Q&A: Tucker football's Franklin Stephens

“We lost 31 seniors from last year’s team. We have a lot of talent, but it’s young and inexperienced. We’re hoping to develop those kids and somehow make it into the playoffs, where anything can happen.”

Stephens, who was an assistant on Camden County’s 2003 championship squad, talked about the challenges of winning back-to-back titles.

● On lessons learned at Camden: "The kids became a little complacent the following year. They didn't work to get to the mountaintop, like the group before. We could've won that next year, but we got beat by Lowndes in the semifinals. They were a much hungrier team."

● On the issue of repeat champions: "It's a lot easier to win one than repeat. That's why it really amazes me what [multi-championship] teams like Parkview, Buford, and Thomas County Central accomplished. It is a remarkable feat to keep those kids focused at a high level year after year after year."

● On Tucker's title chances: "We're not a senior team, and things are going to be hard for us, especially early in the season. We've got to develop confidence and toughness to have a chance at winning games. We'd love to make it to the playoffs."

● On holding a No. 1 ranking: "It's not every day you get to carry that. We had it for a while, then Westside-Macon got it. And it was big for us to play the No. 1 team. It's easy to get kids fired up for those type of games, rather than playing a 1-6 or 2-7 team."

● On the biggest difference from Tucker '08: "We had three guys ... quarterback Chris Beck, along with halfbacks Drayton Calhoun (signed with LSU) and Jonathan Davis (Central Florida) ... who could score from anywhere on the field on any given play. They could make a lot of bad things go right. This year, we don't have as many talented veterans like that."

Senior halfback Devin Scott, one of six returning starters, talked about Tucker:

● On repeating: "Last year's team had all the experience. This year, we're young and still learning. We have a lot of juniors and sophomores who really never played on varsity. We'll have to see."

● On momentum from last year: "As Coach Stephens says, 'Last year is over. Last year is last year, and this year is this year.'"

● On being a marked team: "We've got a bulls-eye on our back. I've got friends at Stephens, Southwest DeKalb and other schools, and they all say they are going to kill us."