HARTFORD, Ala. (WTVY) – You can’t fake toughness, and after a 4-6 season in 2025 marked by injuries, the Geneva County Bulldogs have spent the summer trying to build more of it.
Head coach Al Gilmore said the Bulldogs’ offseason focus started in the weight room, where a young team has worked to improve its strength, endurance and flexibility before the grind of football season begins.
Last year, Geneva County battled through a long list of injuries — at one point missing nine starters, according to Gilmore. Still, the Bulldogs stayed competitive until the end, finishing the year with a hard-fought loss to Slocomb and narrowly missing the chance to finish .500.
Rather than dwell on what could have been, Gilmore said his players used those setbacks as motivation.
“We don’t live in that world,” Gilmore said of the “shoulda, coulda, wouldas” surrounding last season. “My kids, to their credit, they persevered. It was next man up.”
The Bulldogs return several key contributors who missed time last year, including senior Ellis Thames, a hybrid safety-linebacker who is back at full speed after tearing his ACL.
Running back Jamarion Williams is also returning after an injury-shortened season in which he still rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 14 touchdowns in just six games. Gilmore said Williams has added weight and strength during the offseason and will be counted on not only as a playmaker, but as a leader.
“He’s a weight-room warrior,” Gilmore said. “I’m expecting him to have a big season.”
Geneva County will also lean on players such as Jayce Fuller along the offensive and defensive lines, as well as tight end Ryan Morris, who played through a broken hand last season. Morris has added size in the offseason, now standing around 6-foot-4 and more than 220 pounds, Gilmore said.
The Bulldogs will have to replace graduated quarterback Cade Hutchins, a second-team All-State selection last season. Gilmore said there is no replacing a player like Hutchins, but sophomore Logan Ford is ready to take the next step.
Ford, listed at about 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, has transformed physically since arriving in the program, Gilmore said. The young quarterback has added roughly 15 pounds of muscle and has emerged as one of the team’s hardest workers.
Gilmore believes Ford and Williams could give the Bulldogs a dynamic pairing in the backfield.
“His level of dedication to this team, to this community, to the Geneva County Bulldogs is unparalleled,” Gilmore said of Ford. “I’m excited to see him and Jamarion in the same backfield.”
The Bulldogs are still a relatively small team, with Gilmore expecting a roster of about 30 to 32 players. That makes conditioning, staying healthy and maximizing every player’s role especially important.
Players Grayson Hackett and Brannon Turner said the group has embraced the demanding summer work.
“We’ve worked hard all summer,” Turner said. “We’re really excited to play.”
Hackett said the key to competing in a difficult region will be showing up every day ready to work, even through the summer heat.
“Just really coming to practice aggressively, locked in,” Hackett said. “It’s hot, but you’ve got to keep that energy up and be motivated to practice.”
For Gilmore, the program’s mission goes beyond wins and losses.
He said the Bulldogs emphasize discipline, respect and accountability — lessons he hopes players carry into the classroom, their homes and the community. Gilmore pointed to the team’s reputation for few discipline referrals and the way players help clean up after community meals as examples of that standard.
“My job is not to win football games,” Gilmore said. “My job is to show young boys how to become young men and young men how to become grown men.”
That approach has helped build trust inside the program, Gilmore said. He believes a talented sophomore and junior group is beginning to understand what Geneva County football is supposed to look like.
The Bulldogs know they may not be the biggest team on the field every Friday night. But Gilmore said they plan to be physical, disciplined and unapologetic about their identity.
“We uniquely embrace who Geneva County is and what Geneva County football wants to be,” Gilmore said. “We’re physical. We’re unapologetic. We’re not going to play dirty, but we’re going to be physical.”
And after a summer spent in the weight room, on the practice field and pushing one another through conditioning, the Bulldogs believe they are ready to show that toughness when it matters.
“We have a small team,” Turner said, “but just working hard together — teamwork — that’s our strength.”
Geneva County Bulldogs 2026 Football Schedule(WTVY)
GENEVA COUNTY BULLDOGS 2026 SCHEDULE
Friday, 8/21 | @ Geneva
Friday, 8/28 | vs Kinston
Friday, 9/4 | vs Houston County*
Friday, 9/11 | @ Cottonwood*
Friday, 9/18 | vs Highland Home8
Friday, 9/25 | OPEN
Thursday, 10/1 | vs Zion Chapel*
Friday, 10/9 | @ G.W. Long*
Friday, 10/16 | vs Goshen*
Friday, 10/23 | @ Ariton*
Friday, 10/30 | @ Slocomb
* – Denotes region game
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