By: Jason Bishop

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

It has been a tough road for the Camden County Wildcats over the past few years.

The Wildcats have suffered through back-to-back losing seasons in 2020 and 2021. The program has not beaten the “big dogs” in region 1-7A, the Colquitt County Packers and the Lowndes County Vikings, since 2015. The Wildcats knocked off the Vikings that year 38-19 en route to a 10-2 season.

2015 is also the last time Camden won a playoff game. The Wildcats hosted the Hillgrove Hawks and handled them 38-17.

Since 2016 Camden has amassed a record of 29-34.

Here’s my point…last season Camden hired Jeff Herron as their head coach to turn the program around and put the Wildcats back on an elite trajectory.

There has been a change in Kingsland in year two and it has been impressive to this point.

The Wildcats got off to rough start. Camden dropped their opener to the Columbia Eagles. A team most predicted they would have on a running clock by the 4^th quarter. Instead, the Eagles shocked the Wildcats and won a 13-10 contest.

The following week the Wildcats went up to Brunswick and lost a hard fought 16-10 contest to the Brunswick High Pirates. That was the turning point.

It has almost been that the proverbial switch got flipped after that loss.

The next week the Wildcats hosted the Glynn Academy Red Terrors and played with a chip or edge or what ever you’d like to call it. But it felt different. The Wildcats trounced the Red Terrors 37-7.

Since that point the Wildcats have played B.E.S.T. Academy, Somerset Academy and Atlantic Coast. While none of these schools are state powers, the Wildcats did what they were supposed to do in these games, win convincingly and more importantly, get better.

Since the BHS game, Camden’s varsity has outscored their opponents 177 to 7.

The defense is flying around the field making plays, the kids seemed to have gotten comfortable with the Wing-T on offense and things are beginning to feel normal again around Camden County.

Camden has won four in a row entering region play. Richmond Hill is up first. Camden will head up I-95 to take on the other Wildcats in a couple weeks. This may end up being the most important game of the season.

After that the Wildcats travel to Moultrie to take on Colquitt County, then back at home against Valdosta and Lowndes to wrap up the regular season.

Is this team going to win a state title, probably not. Are they going to win the region, they are not expected to.

However, what this team will be is…..the team that turned the program around and got Camden moving back in the right direction and becoming a state force again.

Oh, and as far as beating Lowndes and/or Colquitt and winning a playoff game, those droughts end with this team as well.