Today’s interviewee is Toombs County coach Buddy Martin, whose team defeated Rome 33-29 last week. Toombs County is ranked No. 1 in Class A Division I. Martin, a Florida native, is in his ninth season at Toombs, his second as head coach.
1. What gave you the edge against Rome? “Any time you have two good football teams playing each other, turnovers will be a big part, and we were able to secure a couple of those that helped. At the end of the day, we’ve got a physical football team, a veteran football team and some older guys that made a bunch of plays, and we’ve got a community that supports and believes in us. Our guys got after it. They’ve got grit and toughness. They think they can play with anybody. The focus on our end was not on Rome, per se, but being the best team we can be. They know that if you want to win a state championship, you have to go on the road and win close football games like that. I was proud of our guys.”
2. The victory was Toombs County’s first in history over a top-10 team from a higher classification. How would you rank this accomplishment to others that you’ve had at Toombs, and why did you take on this challenge? “I don’t sit around ranking wins a lot, but you have to think about the two we had last year. Beating Appling County [31-28 when Appling was ranked No. 2] was a big accomplishment with the plays we made at the end of that game to kick a field goal to win it. Then to go to Thomson where we were told we didn’t have a chance and win that game [41-30 in the Class 2A second round when Thomson was ranked No. 1] in kind of a dominant fashion in the second half. Then you look at this one. Nobody gave us a chance again. This is not a game I was excited about playing. We scheduled it late. We were looking for another game. I have a ton of respect for Coach [John] Reid and I know the history of Rome football. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour road trip. That’s part of the reason I scheduled it. Last season we had a four-hour road trip to Rockmart [in the quarterfinals] and started that game very slow and got in panic catchup mode. I wanted to get back on the road and get that taste out of our mouths. We told them Monday it’s a playoff game. It’s going to take our best to win, so get locked in. It was a huge win for us. I’m glad it’s now part of our history.”
3.You have a couple of players who are highly recruited and were preseason all-state. Quarterback T.J. Stanley is committed to Georgia State. Lagonza Hayward is committed to Tennessee. For those who haven’t seen them, how would you describe what they bring to the team? “When I think of T.J. and Lagonza – and I’ll put Mike Polke in there, he’s committed to Mercer – it’s the character. There’s 30 other guys on the team the same way. T.J. is the quarterback of the offense. Lagonza is the quarterback of the defense, and he’s very vocal, making every call. They are men of integrity, and they are winners. T.J. has got a strong physical presence. He’s 205, 210 pounds. He’s thick. He looks like he could play middle linebacker. I think he had 15 carries in the game. In addition to his arm, he’s smart and humble. He’s one of those guys that doesn’t get real high or real low. He always wants to do better. Lagonza is a different personality. He’s full of energy. One of my favorite things about Friday was how excited he gets when his teammates make plays. He’s a physical presence in the run game, and he has the ability to run and turn his hips and cover and make plays in the air. And you didn’t ask about Mike, but he’s our lockdown corner and can play safety and nickel and is a really good receiver. I remember one time when we were having some issues and he looked at me and said, ‘Coach, we eat adversity!’ I’m thinking, ‘I love this kid, man!’ That’s the mentality of the group as a whole.”
4. What has elevated the team the past two seasons since you became head coach? Toombs was good before that, but these past two teams are playing at a high level. “When I came here eight years ago with Coach Richie Marsh, we went to work. We had guys that didn’t want to come in the weight room. We’d kick them out and had to go get them the next day. They hadn’t been winning. So we just went to work. I’ll give Coach Marsh a lot of credit. He’s family to me, and I love him to death. When I got the [head coaching] job, it wasn’t me saying we need to change. We just continued the path we’ve been on. We worked consistently. This is eight years of just going to work on that every day, being the best you can be, and then pairing that with talent.”
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