DYNASTY: GMC Prep's ascension to three-time state champs definitely didn't happen overnight

In the last five years, no high school in Georgia has won more boys soccer state championships than Georgia Military College Prep.

GMC's 2024 season began with a 9-1 win over Baldwin and wrapped up with a resounding 4-1 victory over Atkinson County on Tuesday night in the GHSA Class A Division B state championship game at Mercer University in Macon...

The Dawgs had plenty of backup on Tuesday night, an army of fans. A large contingent of GMC supporters and students made the trek to Five Star Stadium, and the GMC team had more fans on Tuesday night than some football teams have during the GIAA state championship football games at Five Star Stadium each December...

Photos by Michael Lerzo

It certainly wasn't all this way. There was no such thing as a GMC Prep soccer program until 2001. It all started when Bob Jaworski, a local restauranteur, made his pitch to then-President Peter Boylan and administrators. Jaworski got the green light, and the program was born.

Back then, practices were held at the old Bonner Park baseball field, which later became a designated place for dogs to poop. Some home games were held at Walter B. Williams Jr. Park, while others were played at Davenport Field, which is the school's football stadium. Fielding a roster was difficult, and the first few GMC Prep soccer teams were c0-ed, out of necessity. 

The program's first head coach was an old basketball coach – Bill Hodges – who worked at GMC during the latter stages of his career. Fun fact, Hodges was the head coach of Indiana State's 1979 basketball team, the one that featured Larry Bird and made it to the national championship game, which remains the most-watched college basketball game in history.

The first time that GMC played perennial power Athens Academy in soccer, the final score was 14-0. However, the program gradually improved, although it wasn't a straight line, and eventually soccer at GMC no longer was an afterthought. All the while, Jaworski served as a volunteer assistant coach, a role he held for the first 10 years of the program's existence. Jaworski stepped down as community assistant coach in 2011, and his son, Bobby, stepped in. Bobby Jaworski was a member of those original teams and someone with a strong desire to see soccer grow in Milledgeville. At some point, the younger Jaworski realized that his players needed more seasoning, more time on the pitch/field/whatever.

Club soccer was encouraged, and more energy and resources were poured into the Milledgeville-based Old Capitol Soccer League club teams. In turn, more GMC players began playing club soccer in the fall and honing their skills. More importantly, however, GMC had a run of really good players. The 2019 team was a runaway train, outscoring opponents by a combined 107-26 en route to the school's first state championship.

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The 2020 squad was perhaps GMC's best, and the team was undefeated prior to COVID canceling the rest of the season. The Dawgs then won another state title in 2021 before coming up just short in 2022 and 2023.

"That 2019 team really set the tone. That's when the enthusiasm around the school began to go to another level," said Head Coach Scott Seagraves.

Tuesday was especially sweet for Seagraves, who is retiring from teaching and coaching at the end of this month after 30 years. Seagraves describes his role as an "administrator."

"The athletic director first approached me with the opportunity because they needed a certified teacher to be the head coach, and the program also needed some stability. I'm an old football guy, but I will say that I know more about soccer now than when I first started," he said.

Seagraves added that "Bobby and (GMC's other community coach) Dustin Jennette have been really patient with me." 

The Dawgs are set to lose leading goal scorer Brian Sherwood and leading assist man Owen McCabe. This year's sophomore class, however, should be very strong next season as juniors, both in terms of talent and numbers. The Class of 2026, all 14 of them, is led by Tommy Carty, who averaged nearly two goals per game this season.

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