Coach Larry Campbell, obviously pleased with the Devils’ first win, had little to say about the victory, but plenty to say about the Devils in 2005. “I felt like we gave an effort for four quarters. That meant a lot to us. Can’t really say enough about our community support through a very tough 0-3 period.

“I’m sure we caught a lot of criticism from some folks, but the majority of them realized that we have a very young team and we had some pretty major discipline problems at the start of the season. We had to dismiss a couple of guys and actually have only have five seniors playing. We list seven on the roster but two of them are injured so we’re down to five guys. Actually only three seniors see any playing time to amount to anything.”

Campbell expressed much appreciation for the support of the Lincoln County fans during the Devils’ slow start. “I think our fans have been very patient and it really caught me by surprise a little bit. I thought they’d have been throwing bottles at us and had ‘For Sale’ signs in my yard by now. But I’m very, very pleasantly pleased with their attitude,” he said. “I think the fans showed what’s so great about Lincoln County Friday,” he continued. “I venture to say at least 500 people were at the pep rally.”

The coach admitted that he was concerned about having a pep rally with the record standing at 0-3, “but our cheerleaders worked so hard it wasn’t fair to take that away from them,” he said. “They encouraged us and let us know they were still behind us. “We had a huge crowd for it; and then we had a group of boosters that volunteered to cook for both teams Friday night, and that went well. They fed Commerce’s football team before they got on the road and then they fed our team. They showed a lot of support there and for that we’re very appreciative.”

As far as the game itself played out, Campbell commented that the Devils have been very fortunate with turnovers this year. “We haven’t had a whole lot of turnovers, and we’re working with a new offense,” he explained. “We try to add a little bit to it each week. If we can avoid injuries I think we’ll still be in the hunt.”

And this year may have shown Campbell the biggest improvement he’s seen in any one football team from the day the season started. “Most folks probably realize it by now that Greene County’s got a good football team. I think we could probably play them ten more times and probably end up with a similar result,” he said. “Burke County – it wouldn’t bother me to play them again. I think if we hadn’t had a couple of crucial penalties called, we’d have won that football game,” he said, indicating a tremendous amount of improvement between the Greene and Burke games. “The first half against Greenbrier I thought we played exceptionally well, and in the second half for the first time in many, many years I felt like our kids quit,” Campbell lamented. “And we took it out on them pretty tough last week in practice. It was probably one of the toughest practice weeks I’ve ever been through,” he said. “I know our kids had to feel the same way, because we were out there until 7:30 and 8 o’clock Monday thru Wednesday of last week. I think our kids really were just sick of losing. I know, for me as a head football coach, it was a tough spell. The thing we can’t do is jump up and praise ourselves and start saying ‘we’re back, we’re back, we’re back.’ We’re on our way back.” Concerning Athens Academy Coach Campbell said, “I think we’ll see the top two teams in region 8-A backto back. Just judging from what we see on film from their record (2-11) Athens Academy is the better of the two at this point. Their only loss came to 7-AAAAA Mill Creek. “The Spartans are coming off their best season ever with only two losses last year, one to State Champion Hawkinsville and the other to Lincoln County. “Gunn, the head coach’s nephew, moved in there at quarterback for them,” Campbell reported. “But they have four kids on that team that have started for them for four years.” They include: Pittard, No. 21, who is a “great, great receiver and also great punt returner;” Satterfield, No. 17, is what they refer to as their “big Division I prospect.” “Then they have #58 and #40, Campbell said, “Those four kids started in 2002. [Quarterback] Gunn is doing a good job, a very adequate passer, but replacing the quarterback they did have there is...well, he was an exceptional athlete.” On the region outlook Campbell stated, “The region looks extremely strong. W-W is having an unbelievable year and Warren County is in the top ten now. It’s getting to be a pretty good football region. Washington by far is the region favorite right now. Anybody that can go to Thomson and shut them out should be. A lot of folks think Warren County has a great shot at the number two spot. But we have those games in front of us, we still have a chance at it. We just have to try to get a little better each week.” Finally Coach Campbell wanted to express his thanks to Land Resource Companies for a monetary donation that the athletic department used to purchase new offensive headsets. Land Resource Companies is currently developing “Stillwater Coves Project” in northern Lincoln County along highway 79.