Stancil to face his first test as Dacula head coach

Published 11:56 am Wednesday, August 16, 2023

MOULTRIE – Reggie Stancil will send his first Dacula High football team to the field for the first time on Friday when the Falcons open the 2023 season at home against St. Pius X.

Stancil is one of 12 former Packers who are high school head coaches this season.

Another, of course, is Sean Calhoun, who served on the Packers staff under Rush Propst in 2014 and 2015 before embarking on a head coaching career that brought him back to Moultrie in 2022.

Stancil, the former Colquitt County All-State quarterback, was the head coach at Peachtree Ridge from 2017-2021, posting a 13-36 record.

He served as an assistant at McEachern last year before being named earlier this year to succeed Casey Vogt at Dacula.

The Falcons, who play in Region 8-7A, were 3-8 last season under Vogt.

St. Pius X is a Region 4-6A program in Chamblee in DeKalb County.

Also leading their teams into the 2023 season are:

• Robert Craft, who is starting his eighth season as the head coach at North Forsyth, which plays in Region 8-7A.

The Raiders are coming off their most successful season under Craft, who served as a Colquitt County assistant under both Tim Cokely and Propst.

North Forsyth went 8-4 and won six of it last eight games last season.

Craft is 39-36 in seven years with the Raiders and went 49-21 with a state championship in six years at North Florida Christian before that.

North Forsyth opens on Thursday against Archer.

• Shelton Felton, who is back for his third season at Valdosta after succeeding Propst in 2021.

The Wildcats were 8-3 last year, including a 24-6 loss to the Packers in the regular-season finale.

Felton, a defensive assistant under Propst at Colquitt County, is 12-9 at Valdosta and also went 16-8 in two seasons as the head coach of Crisp County, his alma mater.

Valdosta opens on Friday in Ohio against the longtime national powerhouse, Washington High of Massillon.

• Jeff Hammond, who served two terms as the Packers offensive coordinator. He is back at Worth County after leading the Rams to an 8-3 record in 2022 in his first year in Sylvester.

It was Worth’s best season since the 2015 team went 8-4.

The Rams will open on Friday at home against Turner County.

• Propst, who is back on the sidelines this season after taking over the Pell City High (Ala.) program.

As head coach at Colquitt County, he posted a 119-35 record in 11 seasons after going 110-16 at Hoover High in Alabama.

His overall head coaching record in Georgia and Alabama is 295-108, which includes an 0-12 record at Valdosta in 2020 in which the Wildcats were forced by the GHSA to forfeit their seven victories.

This will mark Propst’s 32nd year as a head coach. He has won five state titles at Hoover and two at Colquitt County.

• Bill Ragans, who served as an assistant on Cokely’s staffs in 2005 and 2006. He has been named the head coach at Chiles High in Tallahassee, where he had been the defensive coordinator for six seasons.

Ragans, a former outstanding defensive back at Florida State from 1987-1990, has served as an assistant at several schools and was the head coach at Leon High in Tallahassee, with a 20-26 record over five seasons.

Chiles will open on Aug. 25, at home against Wakulla.

• Scott Roberts, who was an assistant under Packers head coach Mike Singletary in 2004. He is starting his ninth season as the head coach at Swainsboro.

The Tigers went 13-1 last year, falling in the Class A Division I state championship game to Prince Avenue Christian 52-34.

Over the last two seasons, Swainsboro is 24-4.

Roberts is 67-30 in his career at Swainsboro, which will open its season on Friday at Metter.

• Justin Rogers, who led Thomas County Central to a 12-1 record, a Region 1-6A championship and a berth in the quarterfinals where the Yellow Jackets were eliminated by Roswell last fall.

Rogers had been the head coach at Colquitt County the three previous seasons, posting a 26-7 record.

He also was 45-15 in five years at Jones County before coming to Moultrie and is now 83-23 as a head coach.

The Yellow Jackets open on Friday at Cairo.

• Former Colquitt County assistant Granger Shook, who has left his alma mater Trinity Presbyterian to become the head coach at Pike Road High in Alabama this season.

Shook, who coached the Packers’ inside linebackers in 2014 and 2015, was 28-9 in three seasons as the Trinity Presbyterian head coach.

Shook also has been an assistant coach at Prattville (Ala.).

Pike Road opens Aug. 25, against Marist in Atlanta.

• Byron Slack, who led Cook to an 8-4 record in 2022 in his first season as the Hornets head coach.

It was the best record by a Cook team since the 2014 Hornets went 9-3.

Slack was the Packers defensive coordinator in 2021 after having been the head coach at Hillgrove in 2020.

Cook opens on Friday at Pelham.

• Rico Zackery, who coached the Packers linebackers in 2010. He is back for his second season at Westlake after leading the Lions to a 9-4 record last year.

Zackery is starting his seventh season as a head coach.

He was 10-10 in two seasons at Villa Rica and 30-6 in three years at Central Carrollton.

Westlake will open on Friday at North Cobb.