Warren County High in Warrenton and Glascock County High’s football stadium in Gibson are about 20 minutes apart. It’s a fairly simple drive since U.S. Hwy. 278 forms a loop road around downtown Warrenton. You take 278 to Ga. Hwy. 171, turn right, and keep going into downtown Gibson once the road ends into East Main Street. 

Turn right at the T, and the stadium is just up the hill on your right.

Having travelled this road a lot more than most, I also know that Georgia 171 is where I got a speeding ticket writing my first book. When you’re leaving Warrenton, you pass what is now the Career Academy (more on that in a bit) and you are on a two-lane highway that rises into the trees that were parted to create the Gibson Highway.  

I was late for an interview in Sandersville and going on 171 was the cut through. I was flying over a rise, wasn’t looking at my speedometer and, sure enough, a Georgia State Trooper was camped out just north of Gibson.  

I knew I was done... 

Warrren county

Getting creative in practice is a key to survival for Warren County.

I explained what I was late for and the trooper, who was from Sandersville, had family in the Washington County High band. We struck up a conversation about the band, the Golden Hawks, and everything high school football. At the end of it all, I was written up for going 10-miles per hour over the speed limit in exchange for a mention on the Friday night shows I was set to appear on as a “thank you” and copy of Book No. 1.   

And I was thankful for the solution... 

I say this now because Hwy. 171 unites two neighboring counties and links the two football teams -- the Screaming Devils of Warren County and the Panthers of Glascock. It’s the biggest gate of the year for both and rivals that are more alike than you may think.  

warren

Warren County coach Steven Simpson

They’re also two of the four smallest enrollments in the state -- Glascock is listed at 169 students and Warren at 181. Steven Simpson came to Warren County six seasons ago after time at GMC Prep while Chris Kelley is in his 24th season in Gibson. They were playing on East Main last Friday night.

“Coaching at a smaller school is always a challenge,” Simpson tells me. “Every year, you worry whether you’ll be competitive or not. But, in Warrenton, it’s what they know. For the kids, it’s what they know. It’s interesting. It’s fun. It’s unique. I don’t know if that’s the case at bigger schools.” 

“It’s a difficult task,” Kelley says. “Some years it’s easier than others. But the last two years here we graduated 18 seniors. That’s hard to replace and we’re playing a lot of young kids. When you get to Class AA or AAA, you don’t have to do that as much. It’s a lot harder now than it has been in the past.” 

Warren County’s school is all in one hallway -- elementary, middle and high school. So, you know everyone and you see everything from all three schools at once. Warren County, in 2025, has 27 on the roster and 23 dressed out last week.

Glascock County’s school is divided into thirds on its own all on the same grounds and I was genuinely curious about how you practice each week when practically everyone plays both ways. 

“You have to, kind of, finagle practice,” Simpson says. “We’re in an off week, so we’re doing one side of the ball a day. D-linemen might get individual work and defensive backs may give you a pass perimeter look. And, then, you swap folks around. You have to be flexible because things may change at a moment’s notice. If one player is away, your practice plan could be way off.” 

“We have a roster of 31 this season,” Kelley says. “We had one out hurt and played 30 last week. We may have 29 this week,” he says with a bit of a laugh.  

Simpson admits the key to game weeks is flexibility. You might have to be creative when you work on an offensive drill. You may line up only a tackle, a tight end, and a guard and move other players around. 

“On Friday, we only had five O-Linemen dress out. Period,” he admits. “You certainly will know who the next best guy is and you have to coach up on the fly at this level. A fullback could be a guard and a tight end could be a tackle. You have to have back-up plans because you could have a lot of different things happen.” 

“At practice, we do a lot of ‘half-line’ and put a big on a big,” Kelley says. “Sometimes, that’s the only way to get a look at something. And we’ll put starters on starters as well.” 

Glascock County

Glascock County coach Chris Kelley

Credit: Glascock County Schools

Kelley also relays that Gibson and Glascock are just like any other community you may know -- they love a winner. The Panthers have had two home games this season and they’re social events. He says the fans are really behind you in a place that small (projected census is a little over 3,000 in the county, the fourth-least populated in the state).

Coach Simpson has a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Kelley and everything he has put together over time. At the same time, these two coaches have good relationships with all the kids on the roster. When you put a player in a position where he may excel in a place some initially think he won’t, Simpson loves to see that kind of growth.   

“The kids know, from the third grade on, what the game plans are at Glascock,” Simpson said. “They’ve known them that long. He’s a really good coach and I guarantee you that, if he had gone to coach at a larger school, Chris would have won a lot of games in his career. 

“You’ve seen it for so long with him that everyone has bought into his program and what he’s built. With ours, we’ve changed our offense and defense over the last few years. But we know what small towns are of the state of Georgia. Lincoln does it one way. Glascock does it their way. Our way? We do it with speed and it’s hard to simulate things with your No. 1s going against the rest of your roster when you play.” 

There is the dual enrollment program back in Warrenton I mentioned earlier, so there are times where when these two schools play each other, it’s a little bit of the “big brother, little brother” mentality.  

Oh... about the game... 

This year, Coach Kelley tells me (once again, no surprise) that his team plays over their heads in this game as they came in with a record of 1-3 going up against 1-4 Warren.  

“They’ll always have a fighter’s chance,” as Glascock was down only 16-14 at the break. The second half was all Warren County as they won 40-14 and have won 24 of 25 in the series -- the only Panthers win coming in 2013. Coach Kelley would like to move this game to the beginning of the year to kick things off instead of in the middle of everything. 

“It’s a big game for both of us," Kelley says. But I had to ask, with Chris and his experience at home at Glascock, what advice he would give to fellow small school coaches who might have questions about how to navigate the hurdles of a small program. 

“You can’t dwell on what you don’t have,” he says frankly. “Only focus on what you do have. O-Linemen could be running backs or linebackers for you. You have to think a step ahead and always have that back-up plan. And special teams is huge for you. 

“It really is a joy to coach here and it gives you a chance to be connected with your students. People ask me, ‘Why do you do it?’ When you have an ex-player come up to you and tell you, ‘I remember what you did for me and I wanted to thank you.’ It may not be anything that would happen quickly after a player has graduated, but those moments do come. 

“It’s bigger than the game itself. We’ve been in the playoffs the last two years, but year in and year out, it’s tough. I would also say that you have to look past the wins and losses and understand you have the chance to change people’s lives. There may be cases on your team where players may not have one or both adults in their lives. You get to be that second parent, that second uncle, or that second relative to help them through.”  

It doesn’t matter if that contact is on Ga 171, U.S. 278, or any other road like those two, but an old proverb comes to mind: “Small but powerful...” 

And it’s coaches like Chris Kelley and Steven Simpson that reinforce that ideal -- on and off the field, regardless of what the scoreboard or enrollment numbers may say.

Play it safe, everyone... I’ll see you soon...