Jaguars seeking first Classic City Championship win in seven years

September 10, 2015

The 2014 Classic City Championship took place on Sept. 12-13. The game was postponed on Sept. 13, 2014 due to weather delays. Clarke Central went on to win the game 44-29 on Sept. 13.

By MATTEO CASTILE – Cedar Shoals High School BluePrints Magazine Sports Editor

Cedar Shoals High School BluePrints Magazine Sports Editor Matteo Castile predicts a Cedar Shoals High School victory.

The 49th Classic City Championship will take place on Friday, Sept. 11, and the Cedar Shoals High School football team feels optimistic as they prepare to play their crosstown rival, the Clarke Central High School football team.

“We are going to win. We are going to fight for it. We all want it more than anyone else does, including Central. Our work ethic exceeds anything they could be doing,” senior cornerback De’Treviunte Cooper said.

The team has had two weeks to prepare for this game after losing to Elbert County High School 40-14 on Friday, Aug. 28. The CSHS team has not taken the week off lightly, even practicing on Labor Day.

“I missed my family cookout to come be with my team and to practice. I’ve put this game before anything else in my life,” Cooper said.

Despite a well-rounded roster full of veteran leadership, senior Jaguars are still seeking their first win against CSHS in their high school careers. This season, they have been set back by a key injury.

“I missed my family cookout to come be with my team and to practice. I’ve put this game before anything else in my life.”

–De’Treviunte Cooper,

Cedar Shoals High School Senior cornerback

Senior defensive back and running back Greg Smith went down with a high ankle sprain against ECHS. However, the team does not plan to let down.

“Their team doesn’t have anybody that should worry us too much. Even without me playing my team will rise to the occasion and shut them down,” Smith said.

When the Jaguars step onto the practice field, their only focus is on this game.

“We’ve put everything we have into preparing for this game, there’s nobody that can stop us,” junior quarterback Rodney Dillard said.

Through their sheer commitment and work ethic, the Jaguars can pull off a close win against the Gladiators. This will be a very close and relatively high scoring game for both teams, as each side features explosive offenses.

“This is not just any other game, this is the City Championship, we work harder, run harder, and go harder in preparation for this game more than any other,” varsity head football coach Scott Wilkins said.

“We are going to win. We are going to fight for it. We all want it more than anyone else does, including Central. Our work ethic exceeds anything they could be doing.”

–De’Treviunte Cooper,

Cedar Shoals High School Senior cornerback

Cedar Shoals will rely heavily on sophomore running back Jaivanni McDavid’s ability to accelerate off the line of scrimmage and sophomore running back Jephari Colbert’s diverse skill set to accumulate multiple touchdowns against the Gladiator defense, which I predict will catapult the CSHS team to a 31-24 victory over CCHS.

David Ragsdale

David A. Ragsdale (UGA B.S.Ed. ’01, M.Ed. ’03, Ed.S. '09), CJE, has advised student publications since 2001 at Clarke Central H.S. in Athens, Ga., where his duties include advising the ODYSSEY Media Group and Iliad literary-art magazine. Additionally, he serves as Co-Department Chair of the English department at CCHS, coordinates student internships with the University of Georgia, serves as Gifted Coordinator and teaches English at the Title I school. He spends summers teaching at the Georgia Governor's Honors Program for the state's top gifted and talented students or on the faculty of journalism workshops across the Southeast. Ragsdale received the Crystal Apple Award, an honor given to University of Georgia alumni in K-12 education who have made a significant impact on student, school or school district performance in 2007. Ragsdale was the GSPA Adviser of the Year in 2007 and 2020. He was named an ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Fellow in 2014, an Elizabeth Dickey Distinguished Service Award recipient by the Southern Interscholastic Press Association in 2015, named a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Distinguished Adviser in 2019 and the Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2022. Ragsdale and his staff have twice been recognized for their commitment to Diversity by the Journalism Education Association (2020-21 and 2021-22). He received the Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award from SIPA in 2024 and he’s been commended by the JEA Board of Directors for his work for the organization. He served on UGA’s College of Education’s Alumni Board and on the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Advisory Board for several years, and currently serves on the National Council of Teachers of English’s REALM committee, as the Journalism Education Association’s State Director for Georgia, and as the Southern Interscholastic Press Association’s Executive Chair. Ragsdale will facilitate the JEA Outreach Academy at fall conventions. Ragsdale advocates a stance of student inquiry in his work and seeks to provide a safe place for students to not only succeed but also to fail. He seeks to empower students to recognize the implicit and explicit import of their words and to engage them in masterful storytelling. His students have received top honors in critiques and competitions across the country.