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Chambers Academy will look to get back to the state championship this year after missing it for the first time in seven years.

Head Coach Jason Allen will have to deal with a younger team, but he still has some players who can help the team return to the state title.

Allen spoke about his team at high school football media days, and he was joined by linebacker Gavin Kight, lineman Levi Waldrop, lineman Jake Owen and running back Braxton Yerta.

Allen will be coaching his 19th season for Chambers Academy.

“This is my favorite time of the year,” Allen said. “A lot of people are excited about football in the south, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Chambers Academy is my alma mater, and it’s where my heart is.”

Allen is optimistic about his team despite losing several seniors.

“We’re coming off our seventh year in a row with 10 plus wins,” Allen said. “I think we’ve stood the test of time, and that’s what you strive for as a coach.”

Allen is proud of the way his team has shown up to summer workouts.

“That’s the number one thing is they have to show up,” Allen said. “We feel like that is a recipe for what our team is going to look like in the fall. They believe in us and our system.”

Allen also praised the people around him for the success at Chambers.

“I have a great coaching staff and a community,” Allen said. “If you ever go to a football game at Chambers Academy, the community shows up, and they love football. I tell my kids this is one of the greatest times of your life, and the window is closing fast. You better enjoy it because you’ll talk about it for the rest of your life.”

Allen still has high expectations for his team.

“Our goal is to win a championship, and I think that should be every team’s goal,” Allen said. “If not, why else are you doing this? It’s hot, and it’s time consuming doing what we do. We lost 18 seniors, but we graduate players every year. I feel like we’ve done a good job of moving forward and keeping positive momentum.”

Allen also discussed how not playing Springwood this year will affect his program.

“We lost the Springwood rivalry now that they’re playing a different style of football,” Allen said. “That’s tough because you need a rivalry. Rivalries are good for high school sports. That hurts us losing that, and I hope we can regain that rivalry again.”

Chambers will play a game on Saturday for the first time in program history.

“We’ll be playing in the SECIS game at the University of West Georgia,” Allen said. “We’re going to play First Presbyterian Day. This is completely new for us, and we’re excited about it. It’s something new, and I hope we will represent our association well.”

Despite losing several players last year, Allen thinks one advantage Chambers has is the fact that they’re able to coach the players all the way from middle school up to high school.

“We run the same system all the way down to fourth grade,” Allen said. “We kind of have an idea of what we’re getting when they come up to ninth grade. It’s been great because we don’t have to do a whole lot of teaching. They say tradition never graduates.”

Allen plans to run a Wing-T style offense.

“I’m a play action coach, and our kids are doing the same stuff they did in peewee,” Allen said.

Gavin Kight knows his team is hungry to make the state championship this year.

“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder,” Kight said. “Losing like that in the semifinals, you’re going to have a chip on your shoulder.”

Allen feels like his team is being overlooked, but he’s excited about it.

“Look at Auburn University. They got picked to finish seventh in the West last week,” Allen said. “As a coach that would excite me. I know these guys are excited, and they’re hungry. Our program speaks for itself. Winning becomes a habit like losing.”

Chambers will play their first game against Lee-Scott on Aug. 18.