As we turn the corner of being in the midst of a renaissance of quality that is seen throughout our very own North Atlanta football team, we cannot fail to look at the pioneers of this highly coveted era. The stardom from the senior leaders of the group on both sides of the ball has not only been viewed from the Warrzone, but also beyond to prestigious colleges and universities around the country. To see such a perfect example of this, we must look no further than Ben Diedrich, superstar senior left tackle who has recently committed to the U.S. Naval Academy following his incredible displays across his previous 3 campaigns and over the summer. As is common for him, Diedrich takes his new status with humility and looks forward to rewriting North Atlanta history with the boys one last time.
With this year being his inevitable final dance with Dubs football, Diedrich aims to end his tenure with the team on a positive note. Each year of his career has only been on an upgrade on the next, and he doesn’t want a sideways step to occur. In fact, Diedrich hopes for the absolute opposite and is looking forward to the boys setting history once again. How will they do this? By winning their first region championship in school history and making their deepest run within the state playoffs ever. “Lofty goals, I know. But if there’s one group of guys that can get it done, it’s the men that I step onto the field with every Friday Night,” Diedrich said.
While his North Atlanta career is reaching its unfortunate resolution, his football and educational career as a whole has yet to even reach its climax. Being a new Naval Academy commit, Diedrich inherently aims to lead the Midshipmen to victory in ways that they’ve never seen before. However, simultaneously, he also strives to prosper in the books and set himself up to be a future staple in the business field. Diedrich was always taught to be a scholar alongside being a star player, a mindset he intends to carry with him throughout his collegiate path. “Of course Navy’s football status attracted me initially. But the educational system and the entrepreneurial opportunities? That’s what made me stick to them if I’m being honest,” Diedrich said.
For now, Diedrich looks ahead not to the next four years, but rather the next few days as the Warriors look to come off an impressive win against Paulding County ready to attack. Their next opponent is a staple program in the Wheeler Wildcats, a team that is expected to be quite a task at hand. Diedrich plans to lead the boys out there to victory however and start a rocking winning streak for the eventual road that is paved ahead of them. A road of all time glory and trendsetting is the hope, and that hope is aimed to transition into reality for Diedrich and our Warriors starting this Friday.
