CHATSWORTH — As Kurt Napier enters year three as head coach of his alma mater at Murray County High, he’s placing an emphasis on playing competitive football.
Napier inherited a team that went 1-9, and his first team went 1-9 too. Last season, Murray made huge strides on offense and translated that into a 2-8 year.
This season, Napier hopes the program’s progress can bear fruit in the form of more competitive games, and maybe some more wins too.
“We’ve really put an emphasis on being competitive in every game,” Napier said. “There were too many times last year where we get to halftime and we feel like we don’t even have a shot in the second half. We want to get games into the fourth quarter where we’re competing and having a chance to finish the game off.”
Games like the finale of last season, when Murray out-dueled Gordon Central 44-43 to grab a momentum win that propelled Murray into the offseason looking to build on it.
Murray will have to keep its progress going without some of last year’s top skill players — quarterback Judah Woodall, running back Braylon Myers and all-region tight end Braxton Vineyard were lost to graduation — but Napier’s group will rely on a veteran line on both sides of the ball as new players break into their new roles.
Brayden Thomason is a returning all-region first-team lineman.
“We’ve got a veteran offensive and defensive line with a lot of depth,” Napier said. “We should be able to get the run game going and established.”
Junior running back John Bickford figures to be the focal point of that run-first mentality. He rushed for over 100 yards in Murray’s spring game in May.
Murray also has a few players that may see time at quarterback.
Trent Childers, a junior who split time with Woodall at QB some last season, returns, and Jagger Reed and Hayden Betterton played behind center during Murray’s fall scrimmage with Childers out. Childers is expected to be ready for the start of the season, Napier said.
Whoever takes the snaps for Murray will likely be looking for junior receiver Nate Perry, the top returning wideout from last year’s team.
“I think he is a special player,” Napier said. “We’re going to keep feeding him the ball on offense.”
Napier hopes to lean on that veteran defensive line, and a group of athletic defensive backs like Mason Rogers and Domingo Sanchez, to help establish his ideal identity for this year’s Indians.
“We want our identity to be that we play good defense and run the ball and make the plays when we have the chance to get the ball to our playmakers on offense,” Napier said.
Murray is tasked with keeping an upward trajectory going despite playing in what Napier believes is a more difficult region.
“We were in a really good region the last couple of years, and it may have even increased in difficulty,” Napier said. “There are more teams and there is a higher quality of teams.”
The latest round of GHSA reclassification left Murray still in Region 7-2A with returners Rockmart and North Murray, which were the top two finishers in the region last year. Also joining the nine-team region this year are Coahulla Creek, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, North Cobb Christian, Ringgold, Sonoraville and Union County.
Murray as a program is pretty familiar with Coahulla, LFO, Ringgold and Sonoraville, having shared a region with those teams in the previous reclassification cycle, which ended in 2022. Murray also played both Creek and LFO last season, falling to Coahulla 42-13 and LFO 33-25.
North Cobb Christian, a private school, will compete alongside the other schools in the region for the region championship, but will split off to compete in the new Class A-3A Private state playoffs, if it qualifies for the postseason.
Region 7-2A
Coahulla Creek
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe
Murray County
North Cobb Christian
North Murray
Ringgold
Rockmart
Sonoraville
Union County
Key losses
QB/LB Judah Woodall
RB Braylon Myers
TE/DE Braxton Vineyard
Key players
OL/DL Brayden Thomason, senior
RB John Bickford, junior
WR Nate Perry, junior
Circled on the schedule
Towns County, Aug. 16
• Murray County starts the season with a chance to grab a momentum-building win out of the gate. Murray hosts Towns County, which went winless in 2023, to open the season.
Southeast Whitfield, Aug. 30
• Murray hosts a Southeast Whitfield team that went 1-9 a season ago. If early-season games go Murray’s way, the Indians could be sitting at 2-1 or 3-0 after three games, having already matched or surpassed last year’s win total of two.
North Murray, Sept. 13
• Murray is on the hunt for its first win over North Murray. The Indians are 0-10 against North Murray since the newer school opened.
