Lincoln County football pays Longstreet a visit

GAINESVILLE -- Tim Bunch knows what football means to Lincoln County. That's why on Friday afternoon, Bunch invited the Red Devils to his Gainesville restaurant, Longstreet Cafe, for a pregame meal before Lincoln County headed to take on Wesleyan in the Class A semifinals.

For the former Red Devil football player, it was the least he could do.

Bunch played for legendary Lincoln County head coach Larry Campbell on his first team in 1972. And his dad, Tom Bunch, actually hired Campbell to coach baseball at the school before Campbell took over the football program from Tom and led Lincoln County to a state record 426 wins and 10 state championships.

"Tim's dad hired me to start the baseball program, but it didn't take me long to figure out that, around Lincoln County, if you want to have a future, you better jump into football," Campbell said. "Tim's a fine man, and he was the reason we came. It's a little out of the way but well worth it."

The Red Devils (12-1) headed to Riverside Military Academy for a final walk through before heading to Norcross to take on Wesleyan (11-2).

"We don't have a lot of raw talent on this team, but we've found maturity," Campbell said.