JOHNSON COUNTY: Trojans’ latest team tasked with keeping program’s tradition, region title streak, standing strong 

At Johnson County, players – some of them stars – come and go. 

But through the years, its focus has stayed on the single blue star the Trojans wear on their helmets, representing the program’s well-established traditions in culture and style of play that have all been steady for decades, and seem to transcend high school football’s cycles of ebbs and flows. 

And when those things stay consistent, the year-to-year questions about personnel and player development don’t ever loom quite as large. 

“You can watch film from five years, 10 years ago, and it’s the same thing,” said Johnson County head coach Don Norton. “We run a system here, We do what we believe in and what works here. It might not work everywhere, but it works here. When one kid goes out, we’ve got another one to replace him. We tell them all the time, if you take your hand out of the bucket of water, it doesn’t take long to fill up.” 

Any enduring trend, by nature, invites resistance from forces of change, and is in many ways defined by what it overcomes. 

So it’s somewhat apropos that tradition – in a different sense – will be such a focus of this 60th season of Johnson County football, following recent renovations to Herschel Walker Field that have preserved and refreshed many characteristics of its home field whose continuation into future generations was called into question last year by Hurricane Helene. 

This year’s Trojans, carrying a mantle just as heavy, face some stiff challenges of their own as they look to sustain both their recent tradition of success – in the form of active streaks of seven-straight winning seasons and three consecutive region titles – along with the larger one of the program’s entire history. 

One of the biggest is the theme of inexperience on a roster (with only about nine of its 42 members belonging to the junior and senior classes) that’s set to rely pretty heavily on its younger ranks.

While encouraging in a long-term outlook, the prospect is a somewhat dicey one for the near future.

“What’s exciting about the young kids is they’re glad to get their shot, but you don’t know if they’re going to be good or not,” Norton said. “Every play’s going to be an adventure, because they don’t have the experience. So we don’t know.” 

The good news: Each of those newcomers are a product of a middle school program under the direction of Tramayne Young that’s had them well versed in the ins and outs of the Trojans’ playbook since they were in sixth grade. 

“We always got someone ready, who should understand the system,” Norton said. 

Another of the major questions revolves around how well Johnson County can continue to control the line of scrimmage, with a group up front that’s much more average in its size profile than teams of late that have all been fairly stout. 

Though the Trojans’ recent physical blessings at the offensive and defensive line positions may have run their course for the time being, the players stepping up there will keep with a much longer-running tradition of of scrappiness that Norton often prefers in the demeanor of his guys in the trenches. 

“This is a smaller group,” he said. “We’re not that big, but Johnson County kids rarely are very big. We’ve had our run with some big kids, but we’re not real tall and we’re not real heavy. We just like to be quick and smart, competitive.” 

Though the roster, overall, is defined by a “lot of youth,” each of the Trojans’ upperclassmen will be leaned upon in a big way. 

Quarterback Nathan Turberville, entering his third year pulling the trigger behind center, returns as a reliable manager of the backfield and, when the situation calls for it, a capable passer, too. 

As a junior, he completed 39 percent of throws for 420 yards and a couple touchdowns, and also rushed for eight scores. 

“He does a good job running our offense,” Norton said, adding that he’s hopeful the Trojans can develop some better efficiency on both ends of the passing dimension as the season goes.

Tayshawn Norris and Cory King join Ziion Wesley in a triumvirate of top returning tacklers on D.

Norris is a safety who picked off four passes, and scored 11 times as either a rusher, receiver or returner. King, who had 37 tackles, six for loss, and interception and a sack, was a corner. Wesley, whose 48 stops in 2024 make him the Trojans’ top returning tackler, is the MIKE linebacker. 

All three will help give JoCo’s defense some teeth, and contribute at their various skill positions on offense. 

King and Wesley, who had the team’s top two rushing totals (a combined 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns) last season, will fit a little differently into a reconfigured backfield, with Norris now working a good bit more as a receiver. 

Matthew Connell projects as the lone senior among the offensive and defensive line groups, and Will Peeples is back helping out on special teams. 

There aren’t many more juniors. 

The class consists mostly of skill guys Jacaden Webb, Dre Hudson and Jamir Wadley, and line-of-scrimmage anchors Dewayne Abrams and Matt McCoy. 

So a lot will fall to the 10th and ninth grades where athletes are numerous, but few of them yet proven. 

But make no mistake, both classes look to be pretty deep and talented, in both athletic ability and the all-important intangibles. 

“We’re excited about the leadership we have with our upperclassmen, but we’re really excited about the young group, too,” Norton said. 

“They’re competitive kids,” he added. “Johnson County kids are always competitive. They love football.” 

