to 6 players to step up from the 60 man roster and help out with the depth on both the offensive and defensive lines so that he does not have to play players both ways. Also, he has to adapt to the change that there will not be a fall football camp this year due to the changes in the associations rules which makes it ineffective to have a camp. Instead he will have 2 workouts a day at the school.
Deerfield has had players with experience over the past few years and one of the reasons for this may be that when a boy starts playing football in the 5th grade at Deerfield, they also begin learning the Deerfield system and so that when they get to the high school level they are familiar with it and they are ahead of the game.
With the new concerns about concussion Deerfield has stepped up and is giving all their players a base line test that will be used if they have a player they feel has suffered a concussion as they will give that player another test to compare to the base line test. The Knights and the coaches are all excited about the upcoming season and I know that if you get a chance to come out and see the Knights you will become excited too.
Deerfield-Windsor goes through drills last season with Coach Hollis Hood looking on. The Knights are experienced and ready for another season.
2012 schedule
@ Southwest Georgia Academy 8/24
@North Florida Christian 8/31
@ Mount de Sales Academy 9/7
@ Stratford Academy 9/14
@Tattnall Square Academy 9/21
@ Sherwood Christian 9/28
@ Bulloch Academy 10/12
@ Westfield 10/19
@ Pinewood Christian 10/26
@Tiftarea Academy 11/2
@Southland Academy 11/9
@ Thomasville 11/23
