Many people say that revenge is a dish best-served cold, and the students of North Atlanta High School could not agree more. After starting 4-0 in the 2022 football season, the Warriors lost in their next two games, missing out on becoming the first team in school history to go undefeated past 4 games. In 2023 however, Coach Aull and the new and improved Warriors were not going to let history repeat itself. After another 4-0 start, North Atlanta kept rolling to 6-0 in back-to-back revenge games over St. Pius and Wheeler. Despite the numerous records already broken by this 2023 team, they remain hungry and unsatisfied.
The biggest sign of disrespect in the game of football is to be scheduled as a team’s homecoming matchup. Two times this year North Atlanta has walked into an opponent’s stadium on their homecoming and two times they have left victorious. In 52-18 and 31-8 wins over River Ridge and St. Pius respectively, the Warriors had nothing on their minds but making sure every opposing student knew the party in the stands was for the visiting conquerors. “Both times when I went out there and saw all those kids celebrating their homecoming, I wanted to show them they made a mistake scheduling us,” said senior defensive end Xavier Elison.
In the more recent homecoming matchup against St. Pius, the NAHS student body showed up in a big way. By the end of the first quarter, the Warrior’s student section dubbed “The Warrzone,” had already outgrown that of the home team Golden Lions, bringing so much energy it was like North Atlanta had 12 players on the field. If not for the row of young men lined up in the front row of the visiting student section spelling out “Go Dubs” in black and silver chest paint, one might have thought it was their homecoming and not Pius’. “The goal was definitely for us to walk in there and make them feel like we owned the place. We wanted to go Lion hunting,” said senior Will Burke.
For a North Atlanta program that historically had twice as many losses as wins in the decade before Coach Jamie Aull took over as head coach, going 6-0 to start a season is nothing shy of miraculous. Being deemed “HOCO Killers” and a top 15 unit in the Georgia High School 6A classification over programs that a couple of years ago would’ve laughed at the thought of a winning season for North Atlanta isn’t too shabby either. With that in mind, however, to maintain their newfound momentum this year’s NAHS unit needs to stay humble and not be content with just 6-0. It’s just as easy to fall back into mediocrity as it is hard to reach the level the Warriors have fought so ferociously for.
