Trinity Christian proving worthy of No. 1 |
Trinity Christian became GHSF Daily’s No. 1-ranked Class A Private team after beating then-No. 2 Athens Academy 59-7 in the opener, but Trinity coach Kenny Dallas was slow to endorse the honor.
“I don’t know how ELCA would not be ranked No. 1 in the state,” the coach said, pointing out ELCA’s five state titles in six seasons and 4-0 record against Trinity.
The coach added: “We all know that what really matters is what happens on the field.”
The coach is running out of reasons now. His Lions defeated ELCA 34-3 last week. That’s the closest game Trinity has played this season. Trinity’s average score is 52-8.
Trinity Christian is GHSF Daily’s state Team of the Week. The award, sponsored by Siemens and World Electric, will be presented to the team today at the school.
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How the new classes could look |
The GHSA on Monday approved the framework to classify its 450-plus member schools for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years.
Below are GHSF Daily’s projections of class placement. They use 2019 out-of-zone percentages, 2019 private-school enrollment and spring 2021 public-school enrollment.
The GHSA won’t have complete 2021 statistics until the end of October, and its final classifications could be significantly different than these, which are designed simply to paint a broad picture of what could happen.
This reclassification will be more eventful than usual because the GHSA on Monday increased the multiplier on out-of-zone students to 3.0 from 2.0 and eliminated the cap that prevented the multiplier from catapulting schools into the highest class.
The enrollment figures listed below are computed as in-zone students plus out-of-zone students times three. Each school’s percentage of out-of-zone students from 2019 is in parentheses. Arrows indicate schools that would move up or down in class if these projections are correct.
The projections have 47 schools in Class 7A, the number used in 2019 before appeals. The actual number the GHSA settles on is likely to be higher, according to many reclassification committee members.
The 3.0 multiplier will not apply to Class A schools, defined currently as those with 550 students or fewer. The GHSA might change that threshold, but it is presumed for this projection to remain. Also, several schools won appeals in 2019 to play lower than their assigned class. Many others elected to play up to preserve rivalries and limit travel.
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Here's a look at Georgia's teams ranked on a consensus of six polls (AJC – Atlanta Journal-Constitution/GHSF Daily; GPB – Georgia Public Broadcasting; SC – Score Atlanta; 680 – 680 The Fan; Max – Maxwell Ratings; and MP – MaxPreps). |
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Collins Hill
Collins Hill’s football team is best known for its offense and the QB-WR duo of Sam Horn and Travis Hunter. Less appreciated is the Eagles’ defense, which leads Class 7A in points allowed at 5.3 per game. When factoring in strength of schedule, Collins Hill is the best any classification at preventing points, according to the Maxwell Ratings. Collins Hill posted a school-record fourth consecutive shutout last week in a 63-0 victory over Peachtree Ridge. Senior DE Asani Redwood had four tackles for losses against Peachtree Ridge, bringing to 20 his season total. He has 13 sacks. Nine of the team’s 11 leading tacklers are seniors. The juniors – LB Deon Crawford and DB Jayden Davis – have major college offers, as does the Florida State-committed Hunter, the No. 1-rated senior CB prospect in the country. The rest are just underrated. DE Jaylen George and LB Richard Ransom also have more than 10 tackles behind the line. The team’s defensive coordinator is Drew Swick, a Collins Hill alumnus who joined the staff in 2015 after playing at Presbyterian.
