September 2, 2025—Prior to the start of Pope’s first home football game of the season, several key contributors to the school’s academic and overall success gathered on the field for a special recognition. In a ceremony to celebrate Pope’s feeder school administrators, Teachers of the Year, and Classified Employees of the Year, the Greyhound football program offered a public “thank you” to the educators and their support staff that infuse Pope High School through the elementary and middle school levels. It was a tangible show of “...appreciation for outstanding excellence in our community...integral members of (the) Pope cluster.”
When explaining why this ceremony was important, Pope Athletic Director Josh Mathews credited these individuals with preparing most of the students on his campus prior to high school.
“When these kids get to Pope,” he said, “they’re so polished academically and they’re so driven. That comes from somewhere, and we think that has a lot to do with the schools they attended in elementary and middle school.”
(See below for a full list of honorees, including Pope’s own principal, Teacher of the Year, and Classified Employees of the Year.)
Game time!
After the pregame festivities, the Greyhounds football team took the field looking for their first win of the year and eager to show the determination and perseverance they had learned, in part, from these Pope cluster leadership teams. Their resolve was tested early as Cherokee scored on an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game. 
“We never stopped fighting,” Pope Head Coach Sean O’Sullivan said later. “Our kids are tough. They fight.”
The Greyhounds did fight back, eventually taking a 16–13 lead with 1:40 left in the first half on a 6-yard TD run by freshman running back Ivan Darden. However, after two costly Pope turnovers were converted into touchdowns by Cherokee, the ‘Hounds found themselves trailing 26–16 late in the third quarter.
“We had a couple of mistakes that hurt us,” O’Sullivan acknowledged, without frustration, “but we’ve got a young football team and it’s a process.”
O’Sullivan’s team would carve into the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter with a one-yard score from junior quarterback Hudson Marinko, drawing within three. Cherokee, though, answered with back-to-back long TD runs to provide the Warriors with their 40–23 victory.
“I think about how we replaced all the starters from a year ago,” Coach O’Sullivan said with optimism in his voice, “and these kids have gotten better every week. They work hard each week. They bring it every day. I can’t ask for much more from them. We’ve got to just continue to get better.”
With that attitude from their coach, and the lessons they have learned throughout their Pope cluster upbringing, it’s just a matter of time before the Greyhounds are celebrating a win on the football field, too.
Marinko threw for 195 yards in the loss, Luc McClendon took in 98 of those receiving yards on just three catches, and senior running back Ethan Alterman led the Pope ground attack with 65 yards on 15 carries. Senior defensive back Fletcher King led the Greyhound defense with four tackles for loss in his seven tackles.
Note: Action photos provided courtesy of Mark He
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Greyhound Pregame honorees include:
Dodgen Middle School 
- Patricia Alford – Principal
- Carrie Lowery – Assistant Principal
- Derika Hannibal – Assistant Principal
- Alix Combs – Student Support Administrator
- Ashley Curley – Teacher of the Year
- Christine Bishop-Fink – Classified Employee of the Year
Hightower Trail Middle School
- Hannah Polk – Principal
- Michael Tompkins – Teacher of the Year
- Stacy Gibbs – Classified Employee of the Year
Mountain View Elementary School
- Katie Derman – Principal
- Sherry Green – Assistant Principal
- Kevin Johnson – Assistant Principal
- Ammie Bradley – Teacher of the Year
Murdock Elementary School
- Zach Mathis – Principal
- Chrissy Mills – Assistant Principal
- Carey Callahan – Assistant Principal
- Adrianna Ruggiero – Teacher of the Year
- Vincent Murdock – Classified Employee of the Year
Shallowford Falls Elementary School
- Lindsey McGovern – Principal
- Kendall Keesling – Assistant Principal
- Charlene Sinquefield – Student Support Administrator
- Nicole McWilliams – Teacher of the Year
- Carmen MacDonald – Classified Employee of the Year
Timber Ridge Elementary School
- Shannon McGill – Principal
- Shannon Wise – Assistant Principal
- Laura Degaetano – Teacher of the Year
- Theresa Butcher – Classified Employee of the Year
Tritt Elementary School
- Karen Carstens – Principal
- Niles Yates – Assistant Principal
- Sarah Gardner – Instructional Support Specialist
- Courtney Pascal – Teacher of the Year
- Wendy Corcoran – Classified Employee of the Year
Pope High School
- Matt Bradford – Principal
- Susan Sawyer – Classified Employee of the Year
- Susan Sharrow – GA State Media Specialist of the Year
- Amanda Dillard – Cobb Schools High School Level District Teacher of the Year and Cobb Schools District Level Teacher of the Year
