Just Win One More (At Least)!

Corey Jarvis left a winning program at ML King for a Duluth program that has not experienced much recent success. Jarvis admitted recently during an appearance on GPB Sports Central XL that a change in administration at ML King helped Jarvis with his decision, but he also looked at the Duluth situation as a challenge he was willing to take. “It’s a great challenge. We knew it was going to be,” Jarvis said of the Wildcat program that experienced its heyday in the mid-70s and early 80s.

“We’ve got some great kids. They just needed some guidance,” Jarvis said of the charges he inherited when he took the job with the Purple and White. Several players have stood out this season, including QB Anfornee Stewart and safety Xavier Walker, who played his way onto the Score 44 for several weeks earlier this year. “The kids have picked up our schemes well, and each week we’ve been showing improvement.”

The Wildcats currently sit in fifth place in Region 7-AAAAA at 2-3 in region play, 4-4 overall. The four wins is the most since 2003 and one more victory would give the Wildcats its first non-losing record since the squad went 5-5 that year. The last six seasons though the Wildcats have won just an average of one game per season. The program was winless in 2004 and 2008 and won just one game in 2007 and 2009. After falling to Peachtree Ridge last week, the Wildcats have two games left to try and make the playoffs. The Wildcats will face No.2 North Gwinnett then Mill Creek at home to wrap the season up as Jarvis tries to get the Wildcats into the postseason. Last week, Jarvis admitted on Sports Central XL that his team would have to win two of its last three games to go to the playoffs. Knocking off North Gwinnett in Suwanee will be a tall task and then following that up with Mill Creek may be too much for the rebuilding Wildcats to muster, but down the line Duluth may be major players. “Our kids are very strong. We’ve got some big linemen,” Jarvis said and he knows the recipe for Region 7-AAAAA success is good interior linemen.

“A winning season would be huge, huge for the community.” Jarvis has seen success this season as he has seen his team win and he hopes the community has seen it as well. “Just to go 5-5 would be satisfying, but I want better.” If the team gets five wins in Jarvis’s first season, the expectation level will surely rise in the years to come for the Duluth program.