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Points scored
Here are the top 10 teams in points per game, by classification:
Class 7A
41.0 - Collins Hill
39.4 - Pebblebrook
39.2 - Colquitt County
38.4 - North Cobb
37.5 - Milton
36.8 - Mill Creek
35.7 - Lambert
35.6 - South Forsyth
35.2 - Brookwood
34.3 - Lowndes
Class 6A
47.9 - Lee County
43.5 - Carrollton
38.0 - Brunswick
36.2 - Riverwood
35.2 - South Paulding
35.0 - Douglas County
34.3 - Johns Creek
34.3 - Kennesaw Mountain
32.3 - Buford
31.0 - Westlake
Class 5A
54.8 - Warner Robins
51.2 - Chamblee
45.8 - Ware County
44.7 - Calhoun
40.0 - Jones County
38.0 - Northside (Columbus)
37.7 - Decatur
36.5 - Creekside
35.4 - Cartersville
34.2 - Whitewater
Class 4A
42.8 - Benedictine
42.4 - New Hampstead
40.0 - Jefferson
39.4 - LaGrange
38.8 - Dougherty
37.8 - Baldwin
36.8 - Fayette County
36.8 - Miller Grove
34.5 - Carver (Columbus)
33.8 - Troup
Class 3A
51.5 - Cherokee Bluff
50.2 - Hart County
44.7 - Ringgold
40.8 - Sandy Creek
38.6 - Peach County
37.0 - Thomson
36.7 - Appling County
36.4 - Cedar Grove
33.0 - Monroe Area
32.3 - Burke County
Class 2A
46.7 - Rabun County
39.0 - Putnam County
36.0 - Jeff Davis
35.8 - South Atlanta
33.8 - East Laurens
33.5 - Bremen
33.5 - Washington County
33.2 - Chattooga
32.8 - Haralson County
32.7 - Fannin County
Class A Private
51.7 - Trinity Christian
43.5 - Prince Avenue Christian
39.2 - Holy Innocents’
36.0 - Tattnall Square
35.7 - Fellowship Christian
33.7 - Calvary Day
33.2 - Athens Academy
32.7 - Athens Christian
32.6 - Stratford Academy
31.2 - Brookstone
Class A Public
46.6 - Chattahoochee County
46.2 - Metter
46.0 - Schley County
41.6 - Macon County
39.2 - Brooks County
39.0 - Washington-Wilkes
37.3 - Trion
36.8 - Irwin County
33.3 - Mount Zion (Carroll)
33.2 - Montgomery County
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Former Georgia high school players Devonte Wyatt of Georgia and Len’Neth Whitehead of Tennessee are among the SEC's weekly superlatives. Wyatt, the defensive lineman of the week, had six tackles and 1.5 sacks in a win over Arkansas. Whitehead, the freshman of the week, rushed for 76 yards in a victory over Missouri. For what Georgia high schools did they play? (Former Dutchtown player Will Anderson of Alabama, included in a similar question last week, was honored again, as defensive player of the week.) (Answer Thursday)
Answer to Tuesday’s question: Clemson’s Kobe Pace, the ACC running back of the week, played at Cedartown. North Carolina’s Josh Downs, the receiver of the week, played at North Gwinnett.
Jostens is the leading provider of yearbooks, caps and gowns, class rings and championship rings and is the Official Championship Ring of the GHSA. Click here to learn more.
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Today’s game
Marist at Hapeville Charter (B)
Thursday's games
Bradwell Institute at Tattnall Co.
Hardaway at Kendrick (K)
Lanier at Central Gwinnett
McNair at Columbia (AV)
North Clayton at Duluth
Rutland at Spalding (GM)
Screven Co. at Savannah Christian
Shaw at Troup (C)
Towers at South Atlanta (L)
Westlake at Morrow (T)
Winder-Barrow at Shiloh
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GHSF Daily will select 10 games each week for a Predict the Winner contest, presented by ALL-STAR QB. Predictions must be submitted by 5 p.m. each Friday. Limit one entry per email address. Contest winners will be announced on Mondays at the start of each new contest and will receive the ASQB-LITE model game, the company's most popular. Click here to play!
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Mount Pisgah Christian QB Jack Cendoya was 16-of-23 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries in a 40-14 victory over East Forsyth. This was reported with errors in Tuesday's Top Performances.
