DUNWOODY, Ga. — As the Dunwoody Wildcats look ahead to Friday night’s season opener against St. Pius, fifth-year head coach Mike Nash has no illusions about winning the AAAAAA Region 7 championship. After all, Dunwoody hasn’t won more than three games in any of his first four seasons. But Nash, who has had to build the program from the ground up, feels this year’s team will be his most competitive.

“This is the first group that we’ve really had the whole way through and this group of seniors will have to lead them,” Nash said. “I believe they will do that. This community deserves a winner. I believe this is the group to give it to them.

Nash’s optimism is buoyed by Dunwoody’s 31-31 tie with 1-A perennial power Wesleyan in its pre-season scrimmage two weeks ago. The Wildcats were able to finish in a draw despite five turnovers.  

“Wesleyan is a quality football program,” Nash said. “1-A or 7-A, it doesn’t matter. They are a quality program. For us to be able to compete with them says a lot about how far we’ve come.”

Junior quarterback Davis LeDoyen has come a long way since his sophomore season when he threw more interceptions than touchdown passes. Against Wesleyan, LeDoyen passed for almost 300 yards and three touchdowns despite sitting out the fourth quarter. 

“Davis has grown up a lot and he has worked extremely hard this offseason,” Nash said. “He understands our scheme and knows what we are trying to do. I am 100 percent comfortable with him right now.”

Also 100 percent comfortable with LeDoyen is senior wide receiver Tyler Eith, who totaled almost 200 yards receiving and two touchdowns against Wesleyan. However, putting up those kinds of numbers against St. Pius, which has reached the state playoffs 13 straight seasons, won’t be easy. Dunwoody was routed by the Golden Lions in last year’s season opener, 45-17. 

“St Pius was one of the best teams in the state last year,” Nash said. “We did what we could do. What concerns me most is that they are extremely disciplined. Any team coached by coach (Paul) Standard is going to be that way. He’s a legend in Georgia high school football, and there is a good reason for that. He’s one of the best.”

This is St. Pius’ second game of the season after opening with a 28-10 loss to Blessed Trinity.  “My first concern is we have to correct our mistakes from our first game,” Standard said. “We did some good things, but also made a lot of mistakes that need to be fixed. Secondly, my next concern is Dunwoody. They are big, fast, and well coached. They have some outstanding players who make plays.”

Despite the loss to Blessed Trinity, Standard has high hopes for this year’s Lions’ team. 

“We graduated a great class of seniors (28) that had several three-year starters,” Standard said.  “This year, we have a young team with some sophomores starting for us that are going to be good players. Our senior class is small in size (11), but big in heart and have been great leaders for the rest of the team. But our expectations will never change here, and our players and community know that.”

Dunwoody and St. Pius kick off at 7:30pm on Friday at North DeKalb Stadium.

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