Sprayberry Football

One (1) – the number of Sprayberry Head Coaches to win a post-season game.  John Paty won 4 Region Playoff games in 1978 and 1982 (winning 2 post-season games each year), taking home Regional Titles and reaching the GHSA Playoffs Quarter-Finals both times... The Yellow Jackets have only played in one (1) double-overtime game, a 6-0 win at home against North Cobb in 1977.

Three (3) – the number of Region Championship Titles won by Sprayberry Football teams.  The Yellow Jackets won two Region Titles in 1978 and 1982 under Head Coach John Paty.  They won another in 2008 under Head Coach Billy Shackelford... In addition, Paty-coached teams made 3-straight post-season appearances (1977-79), and Shackelford-coached teams made 3-straight GHSA State Playoff appearances in his first 3 years as Head Coach... Three (3) is the number of seasons the Yellow Jackets have been in the Final Top 10 State Division Rankings (#10-1965, #8-1978, #8-1982)... Three (3) is also the number of star players named "Hazard" who have played football for Sprayberry.  Joel Hazard (1998-2000), WR Boston College (2000-03), is a member of both the Golden and Silver Anniversary All-Star Teams and an inductee into the SHS Sports Hall of Fame... Jordan Hazard (2003-05), WR Shorter University () and UTC (), is a member of both the Golden and Silver Anniversary All-Star Teams, an inductee into the SHS Sports Hall of Fame, won the Jim Frazier Leadership Award (2004), and was Varsity Team MVP (), Varsity Team Captain (), and All-County ()...Daniel Hazard (), LB Shorter University () won the Jim Frazier Leadership Award (2007) and was Varsity Team Captain ()... ... Three (3) is also the number of professional football players to have played at Sprayberry.  Kicker Pete Rajecki was the first soccer-style kicker for the Georgia Bulldogs.  He went on to play two years with the NY/Charlotte Stars/Hornets of the WFL and one preseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.  Billy Blaylock was a QB for the 1982 Region Champion Jackets and played at Tennessee Tech.  He was selected in the 12th Round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers as a DB.  Rusty Gillespie was another Jacket kicker (both a placekicker and a punter) who lettered for the Georgia Bulldogs in 1984 and played for Coach Steve Spurrier's Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL in 1985.

Seven (7) – the number of Yellow Jackets awarded All-State First Team (AJC, AP) honors.  Tommy Arnold (1961) was the first, followed by Don Ellers (1963), Troy Myers (1982), Rick Odle (1983, Joe Biddy (1985), and, most recently, Jerrick McKinnon (2009) and Blake Young (2009).  Eleven (11) other Yellow Jackets have received All-State Honorable Mentions... #7 is the highest in-season Division Ranking of any Yellow Jacket team (the 1979 team was Ranked #7 for 4 weeks).

Nine (9) – the number of Regional post-season games played by Sprayberry Football teams.  Teams in 1965 (8-3), 1976 (6-5), 1977 (8-3), 1978 (9-3-1), 1979 (7-4), 1982 (10-3), 1983 (8-3), 1988 (6-5), and 1989 (7-4) played in Region post-season contests.

Two (2) – the number of Sprayberry Football Head Coaches to make post-season appearances three or more times.  John Paty (.495 @ SHS) compiled a 4-9 (.308) post-season record during nine post-season appearances (winning two Region Titles – in 1978 and 1982 – along the way).  Paty made three appearances in a row from 1977-79.  Billy Shackelford (.558 @ SHS) also made three appearances in a row from 2007-09 and won a Region Title in 2008 during his first three seasons.

Four (4) – as in AAAA… the natural home of Sprayberry Football.  Since 1956, the Yellow Jackets have played in four divisions.  Nearly one-half of their seasons have been played as a Division AAAA team (.445 record), whereas they played 18 years as a AAA team (.361 record), 8 years as a AAAAA team (.259), and 4 years as a AA team (.457 record).  Moreover, nine of their post-season appearances and all four of their post-season wins (in 1978 and 1982, under Coach Paty) were in Division AAAA.

Five (5) – the number of 8+win seasons by the Yellow Jackets.  The first of these came in 1965 (8-3) under Head Coach Jack Wade (.535 @ SHS).  The remaining four came under Head Coach John Paty (.495 @ SHS) in 1977 (8-3), 1978 (9-3-1, Region Champs), 1982 (10-3, Region Champs), and 1983 (8-3)...  Wade also coached teams to five-straight winning seasons in 1961 (7-3), 1962 (6-3-1), 1963 (6-4), 1964 (6-4), and 1965 (8-3, Sub-Region Champs)... Five (5) is the total number of championships won by the Yellow Jackets (1978, 1982, 2008 Region Titles; 1965 and 1988 SubRegion Titles).

Six (6) – the number of Georgia State High School Association (GHSA) State Playoff appearances made by the Yellow Jackets.  Billy Shackelford coached three of these teams (2007, 2008, 2009), John Paty coached two teams (1978 and 1982), and Billy Hamilton (.333 @ SHS) coached one team (1999)... Six (6) is also the number of NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (D1-FBS) conferences in which former Yellow Jackets have played, including the ACC, Big10, Big12, ConferenceUSA, Sun Belt, and SEC.

Eight (8) – the number of seasons Sprayberry played in Division AAAAA.  During the period 2000-07, Sprayberry went 21-60 (.259) as a AAAAA team, making one GHSA State Playoff appearance in 2007.

Ten (10) – the most number of wins in a season by a Sprayberry Yellow Jacket team.  The 1982 team finished the season with an overall record of 10-3, and as Region Champions and GHSA State Playoff Quarter-Finalists... Ten (10) is the number of "trail-blazing" Sprayberry teams that have emerged over the years.  The first such team is the one that started it all… the inaugural 1956 team, which also produced the program’s first winning season (4-1).  Others include: the 1959 team (1-9) that won Sprayberry’s first Division AAA game… the 1961 team (7-3, see photo at left) that was the first team with a 10-game schedule to have a winning season... the 1965 team (8-3) that was the first to sweep its Region games and produced not only the programs’ first Top 10 Ranking, but also three eventual Georgia Bulldog letterman - the first college players to come out of the program… the 1978 team (9-3-1) that won the Jackets’ first Division AAAA game, won its first Region Title, and won its first post-season game... the 1979 team (7-4) that was the first to be ranked as high as #7 in Division rankings... the 1982 team (10-3) that was the first to win 10 games in a season… the 2000 team (1-9) that won Sprayberry’s first Division AAAAA game… and the 2008 team (7-4) that was the first to win 7 games in a row (capturing a Region Title).  The tenth team of trailblazers will be the 2011 team, which kicks off the era of synthetic turf at Sprayberry this Fall.