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Georgia's Edwards brothers to coach in Elite Classic |
In the first televised eighth-grade All-Star Game in Georgia, former Bulldogs running back Robert Edwards will face his younger brother Terrence Edwards in the Dec. 22 game in Rome between two Georgia Elite Eighth Grade All-Star teams, which will start at 10 a.m. on PeachtreeTV. Robert Edwards, currently the head coach at Riverwood who has led the Raiders to a 5-1 start, was a first-round pick of the New England Patriots in 1998. He rushed for 1,115 yards in his rookie season and was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2002 for Miami after returning from the serious knee injury. At Georgia, Robert Edwards, 47, rushed for 2,033 yards and 27 touchdowns. Terrence Edwards, 42, caught 204 passes for 3,093 yards and 30 touchdown for the Bulldogs. He was undrafted in 2003 and was signed as a free agent by the Falcons and also played in the Canadian Football League. He currently is the offensive coordinator at Pace Academy. The brothers both coached on the senior staff in last year's Georgia Elite Senior-Junior game. To be nominated for the games, please click here.
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GHSF Daily each week will rank the top five teams and their head coaches in each classification based on their improvement in the computer Maxwell Ratings from 2020 to 2021, but with some exclusions. Only teams with winning records will be listed. In the end, each team and coach must also make the playoffs and improve playoff seeding or state playoff finish from the previous year to qualify. The objective is to recognize not only improvement but the challenge of making a struggling program relevant on the state level or taking a good program to the next level. After the season, GHSF Daily will present an award, sponsored by Hudl, to the eight coaches who lead their classifications. The recognition will take place at the GACA Falcons Luncheon on Feb. 1 in Macon. |
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Class 7A
+17.5 - Mill Creek (Josh Lovelady)
+15.9 - Collins Hill (Lenny Gregory)
+12.6 - Marietta (Richard Morgan)
+8.3 - Campbell (Howie DeCristofaro)
+5.6 - Walton (Daniel Brunner)
Class 6A
+27.5 - Effingham County (John Ford)
+16.8 - Kennesaw Mountain (Caleb Carmean)
+14.2 - Johns Creek (Matt Helmerich)
+14.1 - Riverwood (Robert Edwards)
+11.0 - Cambridge (Craig Bennett)
Class 5A
+20.4 - Woodward Academy (John Hunt)
+18.4 - Whitewater (Chad Frazier)
+18.1 - Creekside (Maurice Dixon)
+13.4 - Jonesboro (Timothy Floyd)
+13.2 - Villa Rica (Tim Barron)
Class 4A
+35.8 - Spalding (Carl Kearney)
+32.3 - Dougherty (Johnny Gilbert)
+28.3 - McDonough (Rodney Cofield)
+17.6 - Benedictine (Danny Britt)
+15.6 - Thomas Co. Central (Ashley Henderson)
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Class 3A
+26.1 - Tattnall County (Isaac Ferrell)
+20.9 - Ringgold (Robert Akins)
+17.6 - Coahulla Creek (Danny Wilson)
+13.9 - Sonoraville (Denver Pate)
+13.5 - Burke County (Eric Parker)
Class 2A
+20.1 - Laney (Ronnie Baker)
+18.1 - Columbia (Greg Barnett)
+15.3 - Swainsboro (Scott Roberts)
+13.2 - Northeast (Jeremy Wiggins)
+12.1 - Lamar County (Travis Ellington)
Class A Private
+20.2 - Tattnall Square (John Abernathy)
+17.8 - Trinity Christian (Kenny Dallas)
+15.9 - Calvary Day (Mark Stroud)
+12.8 - Pacelli (Dwight Jones)
+11.2 - Brookstone (Blair Harrison)
Class A Public
+27.2 - Schley County (Darren Alford)
+20.3 - Greenville (Tyler Wynn)
+15.3 - Armuchee (Jeremy Green)
+13.8 - Macon County (Dexter Copeland)
+13.6 - Dooly County (Phillip Hale)
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Today’s interviewee is Dr. Glenn White, the GHSA president and a reclassification committee member. Dr. White is the superintendent of the Floyd County School System. He has been on the GHSA’s executive committee for 27 years.
