After 8-4 season, Dooly County looking to make return trip to playoffs.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Head coach of the Dooly County Bobcats, Jimmy Hughes, is now in his fifth season patrolling the sidelines. And after a respectable 2013 season which brought along 8 wins, he saw his team reach the state quarterfinals and lose a tight game to Marion county by a 24-21 score.

“Our kids really responded well,” Coach Hughes said about his 2013 squad, “after losing some really good players off the previous year’s team.”

This year, running back Chanin Hamilton will be the offensive catalyst for the Bobcats, and Hughes says his team will be relying heavily upon his shoulders, “We’re going to have a new quarterback, and we got all new receivers… Chanin is a special back, and he’s the right kind of kid.”

On the defensive aspect of the team, Dooly County will have four starters returning, and will need to replace several experienced linebackers. As with Hamilton for the offense, FS Jerome Pressley will be the focal point for the team’s defense.

“[Pressley’s] had a good career for us,” Coach Hughes said, “and we need him to kind of captain the defense.”

In order to replicate their record from a year ago, and perhaps even better it, Coach Dooly knows his team will have to play fast and physical. That means working hard during the summer and pre-season to get his team’s endurance levels up in order to be ready to compete.

Dooly County will play their first game on Friday, August 29th, versus Wilcox County.