After a promising season in 2022, the Lake Oconee Academy football program ramped up its offseason workouts this past summer in order to raise the team’s expectations.
LOA second-year head coach Patrick Stewart wants the Titans to come into the regular season playing physical football.
He’s implemented more workouts in the weight room and padded periods at practice to encourage it. The team also participated in several camps.
Upperclassmen on the team have seen the hard work pay off, and they are excited to start the season. Players such as Cameron Kelley and Jaquon Hall, who have been with the program since its first season in 2021, have seen their teammates want to get better. They each believe both sides of the ball will see an improvement this upcoming season.
Kelley was a part of an Lake Oconee Academy offense last season that was run-heavy; however, he acknowledged that the Titans will be “spreading” it out more on the field in 2023.
“We’re [going to be] spreading the ball out this year, throwing it around a little bit. You definitely need to keep your eye on Walker [Poyner] and some of the freshmen coming up,” he said. They’ve got some speed and agility, and they’ve worked hard so far at practices. Our offensive line is full of dogs. We struggled to run the ball at times last year, but they’ve matured and been hitting that weight room, so I think we’ll be good at all areas on offense.”
Hall was on a Titans’ defensive unit which struggled to make stops last year, although he explained that the unit has gotten better after a full offseason of working hard in the weight room.
“I expect us to get more stops and shut down the offenses we will play. We have some new coaches this year, and I feel like they’ve helped us a lot to prepare for the season,” Hall said. “We’ve also gotten older and some of the guys are starting to realize it’s about to come to an end, so I feel like we’re all just locked in and committing more to the team.”
On top of the returning seniors, Lake Oconee Academy has other players in the locker room who have stepped up and become leaders this offseason.
Titans’ junior Reid Davis is an inside linebacker for the blue and gold. The class of 2025 defensive player acknowledged that the team’s increased physical in team practices will only help prepare LOA to be a lot more aggressive against opponents during the season.
“Defensively, we’re going to be a lot more physical because we’ve all gotten a lot bigger, stronger and faster. Our whole offensive line is coming back as well, so I think we’ll show a lot of improvement from last year on both sides of the ball,” Davis said. “It’s really about being physical [and] though. You can see it at our practices, we’re way more physical and aggressive than we used to be. And I think that will help so many things.”
The Titans have also gotten a few players that transferred in at the end of last season.
Former Morgan County backup quarterback Ike O’Neal has only been with the team for a few months but has a lot of experience playing for the Bulldogs through the past two years.
He acknowledged the work ethic is there and that the team’s chemistry is only growing stronger.
“We’ve all been working really hard, so I think we’ll have a much better season this year than we did last [season]. We’ve got a few new kids coming [in] and I think we’ll be able to find success on Friday [nights],” O’Neal said. “It’s smaller than Morgan, but we work just as hard, if not harder. The team is becoming a family, and I’m excited for the season.”
The Titans’ football program is gaining momentum each year, and the shift around its culture has something to do with it. The team is trying to add more success in the win column.
As long as more players buy-in and learn from the older guys who have been there since the beginning, LOA can grow as a program and become more successful over time.
“We have the pieces in place,” O’Neal said. “Now, it’s just about transitioning that to the field.”