As 10th graders go, look for Jeremiah Taylor to make a significant impact right away, at the fullback position that’s traditionally been JoCo’s most productive. 

Sophomore Cedrick Bridges – who played significant snaps both ways as a freshman – has emerged as an early leader on the lines of scrimmage. 

Freshman Kelsey Waters, sophomore Tailyn Norris and sophomore Zacorian Graddy help round out a collection of backs Norton is excited about. 

And there’s also a bright future for backup QB Chance Wombles. 

On the coaching staff, the Trojans will be breaking in a new defensive coordinator, with promoted assistant Devin Cannon now in charge of the unit and its reputation for toughness. 

As a backfill, JoCo also hired to the staff a former player in Landry Thompson, whose homecoming to Wrightsville follows a year or two working as a graduate assistant under Clay Helton at Georgia Southern. And Norton considers him a rising star. 

Altogether, it’s a team with lots of potential that will probably need some patient and steadfast cultivation. 

The Trojans’ development comes down to two big Cs…  competition and chemistry. 

And both go back to some core beliefs that are locked into the M.O. of Johnson County football. 

The first comes baked into practices, lifts and team activities that usually divide players against one another in teams, sometimes to contend for prizes, but usually with simply the gratification of having their photos posted on the team Instagram as daily winners. 

The second, though it’s either there or not, usually doesn’t present until much further down the road, closer to or even after the season’s already begun. 

For JoCo’s great teams, somewhere along the way there’s been a defining moment where players start to display a level of selflessness that reaches critical mass and helps “everything fall into place.” 

Though you can never tell, Norton believes team has many of the same positive makings. 

“Character is huge,” he said. “We’ve got some great kids, here. We’re very fortunate.” 

As the practices and games go on, the Trojans will only continue to discover – and also decide – what they’re made of. 

“If they can develop chemistry, play for each other, play for something other than themselves, who knows? We might luck up and win a game,” Norton said. 

Each season’s ever more daunting task offers another challenge to rise to. 

This one will be defined by some tall tasks in non-region matchups against multiple teams, East Laurens, Butler and Treutlen included, who appear to have made big strides from last season. 

Among region foes, Wilkinson County has risen up to pose the most consistent threat to JoCo’s 18-game region winning streak both of the last two seasons. Beating the Warriors for an eighth-straight time, and any others who may sneak up out of the 5-Low A pack, may be as tough as ever. 

Last year’s Trojans became the school’s first team in history to win three region titles in a row, and that fact is not lost on this year’s senior class that’s intent on finishing its career in Wrightsville an even better 4-for-4, and with a perfect league record. 

“That’s something that can’t be broken,” Norton said. “That’s on this class.” 

The goal, like many other standards around the program, is not necessarily one that’s written down and posted on the bulletin board. Rather, it’s something more implicit like the general expectations everyone in the building is held to from season to season.  

Continuing that small slice of Johnson County’s long-running tradition, and carrying on the whole of it, remains a huge point of pride. 

“They understand what’s expected of them here,” Norton said. “I don’t think we have to keep talking about it. The standard was set a long time ago with our traditions, so they understand the pressure that’s on these kids here. It’s an honor for kids to get to play here. And I think some take it for granted, but most of them kind of realize that. When they go home, they have to talk to their uncles and cousins and everybody who played, and they want to have bragging rights.”

Trojans at a glance…

HEAD COACH: Don Norton (19th season, 146-84)

OFFENSE: Multiple

DEFENSE: 4-4

2024: 9-3 (5-0 region 5-Low A)

FINISH: Region champion; GHSA Playoffs (lost to Clinch Co. in second round)

RETURNING STARTERS: 5 offense / 5 defense 

KEY LOSSES: WR/DB Xavier Wright; RB/LB J.D. Carswell; OL/DL Twix Sharber; OL/DL J.J. Huff

PLAYERS TO WATCH: ATH/DB Tayshawn Norris, Sr.; RB/LB Cory King, Sr.; QB Nathan Turberville, Sr.; RB/LB Ziion Wesley, Sr.; OL/DL Dewayne Abrams, Sr.; RB/LB Jeremiah Taylor, So.; OL/DL Cedrick Bridges, So. 

THE UPSIDES: Ground attack, defense

KEY CONCERN: Inexperience

Schedule…

8/15 East Laurens 

8/22 Montgomery Co.

8/29 at Warren Co. ($)

9/05 Butler

9/12 at Treutlen ($)

9/26 Hancock Central* ($)

10/03 Twiggs Co.*

10/10 Wilkinson Co.* ($)

10/24 Glascock Co.*

10/31 GMC*

* – Region 5-Low A

($) –Pivotal games