Tiftarea Academy head coach Erik Soliday (right) was all smiles following a 2018 victory. His Panthers are now back on the field conditioning.

TIFTON — Tiftarea Academy resumed football workouts in June and head coach Erik Soliday reported a good first month being back on the field.

The 2020 season will be Soliday’s third at Tiftarea. After two consecutive trips to the state semifinals, he already has reason to cheer this summer: a big roster.

“Right now, we have the most numbers we’ve had since I’ve been there,” he said. The Panthers’ varsity roster has averaged around 40 players in recent seasons. 

Being back on the field is nice, he said.

“It’s been good to get back out there,” said Soliday. “We’ve needed to. It’s been a long time.”

The Georgia Independent School Association does not allow for spring football practices, so the Panthers did not lose much time away. Coronavirus did shut down the spring sports season, however, taking away the league’s and school’s main substitute for that lack of practice. Tiftarea’s last sporting event was March 13.

“We lost a couple of months there and got out of all kinds of routines,” Soliday said. 

Since getting back, Tiftarea has been lifting weights, conditioning and working on fundamentals.

For some of the players, it has been the first time they have seen each other in person since school dismissed. “They come to practice and get to see each other, so that’s good,” he said.

Some of Tiftarea’s future summer activities, such as 7-on-7s, will be influenced by what happens with the GHSA. The GHSA is now permitting intra-squad scrimmages, but none that involves another school. Soliday is hopeful that will be lifted. 

Tiftarea would like to participate in a 7-on-7 at Irwin County. They had the opportunity to do so last year, plus it’s a family reunion. Irwin’s longtime defensive coordinator Casey Soliday was promoted to head coach this summer following the death of Buddy Nobles.

If all goes well, the Panthers will start the 

regular season Aug. 28 at Community Christian of Stockbridge. The first home game on the slate is Sept. 11 against Frederica Academy. 

There are major changes to the football playoffs.

Three Class AAA schools departed the GISA for the Georgia High School Association: Deerfield-Windsor, Heritage (Newnan) and Loganville Christian. Only 25 11-man football teams are expected to suit up for the league this fall.

“What we’ll use is the power rankings,” said Soliday. “It’s a combination between MaxPreps and a GISA committee.” Teams will be ranked for the state playoffs.

There will be three regions, he said. That is down from four a year ago. Loganville Christian and Heritage were half of Region 1-AAA. A third team, Notre Dame Academy, played region but not crossover games in 2019, a necessity to qualify for state. Notre Dame was not included as a league team on the GISA’s 2020 full schedule.

“Even though it’s three regions, we’re still going to try to get the best teams in,” he said.

Valwood, Brookwood and Southland Academy will continue to be in Tiftarea’s region.