Camden County head football coach, Bob Sphire is getting used to traveling all over Georgia to coach his Wildcat football team. This past Friday night the Wildcats took a six-hour bus ride to Forsyth County in north Georgia, and came away with a convincing 47-6 win over West Forsyth.  

According to Sphire, his team is well-tested to travel.

“In our region (1-7A) there are only four teams, so to get a full schedule of regular season games we have to travel,” Sphire said 

Sphire, in his third year at the Kingsland school, was pleased with his team’s effort last Friday night. “I thought we played well,” he said. “We did some good things offensively and defensively. For our first game of the year, I was pleased.”

Sphire left a successful North Gwinnett program and became the head coach at Camden County three years ago. He has put his stamp on everything about the Wildcat program over the past two seasons and now he’s beginning to see the rewards of the changes he’s made.  His team went 3-7 in his first year at the helm, and ended last year at 7-4, with a playoff appearance.

The Wildcats have 40 returning lettermen, a varsity squad of just more than 100 players and compete in one of the toughest regions in the state. 

“Region 1 is Region 1,” he said. “There are only four teams (Camden County, Colquitt County, Tift County and Lowndes) and you have to play your best game every week to have a chance to win this region championship. If you end up as the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the region you get to play a couple of playoff games at home.”

Among the returning lettermen, there is size, experience and eye-opening talent. Up front at left tackle is a 6-foot-5, 323-pound junior Micah Morris, who according to Sphire has a chance to be one of the best lineman in the state this year. Morris is joined up front by another top-notch lineman, Micah Ballard, a 6-3, 280-pound senior who helps to anchor a huge offensive Wildcat line.

Two top running backs return to solidify the running game. Jamie Felix, a 5-10, 205-pound sophomore, and Daryl Williams, a 5-10, 195-pound junior, return to lead the ground attack for the Wildcats. Felix and Williams both rushed for more than 800 yards last season. 

As satisfying as last week’s win over West Forsyth was, Camden County hits the road yet again this coming week as they travel to Macon to meet Wren, S.C., at Five Star Stadium at Mercer University.

“We are playing a really good football team this week,” said Sphire. “They went deep in the playoffs in South Carolina a year ago and they are very good again this year. We’ve got our hands full again this week.”

Camden County opens the home portion the season on Sept. 6 with a date with Locust Grove and then hosts back-to-back meetings with Richmond Hill and Brunswick. The Wildcats will play host to region foes Colquitt County and Lowndes in Kingsland when that portion of the schedule begins in October and will travel to Tift County to end regular season play.