Bringing a region title back to Social Circle was one of head coach Rob Patton’s goals when took over for Social Circle in 2020.

Last Friday, it all came to fruition as the Redskins claimed the Region 4A-Divison I title. This year’s region title is the second of its kind in Social Circle history and is the first since the 2005 season.

After falling short in back-to-back seasons, Patton credited this year’s region title to the team just sticking with the process.

“It’s been huge, it’s the one thing we have talked about since we got here five years ago,” Patton said. “Everyday we talked about the process in terms of getting better so we can be a team that is competing for and winning region championships and then state championships as well. To get that monkey off our back was huge for us. The last two seasons [in] game 10 we had the opportunity to get it but we came up short. I am really proud of our guys.”

After splitting their non-region schedule 2-2, the Redskins began region play on a three game win streak with wins over Utopian Academy, Putnam County and McNair.

The team’s dream of winning a region title took a hit with a crushing triple-overtime loss to rival Jasper County at home 29-31.

However, a key win over the Lamar County Trojans the next week gave Social Circle life as the Hurricanes lost to Putnam County the same night.

This set up a three-way tie in first place between Social Circle, Jasper County and Lamar County heading into the final week of the season.

All the Redskins needed was a win over Towers as well as a Trojans’ win over Jasper County. They got just that.

Along with winning the region title, Patton was pleased with how his team responded in the two weeks following the loss to the Hurricanes and specifically how they corrected their own mistakes.

“You never know how high school kids are going to respond to that — triple overtime and we had so many opportunities to win it,” Patton said. “But, our kids came out here the entire next week and in the three games we lost, we realized that it was our mistakes. It was the Redskins beating the Redskins. No knock on Jasper County, they played a great game, but we just focused on cleaning up our mistakes and preaching to them that if we do what we are supposed to do then we will be in the right spot.”

Senior linebacker Bristol Evans has been a key part of the Redskins’ defense over the years, and he noted that winning the region title in his final season was one of three goals the team hoped to accomplish.

In fact, two of the three goals have already been done.

“We all knew before going into the [Towers] game that we had not won [a region title] since 2005,” Evans said. “We have been here through two different region championships that we have lost so we wanted to go out with a bang in our senior year. That was our goal. We had three goals this season — win the first game, win the region and win more playoff games than we did last year. We are on pace.”

Social Circle opened the season with a 48-41 win over Oglethorpe County to notch the first goal off the list. With the Region 4A-Division I title in the bag, the Redskins will look to have better results than last year’s postseason, when they fell to Rabun County at home in the first round.

Along with Evans, senior running back Jaylen Victor spoke with The News about the teams region title. Victor shared that they knew they had a chance to win the region title last Friday at halftime when they saw that Jasper County was trailing Lamar County.

Nevertheless, they noted that the team stayed focused on the task at hand and defeated Towers in the second half to clinch the region crown.

“This year, even when something goes wrong we keep our cool,” Evans said. “We have all played football together since freshman year so we all have each other's back. We know how to keep each other calm.”

Victor’s presence in the run game has played a big role in the offensive success for Social Circle in 2024. He leads the team in carries by a wide margin and is averaging 5.5 yards a carry.

The senior is eager to play in the first round matchup at home, but Victor’s goals are far beyond that game.

“We played in the first round here [at home] last year, but we are trying to go farther,” Victor said. 

Victor, a former corner, was the starting running back to begin the season as he took over for former Redskin Kam Durden, who held the role for multiple years. Patton took time to shine light on his starting running back, nicknamed “bug”.

“He has done an incredible job,” Patton said. “He has about 10 touchdowns on the year and he had a big week last week with about 130 yards and he was our player of the week. He has been a starter for us since his sophomore year at corner. This year, having him step into that role on the offensive side, he has stepped up and led the running back group. We’ve had a three-man rotation and they all have done a great job. Bug is just an explosive kid. Seeing him have the year he is having, I am proud of him.”

Another area of the offense that has seen improvement is in the pass game with Luke Cross, who is in his first season as the starting quarterback. After mixed results in the team’s non-region slate, Cross has turned it on in region play.

“He is doing great,” Patton said. “Playing receiver all of last year and transitioning to quarterback this year, he had some games in the year where we were struggling — new offensive scheme and getting everyone on the same page. Ever since region play has started, he has been lights out. He has provided us with big plays and being able to throw the ball downfield. [Being able to] lighten the box on defense and open the run for us — he has done a great job leading the team.”

The uptick in offense can also be attributed to the addition of offensive coordinator Jeremy Holder, who joined the staff over the offseason after coaching at Parkview High School.

Patton shared what he believes is the biggest change in Social Circle’s offense with Holder at the lead.

“The biggest difference so far is that the run game has picked up,” Patton said. “We have always thrown the ball well since we have been here, but having the run game there and a lot of it has just been the development of the offensive line. That is one thing we are really looking forward to. We are losing Ian Mulkey, he is a senior. But the rest of our lineman will be back next year so those guys have really stepped up. Just being able to run the football and close out close games.”

With the postseason pushed back a week, the Redskins have extra time to prepare as they await the announcement of their first round opponent in the Class A-Division I playoffs.

For Social Circle players, the mission is simple.

“We are fired up, we are ready to go,” Evans said. “We can stop anyone we play, it just comes down to if we have the mindset to do it or not.”