It was one of the feel-good stories of the 2019 high school football season — Irwin County’s Buddy Nobles battling stomach cancer and some of Georgia’s best high school football teams on the way to the school’s first state football championship since 1975.
Related: Irwin County finished No. 8 in our Small Schools Top 25.
Nobles, who hoisted Georgia Class 1A Public championship trophy a little more than a month ago from his wheelchair, passed away Wednesday after his months-long battle with stomach cancer.
Irwin County Schools superintendent Dr. Thad Clayton posted the following on Facebook:
“Our Coach, Buddy Nobles, has passed from this life and is now in the presence of our Lord. He finished his fight with cancer peacefully in the night surrounded by his family. Irwin County Schools has lost a true man of God who will have an everlasting impact on many students, players, coaches and colleagues.”
Dr. Thad Clayton, Irwin County Schools Superintendent
The team’s defensive coordinator Casey Soliday became the interim head coach early in the season, but Nobles coached most games while seated in a wooden stand built for him by the school’s agriculture department.
Nobles became the Indians head coach in 2014, winning five regional titles and five state championship appearances. However, IC was 0-4 before the championship win in December.
