The Bulloch Academy Gators are currently 4-1 and have played well despite a difficult schedule. While they returned almost every starter from a year ago, one key loss was leading rusher Danye Garvin. Coach Aaron Phillips was happy to be able to fill his shoes with the solid play of senior B.J. Smart.

“B.J. has been a good back for many years and would have started anywhere but we had Danye in front of him,” Phillips said. “He has been able to take the starting role up and picked up right where Danye had left off.

“He is a staple of our offense as everything runs through our quarterback and our fullback. He gets hit on every play and does all the little things right and we are happy to have him back there.”

“My role on the team as a senior is to be a leader to the younger guys and lead by example,” Smart said. “I try to do anything asked of me and try and be physical through contact, and fight for every yard. I think the team is doing great.

“We have some things to clean up on both sides of the ball to get to where we want to go, but we're working every day to get better and fixing those mistakes. I feel like our strengths are our mindset and our ability to push through adversity when things might not be going our way.”