Glenn White, GHSA president
1. Why do you believe the 3.0 multiplier is the best answer to addressing concerns over private-school domination of sports? “The 2.0 was not effective in addressing it. When you have a school that won nine state championships and played for four more, or you have one classification where two schools dominated the whole class, I think 3.0 is the way to put them in classifications where it’s more competitive for them. I don’t know if we’ll ever have a perfect solution to leveling the playing field, but that is our goal. We want everybody to have a fair chance to win.”
2. Private schools proposed a competitive-balance model that would classify their individual sports teams in different classes based on individual team success. Why did this proposal not win favor? “At some point in time, a format of that nature may be implemented. It’s part of the evolution of high school sports. But the issue we had for now is that you might have a school in one class for football but another one for basketball and then another for baseball. I think that would lead to confusion about who you’re playing and what region schools are in. We have a little bit of that now in area sports [sports with not enough statewide participation to use the standard 64 regions], but generally speaking, all schools are in regions, and you know who you’re playing in all the sports. What they proposed is more complicated, and I know it could be done, but I don’t think we’re ready. But if you’d asked me 10 years ago if I thought we’d ever have a 3.0 multiplier one day, I would’ve said no way. So I’d probably say yes, a competitive-balance model can happen in the future.”
3. The GHSA won’t assign schools to classifications until attendance data comes in late this month, but projections with a 3.0 multiplier show some bold moves, such as St. Pius, Woodward Academy and possibly even Blessed Trinity going into the highest classification, along with Carrollton. Some schools that aren’t particularly successful in sports also could be placed in higher classifications. Do you believe those schools can compete at those levels? “I think some schools can compete in the higher classifications, yes. For some of them, it doesn’t matter about the number of students. If you put them in 7A, they could complete. Whether they could win a state championship is another issue, but they can progress in the state playoffs. With that said, the reclassification committee will hear appeals. We will use logic. If a school is moved up by a multiplier, and you have 100 [out-of-zone] students who are at the school for band or dance or drama and don’t participate in athletics, then that needs to be considered. That should not be the reason you’re moved into a higher class. We’ll look at each situation and give a school a chance to make an argument. If you come to the committee and say, ‘Look, we might’ve made the playoffs in a sport or two, but we aren’t getting by the first round,’ that’s where we might say yes. But if you won nine state championships last year and don’t want to move up, no, I’m not going to buy that one.”
4. The debate over the multiplier was contentious at times, and private schools even hinted at pulling out of the GHSA if an earlier proposal to separate them from public schools in the playoffs had been adopted. Are you concerned that some schools, the private ones in particular, will go away mad after this reclassification? “Yes, and I understand them being upset, I really do. And once again, from their perspective, they feel they’re not being treated fairly, but say this: We all live in Georgia, and we need to set an example to kids on how to work out problems. I want private schools to be with the GHSA. They have great schools, great administrators, great students and great athletes. It’s important for students from all schools, public and private, to see each other and compete against each other. Athletics offers a bridge for us to get together and make relationships. So in the next few weeks, we need to make sure we do everything we can to be fair and reasonable.”
Wilson is the official football, softball, basketball and baseball of the GHSA, providing balls for playoffs/championships. Wilson Sporting Goods has been at the heart of sports history for over a century. As the originator of breakthrough technologies, Wilson has produced legendary classics and earned world-wide legitimacy as the leading manufacturer of ball sports equipment. Contact Craig Kalb (craig.kalb@wilson.com) or Ken Weinhardt (ken.weinhardt@wilson.com).
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Note: All scores are courtesy of the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other media outlets. If a score is not accurate, it was reported incorrectly.
All games are on Fridays unless noted. All game schedules are subject to change.
