What a historic run this 2020 Fannin County football team has had. It is sad to see it come to an end. Through the highs and the lows of this year as a whole, one thing remained a constant: Friday night lights. 

Before we dive into this teams’ accomplishments, I had the opportunity to talk to Coach Cheatham about what this Senior class meant to him and what the team as a whole meant to him, and here’s what he had to say: 

“A tremendous group, and I have said it so many times that these guys are the cornerstone of this program because they were who we came in with and we were able to build it with them. It took a little while to get it rolling, you win 4 games the first year, you win 6 games the next, and then you win the regular season, but as they went, they got more and more mature and they understood what practice was supposed to be like, they understood the expectations. They were very business-like this year, and there’s never been a senior class in the history of the school that’s done what they have done. I told them that they’ll be legends forever.”

This team gave the community of Blue Ridge something to rally around and look forward to every week, and God knows that was needed this year. 

As sad as it is for the season to end, it is important to look back on everything this team has accomplished and make sure that they are not forgotten. 

The Fannin County Football program as a whole has 4 playoff victories, two of them thanks to this year’s team. In beating Heard County and Pace Academy, they doubled the programs post-season wins in one year. People compare this team to the 1995 Rebel team, and that’s probably rightfully so, but let’s not forget that even though the 1995 team did in fact make it to the Elite Eight, they only had to win one playoff game to get there. Back in 1995 there were only 16 teams that made the playoffs instead of 32 like there are now, so that ’95 team won their first round (sweet 16) game and were in the Elite Eight. This team had to scratch and claw through two games against two really exceptional teams to get to where they ended up. 

Statistically, this was the best Fannin County Offense ever. They scored nearly 100 more points than any other offense in school history. They put up 411 points this year, and the next closest is the 2015 team that scored 320. Alternately, they were right there with the school’s best defenses ever. They only allowed 166 points this year, and that ranks them in the top Fannin teams in terms of points allowed. 

If you have been following #TeamFYNsports this year, then odds are you saw our article where we announced the All Region 7AA players. The 2020 Region 7AA team had more Rebels on it than any other All Region team in program history with 21. 

Region 7AA player of the Year- Luke Holloway

1st Team Offense- Jalen Ingram, Cohutta Hyde, Seth Reece, Mason Bundy, Ricardo Arellanes

1st Team Defense- Dalton Ross, Cason Owensby, Carson Collis, McCay Turner

2nd Team Offense-Dylan Collins, Andre Bivens

2nd Team Defense- Logan Long, Andrew Waldrep, James Mercer, Jake Sands

All Region Honorable Mention- Chris Scott, Brayden Foster, Caleb Postell, Jack Kantner

Not only was Luke Holloway named Region 7AA player of the year, Chad Cheatham was named Region Coach of the Year and Coach Chris Thigpen was named assistant Coach of the Year. 

The honors do not stop there for Coach Cheatham, however. He was also named the North West Georgia Coach of the Year by NWGA Football. 

When I asked Coach about the Coach of the Year honors he gave the credit to everyone around him:

“It’s hard to accept any type of Coach of the Year award, because there are just so many people involved. You can’t get caught up in that kind of stuff because you watch your assistant coaches give their lives to these kids, give their lives to the coaches and to the sport. I don’t know how fair it is to single one guy out. I have said this since the year began and i’ll say it again: Any head coach in football, basketball, or whatever sport it is, that in the year of 2020 can keep their wits about them enough to coach every single day, they are all to be commended. This is really, really tough. We’ve had to coach in ways that we’ve never coached before and worry with things that we’ve never had to worry with before, so I would say that there are a lot of Coaches of the Year out there. I do appreciate it and appreciate everyone who voted and it means a lot to me, but what means the most to me is the fact that I love these kids, I love this program and it’s certainly not about me but it’s all about them. I just get a chance to tag along for the ride.”

I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you to this 2020 team for letting us tag along for the ride.