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OCILLA, GA --
Early Thanksgiving morning, Irwin County Head Coach Jon Lindsey and his Indians are hard at work at Indian Field.

Instead of making holiday plans and talking turkey, the Indians are practicing and Coach Lindsey has no problem with it.

"This is where we wanted to get. We wanted to be coaching on Thanksgiving," Coach Lindsey said.

For the first time since 1999, Irwin County will host a home playoff game in Ocilla. Since that season, it's been a decade of mediocrity, but finally in 2012- Irwin County has a team to cheer for.

"Words can't describe right now the feeling in the community. We had a bonfire (Wednesday) night and had about 300 people here. You know, everybody's excited," Lindsey said.

No one's more excited than Lindsey and his band of Indians. A 3-7 team from a year ago has completely flipped the script to a 7-3 record this fall. The roster packed with freshmen and sophomores has grown in a season's time.

"You get in a routine of doing things and then you watch them grow up," Lindsey said. "As the season went on, I've watched them go from missing blocks and missing tackles and now they're making those plays."

Four games separate Irwin County from a Single-A State Title. For a team that hasn't seen the postseason in five years an appearance should be enough- but it's not for Irwin County.

"I've had people tell me, "you've had a great season" and we have...but it's like I told the kids- this is just the start."