GMC junior college football begins its 2017 campaign with a home contest against Navarro College Thursday on Davenport Field. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — College football season has descended upon Milledgeville.

Local football fans can ring in the new year with the GMC junior college Bulldogs as they open their season at home Thursday night against Navarro College, also the Bulldogs. Every game in junior college football matters, but there’s a bit of added weight to Thursday night’s matchup since GMC enters as the No. 8 team in the NJCAA while Navarro holds No. 7 in the preseason polls. GMC head coach Bert Williams, entering his 18th season, does not put too much stock in preseason ratings, but was grateful for the early recognition.

“Preseason rankings are generally an indicator of how you did the previous year and what you have returning from that team,” said Williams. “I’m flattered that there’s enough people out there that think enough of us to put us up there in the Top-10. It’s certainly easier to move when you start high if you can handle your business. For us it’s always going to come down to whether or not we can take care of business on game day. If we can do that we’ll have a chance in the end.”

With a ranking that high, the Dogs will be gunning for the program’s first NJCAA national championship since 2001. GMC finished 2016 at 9-2 with one of those losses coming in the season opener at Navarro (final score 27-23) in Corsicana, Texas. Williams and his staff return a lot of starters on defense, but precious few on offense. The offensive front was an area of concern entering the season having only one starter from 2016 returning in tackle Raekwon Allen. The head coach said it will take watching them perform in a real game setting to know whether or not the blockers have come together as a unit. Transfer center Tristin Sellers has been ruled out with an ankle injury making the situation up front a little more unpredictable.

“We’ve made some progress up front,” Williams said. “I’ve been pleased with the direction we’ve been going, but the true test will come Thursday. You can train, train and train, but you don’t know how you’re going to act until you get in the middle of it. It’ll be a good test Thursday to see where we are.”

Garrel Quainton will line up at quarterback, primarily in the shotgun, in offensive coordinator Ross Robinson’s pro style scheme. Quainton, a sophomore out of West Laurens High School, got some game snaps last season in mop-up duty and has shown significant improvement through spring and fall camps, according to his coach. The other skill positions are also question marks after most of the contributing talent has moved on. 

“It looks like Kalan Watts will probably get the start for us at the tailback position, but fullback is still neck and neck, and we’ve got four or five receivers that can fit in there,” said Williams. “We’re still doing those evaluations, but they’ll all get some snaps.”

Watts carried the ball 18 times last season for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

Navarro finished out 2016 at the No. 9 spot in the NJCAA poll after finishing 6-3. Williams said he and his staff will glean some things that happened in last year’s meeting but will also be wary of changes since Navarro has a new defensive coordinator in place in Jim Gush who comes over from the assistant linebackers’ coach post at Baylor University,

“We expect a little change in flavor on the defensive side of the ball,” said Williams. “We’re preparing for what they’ve done in the past and some of the things that Baylor did last year.” 

On offense, the GMC head coach touted Navarro’s run game success from the past and added they also like to throw the ball over the top of defenses when the matchup suits them. 

Kickoff between GMC and Navarro is set for 6 p.m. Thursday from Davenport Field.