Ryals joins Henderson as Clarke's only state final coaches

The day Leroy Ryals was named head coach at Clarke Central, he bought "It Can Be Done," the book written by legendary Gladiators coach Billy Henderson.
By the end of that day, Ryals had read the book cover to cover.
"I had heard about Clarke Central," said Ryals, who was a head coach in Florida prior to coming to Athens. "I wanted to get to know the history. I got an idea of what is expected and what went on."
Tonight, Ryals leads the Gladiators to a level previously only reached by Henderson - a state championship game. Clarke Central will play Sandy Creek for the Class AAAA title at the Georgia Dome at 8 p.m. today.
The Gladiators have had six coaches in their 40-season history, but only Henderson and Ryals have reached a championship game.
In 1992, Henderson led Clarke Central to the state championship game against Valdosta, which it lost 17-14. Under Henderson's tutelage, the Gladiators went to seven title games and won three of them - 1977, 1979 and 1985.
Since retiring after the 1995 season, Henderson has remained a constant presence around the stadium named after him and has become a fan of Ryals and his team.
"The tradition has always been here," Henderson said. "They have brought it back out. ... (Ryals) is all class. He loves the kids and has his priorities right."
Even now, Henderson is never far from the Gladiators. His name is on the stadium at Death Valley. Mementos of Henderson's state championship teams are scattered on the wall outside of Ryals' office.
Starting as a coach at a new school still with fresh memories of its most successful coach could be intimidating for some people. For Ryals, it was an honor to try and help the team return to that level of success.
"I'm just glad to be a part of it," Ryals said. "When I got here, we had so much work to do that I wasn't even thinking about stuff like that. I just wanted to come in and help the kids on and off the field, change the culture a little bit with discipline and work ethic."
Instead of recoiling and being intimidated by Clarke Central's history, Ryals has embraced it and enjoyed having a motivational figure like Henderson nearby.
Henderson still makes regular appearances at Thursday practices.
On Thanksgiving Day, as the Gladiators prepared for their quarterfinal game against North Clayton, the legendary coach gave one of his motivational speeches to the players.
He told the Gladiators how proud he was of them and how great their success was for the community. The players responded by scoring 52 points against North Clayton the next day.
But Henderson was equally impac

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