BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Heading into his 14th season as Marist’s head football coach, Alan Chadwick said that prayer plays a big role in his team’s success.

“We talk a lot about setting priorities,” he said. “We tell them to make God number one, family number two, academics number three and football and athletics number four.”

“We also have our rituals...We have a Mass every Friday afternoon, which is a great time for the team to get off the field and to reflect and take their mind off of the game and put it onto something important,” he said. “We also pray as a team on Fridays before and after the game and give thanks to the good Lord above for the opportunity to work together...and for the skills to play the game.”

The War Eagles, who went 12 and two last year, losing in the state semifinals to Thomas County Central, have been ranked number one in Division 6-AAA in the pre-season by the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. Chadwick said this adds some pressure for his team.

“There aren’t many teams that go in ranked number one that go out that way,” he said. “But we have a good group of kids. They’ve been working very hard and they’re very focused.”

This is the first year on the varsity for Mike Svoboda, a junior fullback and defensive end. He said his team is going to have to work especially hard to defend their ranking.

“Because we are already ranked number one, it’s just going to be that much harder because people will play much harder against us,” he said. “It makes our load that much heavier.”

However, Chadwick said the most pressure for the War Eagles, who won a state championship in 1989, is to win the state title.

“The biggest pressure is just trying to complete the job,” he said. “We’ve come awfully close at Marist a number of times and we’ve had a lot of great football teams. I think we have a great team this year and I think we have a good chance, but everything’s got to fall into place. We’ve got to play well and stay healthy and injury free.”

But Chadwick is also quick to point out that each game is equally important.

“We don’t want to focus only on the state championship,” he said. “Yes, we want to play and win the state championship, but we want to improve every day on the practice field and with each and every game. I think that’s the goal of every coach.”

The coach also said that one of the strongest points of his team, which has three returning lineman and five defensive starters, as well as senior quarterback Paul Nichols, who led DeKalb County in passing percentage in 1997, is the leadership and experience of the senior players.

“The seniors are very much in a position to receive a lot of attention and focus, not only on the field, but in the school community,” he said. “They are not only good leaders, but good kids as well.”

Svoboda agreed that the seniors are not only team leaders, but friends and role models to the younger players.

“The seniors took it upon themselves to sit us down and talk to us about drinking and smoking and they have said that their class has made a pledge to stay away from drugs and alcohol,” he said. “But if any one of us was having a problem with drugs or alcohol, we could definitely go to one of them.”

As a team known for its success, the War Eagles support from the Marist community is strong, but Chadwick said that it is not always as strong as it could be until postseason play.

“The regular season is not always as enthusiastic as we would like, but that’s partly because everyone has so many things going on, and also because winning is almost expected,” he said. “I guess it’s the downside of being successful. But we get a lot of support compared to a lot of schools.”

Though players such as leading rushers Kelley Rhino, a senior running back, quarterback Nichols and junior halfback Brandon Russell are expected to lead Marist this year, players like Svoboda who may not get as much playing time are just happy to be a part of it all.

“I’m really excited to be a part of this team. It may be one of the best that Marist has ever had,” he said. “And even though I may not get to play very much, it’s still exciting knowing that I’m part of a team and in case something does happen, I’ll be ready to represent my school.”