By Ella Harvey
The past two Fridays featured arguably some of the biggest rivalry games of the season for Lovett football: Pace and Westminster. And they did not disappoint. For the much-anticipated Battle of Buckhead on August 21, Lovett dominated the Westminster Wildcats 31-12. Then the following Friday night on the Riverbank, the team beat the Pace Knights by a whopping 44-14, continuing their 5-year win streak against Pace.
But while these wins might have seemed easy to pull off, the team’s dedication during the weeks leading up to the big games was arguably the key factor in their domination. “We followed our routine, because the way and how we practice is how we win,” head coach Muschamp explained.
And those practices get harder before these rival games, according to senior offensive center James Izard. “Overall, our goal is to get better and better each week,” he explained. Junior offensive and defensive lineman, Lee Wetzler, agreed. “The determination that our team had during both weeks made everyone do their part in drills and practice to get better,” he said.
Even though they did not beat Westminster last year, junior starting quarterback Sam Abney explained that they did a lot of the same preparation as last year for Battle of Buckhead. The main difference Sam pointed out was that “we better executed what we prepared, helping us get the win.”
One strategy they employed was having “a scout team that ran Westminster and Pace’s plays,” sophomore quarterback McCree Wilson explained. This meant they recreated and memorized formations, plays, and schemes seen on Pace and Westminster film to better prepare themselves for their upcoming opponents.
After learning about the football players’ practices, I wondered what the cheerleaders did to prepare for the Battle of Buckhead and Pace.
“We put a lot of time and consideration into our routines, and we practiced very hard to make sure that everyone was super hyped up,” cheerleader Olivia Chappell said. Their goal: “to help the football players win with our cheers.”
The cheerleaders and the Ultras did an amazing job energizing the crowd. One senior fan, Clement Tada, shouted out how the Ultras “both together were really good at hyping up the student section.”
Offensive center James Izard thought the student section created a really positive momentum for the Lions, and “they helped us play our best.”
Adding to the energy, cheerleader Kate Kennedy described what it was like to be on the actual sidelines for the Battle of Buckhead. “The student section was very spirited at BOB,” she said, “and I really enjoyed cheering on everyone!” She had a really good time at Westminster because the game was very competitive.
The competitive spirit helped the Lions control the lines of scrimmage both offensively and defensively, which Coach Muschamp said felt very different this year against Westminster than in previous years.
Because the offense did such a good job against Westminster, “We were able to score in the first three drives,” Coach Muschamp explained.
Coaching-wise, quarterback Sam Abney felt that the coaching staff had “some really creative play calling.” One example of this was when Head Coach Muschamp called for “a double pass for a big touchdown.” Sam passed the ball to junior running back Knox Thomason, and then Knox (a former quarterback himself) launched the ball roughly thirty to forty yards in the air to open sophomore wide receiver Charlie Kuzniak, who sprinted an additional thirty yards for the touchdown.
Coach Dobbins, the special teams coach, stated that “The players executed really well at the Westminster and Pace games, and played really tough.” He thinks that part of this is because “in the evenings and the mornings with practice due to heat, we have become a really bonded team, and faced adversity.”
Sam explained how, since the team is so bonded and having fun in practice and in the locker room, he thinks it makes the team “more motivated to go out on Fridays and win.” Student leadership matters, too. Sophomore QB McCree Wilson described how “It is easy to look up to the older guys on the team.”
For the rest of the season, Coach Dobbins says that the confidence the players have after beating two of their biggest rivals is a huge factor in the upcoming games. Assistant Coach Claxton believes that as exciting as it is to win, “You have to move on and get better every week, and that is what we are going to do; we can’t dwell on previous wins,” Coach Claxton stated.
Offering a humble leadership perspective, Sam added that “the most important game is always the next one.” It was a mindset that clearly resonated; just hours later, the team secured its third straight victory of the season over Fellowship Christian, locking in a perfect 3-0 record just in time for the bye week.
