Ridgeland Kicks Off Season With a New Head Coach and a Tough Schedule

Rossville, GA-(WDEF-TV) Ridgeland posted an 11-1 record last season.
But this year, they’re breaking in a new head coach in Cortney Braswell, and the Panthers will start their fall campaign against a tough, non-region schedule.

Cortney Braswell grew up in the Rossville area, so he’s honored to be coaching at Ridgeland.
Said Braswell:”It’s good to be back home. There’s a tremendous amount of pride and honor when you are back in your home town. Coaching your home town team.”
Reporter:”You have a big personality. Have these guys kind of warmed up to you here in the spring and now the fall?”
Said Braswell:”Depends on the day. Depends on the day. Some days are certainly better than others in the coaching land. We are really demanding of them. We exercise tough love, and if we don’t accept you for how you are, we’ll show you what you can be and push you as hard as we can.”
Said offensive lineman Logan Godfrey:”Yeah the players feed off of his energy like every day. We try to give everything we’ve got just like him, and it shows throughout practice.”
After running the Wing ‘T’ last year, Braswell is bringing the spread offense to Ridgeland this season.
Said Godfrey:”I think we’ve grown as an offense a lot over the summer. We are still aggressive. We like to run the ball. That’s Ridgeland football.”
Defensively, the Panthers were tough last year, giving up 20 points only twice last year.
Said Braswell:”We are starting a lot of new guys on the down three linemen and four linebackers, but they are explosive and really fast and athletic guys and really physical. We are hoping our speed is going to play into our hands a little bit.”
Ridgeland kicks their season on Thursday in the Corkey Kell Classic against Calhoun, and they also have non-region games with Troup Co and Sandy Creek.
Said Braswell:”We get to start the football season off in the entire state of Georgia. First show in town, so that’s really exciting.
Said linebacker Terrance Roberts:”Those first three games. They are going to be tough ones. It’s just going to tell us how the rest of our season is going to go. So we hang in there and beat them. Just hang in there those first three games, they’ll just tell us how the rest of our season goes.”