The Rockmart Yellow Jackets are ready to get back on the turf for the 2023 season, and they have many hard weeks ahead to remain on top of the region and head back into the playoffs toward a potential run for the title.

After finishing at 10-3 on the year, and ranked at seventh in the state, the Jackets are set to return following their quarterfinals finish against Fitzgerald for another run toward the top of the mountain with a lot of senior talent coming onto the field starting in August.

Next week, Rockmart heads down to Bremen to start the season off with their opening scrimmage against the Blue Devils. The two teams squared off at The Rock to open the 2022 season with a game that doesn’t count and took a big win in the process. The Jackets are hoping to continue their positive growth with another scrimmage victory against the Blue Devils, but don’t count them out. The AAA squad came out of the year with a 5-6 record and made it to the playoffs. (Cedar Grove knocked them out last November in the first round, for what it’s worth.)

Rockmart played in Game 2 last season of their scrimmages against Pickens, but this year they are sticking a bit closer to home and with a foe they want a piece of again: the Rome Wolves.

The August 10 game is the first time since 2021 the two teams will face off, with Rockmart having dropped down to Class AA in the meantime as it continues to dominate in the region. Rome took the 2021 meeting between the teams with a 23-7 win at The Rock.

The season opens officially for the Jackets on the road at Cedartown on August 18. Cedartown took the opener in 2022 with a 27-14 victory at the Rock in what could be dubbed as “The Delay Game” and ended a Rockmart streak. Cedartown’s first victory in 2022 was their first step on the path to a state title appearance and a runner’s up spot for the year. This year’s game might give the Jackets the advantage with Senior Quarterback JD Davis under center and several veterans in the backfield to keep the offense rolling, and many returning players on defense to keep an eye on too. Get into that after the scrimmage, but for now: neither team has the conclusive advantage in that one just yet.

The Jackets will play their home opener the following Friday, August 25 by hosting the Cass Colonels in a return game. Rockmart won that one conclusively 30-21. The Colonels went onto improve to a 4-6 regular season and made it to the second round of the playoffs, ultimately knocked out by Mays in a one-touchdown loss. Watch out for the Colonels, they are riding into town on a mission this year.

Rockmart hosts Dalton on Sept. 8 after a bye week on Sept. 1. The Catamounts will be looking for revenge after a 63-42 Jackets victory. I expect Rockmart to stand tall in this one.

Irwin County is the outlier on Sept. 15, since the Jackets take the trip this year some 4 1/2 hours away to play. Irwin is a top team in the state and was ranked fifth when the Jackets played last year. Expect them to be good again this year…

Region play gets underway after another by on Sept. 29, with the Jacket traveling to play Model. They travel to Haralson the following week on October 6, and host Murray County for homecoming on Oct. 13.

The Jackets have Gordon Central on the road after that on Oct. 20.

Those games by comparison to last year should (in my opinion) be much the same in 2023: Rockmart is likely to dominate in 7-AA once, with the caveat that anything can happen on any given Friday night. No crystal ball here, but good chance at least two of those games listed above will be high-scoring, running clock outings with the other team unable to score against any of Rockmart’s defensive players no matter their status.

Fannin County and North Murray are two games that the Jackets will have to finish at home in big fashion to make it back to state title contention. Fannin was a 21-7 victory for the Jackets, but if any team is going to pose a threat to Rockmart it’ll be the Rebels from Blue Ridge. This one comes just before Halloween on October 27, and it’ll be one of several featured this coming season.

Rockmart posted a big victory against North Murray, but the Mountaineers shouldn’t be discounted. They were one of three region squads to post a touchdown against Rockmart in 2022, and they scored the most out of all of the region foes. Mountaineers finish out at The Rock on Nov. 3.

With three region titles under their belt, Rockmart has plenty of opportunity to reach not only the playoffs but get deep into the title fight once again this year. They’ll have to be perfect to get back to the title game and an opportunity to end a decades old drought of a football championship brought back home to Polk.

Here’s a shareable version of the schedule: