2024 High School Football Preview: With only one departed senior, Christian Heritage has continuity in second year under Barden

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Rarely does a high school football team return to the field with the team from the previous season completely intact.

But head coach Frank Barden’s second season leading Christian Heritage football comes about as close to that ideal as possible.

The Lions lost just one senior — all-region kicker Carson Russell — from last year’s team. The offense — including dual-threat quarterback Carter Triplett and a host of dynamic receivers led by all-region player Charlie Idom — is back and intact, as well as a young defense that improved over the season last year as the Lions climbed out of an 0-3 hole to finish the regular season 5-5.

“Pretty much on offense and defense, we’ve got everybody back,” Barden said. “We’ve just kind of picked up from where we left off from last year.”

The bevy of returners for Christian Heritage also got to go through a full offseason workout regimen with Barden for the first time. Barden, a longtime former coach at Cartersville, was brought on in May 2023, just a few months before his first team kicked off last fall.

“These kids have worked hard and had a good spring and summer, and we’re excited about this year.”

After having only one senior last year, Triplett and Idom are among a group of 13 seniors for the Lions this fall.

Triplett led the Lions in both rushing and passing from his spot at QB last year, but Barden said that a stable of running backs, led by senior Thailan Christopher, could take pressure off of the all-region quarterback.

“I think we’re going to get some positive things from him at running back,” Barden said.

Sawyer Corn and Dontae Crowder join Idom as weapons in the passing game, and both serve as safeties on defense too. Sophomore Bronx Stallion could see an increased role as a receiver too, Barden said. Tight end Benji Michmerhuizen can catch passes or provide blocking for Triplett and Christopher.

Kyrese Broome and Bryce Gay are returning all-region offensive linemen for Christian Heritage, and Max Moore and Duncan Carpenter, both seniors, were all-region defensive linemen a year ago.

“Those are our two main guys back as defensive playmakers,” Barden said.

Also back are Cooper Middleton and John Stanley, who started as freshmen a year ago. Linebacker Jaylon Gay returns after missing much of last season with an injury.

The experienced Lions are stepping into a new situation this season.

Where the last two years saw Christian Heritage competing in a three-team region, this year’s team will play in an eight-team region, then, if they qualify for the state playoffs, will split off for the playoffs to compete in a separate playoff bracket with fellow private schools in Class A through Class 3A.

It’s a new system implemented by the GHSA this year. Christian Heritage will vie for the Region 7-A DI championship against the other seven public schools in the region, then, based on its performance, could be seeded into the Class A-3A Private state playoffs, either as an automatic qualifier by finishing in the top four or as an at-large berth.

Despite the new system, Barden said his team isn’t changing much about how it prepares for the season.

“The only way you can really prepare is just with what you control, and that is your own team,” Barden said. “You’re going to play who you’re going to play, whether it’s regular season or playoffs. We’re trying to build up our team. Everything else will take care of itself.”

Though, a seven-game region slate, compared to the two-game region schedule paired with a host of non-region contests like the last couple of years, would provide more opportunities to compete in games with more stakes attached, Barden said.

“It’s going to be really fun playing in an eight-team region,” he said.

Christian Heritage is slotted into Region 7-A DI with Armuchee, Chattooga, Coosa, Dade County, Fannin County, Gordon Central and Gordon Lee.

Barden said the Lions’ goal is to compete for the region title, then worry about the playoffs when that time comes.

“You try to be as good as you can be that time of the year, and then it’s just down to the fall of the bracket how far you can go,” he said.

Region 7-A Division I

Armuchee

Chattooga

Christian Heritage

Coosa

Dade County

Fannin County

Gordon Central

Gordon Lee

Key losses

K Carson Russell

Key players

QB Carter Triplett, senior

WR Charlie Idom, senior

DL/OL Duncan Carpenter, senior

WR/DB Dontae Crowder, senior

Circled on the schedule

At Heritage, Aug. 16

• It’s the Heritage Bowl to start the season: Christian Heritage at Ringgold’s Heritage. The Class 4A playoff team from a year ago will provide a tough non-region test before Christian Heritage gets into the meat of its seven-game Region 7-A DI schedule.

Gordon Lee, Sept. 20

• Falling down from Class 3A a year ago, where it made the state playoffs, Gordon Lee could be one of the teams to beat in Region 7-A DI.

At Armuchee, Nov. 1

• The final game of the regular season for Christian Heritage before it splits off from its public school region mates to vie for the Class A-3A Private Playoffs. The last game of the region slate could provide Christian Heritage an opportunity to lock up a region title, improve its seeding for the playoffs or increase its ranking formula for playoff positioning.