The Northside Eagles are checking the game plan one last time before joining the long list of Eagle alumni who played in state championships before them, but as the faces on the team have changed, so has the building they train in.
And Ed Dyson has seen it all.
"I came to Northside High School in 1970," he said. "That was the first of what was seen around here as total integration of the public schools."
He became the school's principal by 1980, a position he held until 2001. A perennial supporter of the football program, Dyson made it his mission -- and his school's -- to bring Northside's team out of Warner Robins' shadow.
"We were doing well, don't get me wrong, but when I hired him (former Northside coach Conrad Nix), I said, 'Coach Nix, the Northside kids deserve the right to go to the (Georgia) Dome as well as anyone else,'" said Dyson.
Now, three championship rings and a new final destination later (after the Georgia Dome was replaced by Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Dyson still works closely with the current Northside team. He's a frequent speaker in pregame meetings and says this time, he knows exactly what to say before the Eagles kickoff at the Benz.
"I'm going to tell them to continue believing in themselves," said Dyson. "You've come this far when everybody thought it was all over for you. Their goal was this from the very beginning -- state championship."
And if all goes according to plan, by Wednesday, you'll be hearing a whole lot of that famous phrase he coined.
"It's great to be a Northside Eagle!" said Dyson.