Stadium key: B - Banneker High School; C - Callaway; ED - Ed Defore; GC - Garden City; GM - Griffin Memorial; GO - Godfrey; HA - Henderson-Atlanta; HS - Hallford; K - Kinnett; MT - McConnell-Talbert; SC - Southern Crescent; SH - Sharp; SM - Savannah Memorial; T - Tara
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Let’s build your financial game plan
At Thrivent, we believe everyone deserves a financial plan. But money can seem complicated and life gets busy, especially during football season. I know this first-hand, as a financial advisor who is also blessed to coach high school football in this state. Whether it’s investment guidance, budgeting, life insurance, debt management or retirement planning, I can help. Please reach out with any questions or needs. Have a great season! Contact Andrew Frerking by phone at 404-772-0909, via email by clicking here, or on the web at www.thrivent.com
Greater Georgia Basketball Officials enrolling new members
Greater Georgia Basketball Officials, one of the leading GHSA officials organizations, assigns officials to more than 25 high schools in the state. Our group is comprised of dedicated and professional men and women looking to give back to the game of basketball. If you are interested in joining Greater Georgia (GGBO), please contact Mike Oglesby via email by clicking here or by mail at Greater Georgia Basketball Officials, 3770 Cliff Crest Drive, S.E., Smyrna, GA 30080.
New sports fiction book geared toward teen athlete readers
Mike Tierney, a former longtime sports editor and writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has drawn from his experiences as a basketball coach in the Decatur school system to write the sports teen fiction book "Perfect To A Fault" about a high school player who goes through an entire season without missing a shot. Mike now coaches at Notre Dame High in the Los Angeles area, where he briefly worked with Ziaire Williams, the No. 10 pick in the NBA draft. Order the book by clicking here.
GPSA helps students grow in athletics, education and life skills
Georgia Storm Prep Academy, named for owner and head coach Storm Johnson (a former UCF standout and NFL running back), is a pre- and post-graduate football program. The program includes a complete academic program with NCAA approved classes, athletic training and competitions against other Prep programs and JUCOs to gain additional exposure. We will provide the best opportunity for student-athletes to grow and mature within athletics, education, and life skills while in attendance. For information, call 678-346-8144 or contact us via email by clicking here.
Fundraise from anywhere with Double Good virtual app
The Double Good virtual app provides an excellent way to stay focused on your team while providing the funds you need to participate at the highest level. Our platform is 100% contactless, and our popcorn ships directly to your supporters. You could have results like these football programs which profited: Eastside - $26,000; East Coweta - $27,000; Milton - $25,000; Westlake - $39,000; and Woodstock - $24,000. For more information or to get started, contact Westlake head coach Robert May via email by clicking here.
'Nobles Strong' out in paperback
Jon Nelson followed the story of the Irwin County Indians' 2019 season for GPB Sports and the chronicling of the eventual Single-A Champs is now in book form. Head Coach Buddy Nobles was given a cancer diagnosis before the season started. An entire community - on the field and off - united with the Nobles family and the Indians for a season no one touched by the story would ever forget. Order the book by clicking here.
Pace Academy seeking JV game on Oct. 14
Pace Academy JV football is looking for an opponent on Oct. 14 for a two-quarter game. Will travel. If interested, contact coach Chris Slade at 404-561-2556.
Recruiting Fair at Metro Atlanta College on Nov. 30
The 2021 Fall Metro Atlanta College Football Recruiting Fair will be held at Atlanta Metropolitan State College on Tuesday, Nov. 30 (8 a.m-3 p.m.) and Wednesday, Dec. 1 (8 a.m.-noon). FCS, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCOs and Prep Schools from across the country will be there looking for football prospects from the classes of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. High school coaches can register by clicking here.
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GHSF Daily classified ads
Reach 23,000 readers per day in GHSF Daily’s classified ads. Rates are $50 per week. Ads must be a maximum of 75 words and include a headline and contact information. Click here to contact us.
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About Us
Georgia High School Football Daily is a free e-mail newsletter produced and owned by Todd Holcomb and Chip Saye. Holcomb is a former lead high school football writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and co-founder of the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Saye is a 35-year veteran of the newspaper industry who has covered high school sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Athens Banner-Herald, Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail and Gwinnett Daily News.
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