Here's what made Social Circle Chick-fil-A Player of the Week Luke Allgood's performance so special
By Gabriel Stovall
Social Circle junior linebacker Luke Allgood holds the Chick-fil-A Player of the Week belt after his 14-tackle performance in the Redskins’ season opener last week. | Photo by Gabriel Stovall
SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — By all accounts, Luke Allgood had a Chick-fil-A Player-of-the-Week performance for Social Circle, just in stats alone.
The linebacker registered 14 tackles, one for loss and a quarterback sack during the Redskins’ 48-41 shootout-style season opening win against Oglethorpe County last Friday.
Now, here comes the fun part.
Add in the fact that it was Allgood’s first varsity defensive start. And, throw in the fact that it was the first time the former safety played the linebacker position.
And, for good measure, consider that his stellar defensive output came on a night when coach Rod Patton’s defense missed 24 tackles, and who could deny the 5-foot-10, 160-pound junior such accolades?
Certainly not his coach.
“Luke’s done a great job. He’s one of the hardest working kids in our program,” Patton said. “So, we got to fall camp and had a few issues at linebacker. He played safety for us and moved in to linebacker on the first day of fall camp when we were in pads. He led the team in tackles that day, and playing a new position, last week was his first game at it. But the kid’s a winner.”
Literally speaking. Because his play, particularly at the end of the game, helped the Redskins keep a zero in the L column after the first week of the season.
After Preston Guy kicked a 44-yard field goal to extend the Redskins’ lead late in the fourth quarter, in a game where offense ruled, Social Circle’s defense stood up when it needed to.
Allgood’s sack came during that last drive. Then Social Circle forced a fumble at the 1-yard line and recovered it in the end zone on the last play of the game to salt the victory away.
“That sack [Luke] had on that last drive, that really saved the game for us,” Patton said.
Allgood isn’t the type, though, to try and make himself out to be a singular hero. Though new to the Redskins’ linebacking corps, Allgood said his mission on the football field was the same as with his old position.
“It felt good to be out there,” said Allgood, who acknowledged that his performance surprised him a bit. “I just wanted to go out there and make plays for the team. I give all praise to God. That’s about it with that.”
Though he made it look natural, the switch up didn’t come without a learning curve.
“Playing linebacker is a lot different than safety,” Allgood says. “I’m more of a run-stopper. And, I mean, safeties are too, but linebacker is run first while safeties are reading for the pass for the most part.”
What about the increase in contact that comes with his new position?
“It feels good to me,” he said with a chuckle.
So does winning. Social Circle won its first season opener in three years. If the Redskins can knock off Warren County (0-1) Friday night, they’ll go 2-0 to start a season for just the third time in the last 10 years. That would be a more-than-ideal start for a program that hasn’t missed a playoff berth in the previous four years since Patton’s been at the controls.
And the head coach believes the best for his program this year is yet to come.
Social Circle head football coach Rob Patton says his 2024 Redskins squad can be special with the right work ethic. | Photo by Gabriel Stovall
“We’re gonna be as good as we choose to be,” Patton said. “It’s going to be a daily decision for these guys. We don’t have a lot of highly recruited kids for college as in pure athletes. But we’ve got a lot of tough kids who play together as a team. So as long as they keep working every day, working on our weaknesses, coming together as a team, we’re gonna be alright.”
Allgood agrees.
“I feel like [our defense] can be really good,” he said. “We just gotta make our open-field tackles and be more physical as a team. I think that’s something we definitely can do.”