Class 2A
*Best player: Gunner Stockton, Rabun County. What else is there to say? The senior quarterback, committed to Georgia, is 35-5 as a starter while averaging 3.1 TD passes per game. He needs 40 to break Trevor Lawrence’s career state record.
*Best position: Linebacker. All four have major Division I offers. E.J. Lightsey and Stevie Bracey made the Georgia Power 100.
*Most highly recruited: Stockton. The only other Class 2A seniors in the 247Sports Composite top 100 in Georgia are Lightsey and Bracey.
*That’s interesting: Pace Academy defensive tackle Xavier Agostino had a handful of FBS offers but committed to Harvard on July 15, his birthday. He plans to study computer science.
*Snubbed: Agostino’s younger teammate along the defensive line, Hevin Brown-Shuler, is a 6-4, 260-pounder with offers from Penn State, Georgia and Southern Cal. He has only a freshman high school season under his belt, though, albeit a good one. He was first-team all-Region 6-2A.
*Underrated: Bremen’s Blake Matthews might be the best multi-sport athlete in 2A. In spring, he was the Region 5-2A baseball player of the year and led Bremen to the semifinals. He’s a pitcher/outfielder. In football, he almost never came off the field for a quarterfinal team and put up 110 tackles at free safety and 517 receiving yards. He’s 6-3, 190 pounds. He committed to Troy football on July 30.
*What else is new: Rabun County has five picks on this team, all on offense. The Wildcats averaged 44.4 points per game last season.
OFFENSE
QB - Gunner Stockton, Rabun County, Sr.
RB - Keyjuan Brown, South Atlanta, Jr.
RB - D.J. Rogers, Pepperell, Jr.
RB - Lang Windham, Rabun County, So.
WR - Jaden Gibson, Rabun County, Jr.
WR - Brodie Swader, Dade County, Sr.
OL - Avery Hill, Bremen, Sr.
OL - Nate Lewis, Jeff Davis, Sr.
OL - Will McCraw, Rabun County, Sr.
OL - Bear Old, Rabun County, Sr.
OL - Johnny Williams IV, Northeast, Jr.
ATH - Clay Hyatt, Haralson County, Sr.
PK - Brody Derringer, Bremen, Sr.
DEFENSE
DL - Xavier Agostino, Pace Academy, Sr.
DL - Riley Bell, Haralson County, Sr.
DL - Michael Crumbley, Putnam County, Sr.
DL - Marquez Harris, Columbia, Sr.
LB - Ty Anderson, Thomasville, Sr.
LB - Stevie Bracey, Lovett, Sr.
LB - Nick Jordan, Jefferson County
LB - E.J. Lightsey, Fitzgerald, Sr.
DB - Dicey Hopkins, Northeast, Sr.
DB - A.J. Hutchinson, Westside (Augusta), Sr.
DB - Blake Matthews, Bremen, Sr.
DB - Cameron Smith, Callaway, Sr.
P - Hayden Futch, Berrien, Jr.
Coming Tuesday: Class A Private
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Class 2A
The Maxwell Ratings, compiled by mathematician and Georgia High School Football Historians Association founder Loren Maxwell, have projected the region finishes of all 423 football-playing schools in the GHSA. The projections are based on historical scores, with the most recent season weighing most heavily. Teams that did unusually well, or poorly, in 2020 are projected to regress toward the mean. The ratings do not consider changes in player personnel or coaching staff. Below are Maxwell’s projections for Class 2A.
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Coming Tuesday: Class A Private |
Westminster's Alex Bacchetta is the nation's No. 1 senior punter, according to Kohl's, but made first-team all-state as a place-kicker last season. (Photo by Mark Brennan / 247Sports) |
Bacchetta nation's top punter |
Alex Bacchetta is the nation’s No. 1 senior punter, according to Kohl’s, so it’s ironic that he wasn’t even Westminster’s starting punter last season.
That job went Connor Weselman, who signed with Stanford as the No. 6 punter nationally. So rich is the Westminster kicking/punting tradition that Bacchetta was left to kicking duties, which he handled expertly, making first-team all-state.
Bacchetta has committed to Penn State, which wants him mainly as a punter. That will give Westminster six major Division I punters and kickers in just the past eight years. The others are NFL kicker Harrison Butker (Georgia Tech), NFL punter Blake Gillikin (Penn State), Charlie Ham (Duke), Alex Gracey (Stanford) and Weselman (Stanford).
Below are the final 10 members of GHSF Daily’s Georgia Power 100, the specialists.
*Alex Bacchetta, Westminster: Bacchetta was 8-of-12 on field goals last season with no misses inside 45 yards. He put 88% of kickoffs in the end zone. He’ll get to punt this season.
*Henry Bates, Ware County: Bates was MaxPreps’ first-team All-America punter last season, when he averaged 45.2 yards per punt. He also made 10 of 15 field goals with a long of 45 and put 84% of kickoffs in the end zone.
*Chase Folser, Ola: Folser has made 15 of 19 field-goal attempts in his career, including six of seven in 2020 with a long of 48. He made a 52-yarder in a scrimmage game last week. He’s rated the No. 48 senior PK prospect nationally by Kohl’s.
*Preston Gentry, Carrollton: Gentry averaged 40.1 yards per punt, putting 10 of 36 inside the 20-yard line, and was 3-of-3 on field goals with a long of 49 yards. He put 13 of 21 kickoffs in the end zone.
*Preston Hart, Lowndes: Hart was 9-of-9 on field goals with a long of 44 yards in 2020.
*Dawson Jones, Marist: Jones was 8-of-9 on field goals with a long of 48 yards in 2020.
*Alejandro Mata, Buford: Mata was 13-of-16 on field goals with a long of 48 yards last season. He put 34 of 93 kickoffs into the end zone. Mata was among five members of Buford’s 2020 championship team to make first-team AJC all-state.
*Jack Pirinelli, Blessed Trinity: Pirinelli, rated the No. 12 long snapper nationally by Rubio, committed to Army in July. He’s also his team’s two-year starting center and plays defensive tackle.
*Brooks Sturgeon, Wesleyan: Sturgeon, who has committed to N.C. State, had the best all-around season of any Georgia specialist last season, when he made 15 of 17 field-goal attempts (long of 44), and averaged 41.2 yards per punt (long of 72). Kohl’s rates him the No. 37 senior punter nationally.
*Cooper West, Alpharetta: West, ranked the No. 17 PK prospect nationally among juniors by Kohl’s, made five of his seven attempts as a sophomore last season at Dunwoody. His long was 43 yards.
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Five games in Week 1 called off |
The Clarke Central-Cedar Shoals football game scheduled for Saturday has been postponed indefinitely, bringing to at least five opening football games that won’t be played this week because of COVID-19 outbreaks.
Other postponed or canceled games are Burke County vs. Benedictine, Sumter County vs. Westover, Randolph-Clay vs. Dougherty and Crisp County vs. Tift County.
The Clarke-Cedar game, a rivalry between the public high schools in Athens, had been postponed one day until Saturday but was put on indefinite hold Sunday, according to the officials association that would’ve worked the game. The schools hope to schedule at a later date.
Several school systems have closed schools or gone to virtual learning this month. On Friday, Burke County Schools, citing 40 positive cases, announced it won’t reopen until Aug. 30, and all sports are suspended.
“I imagine you better get used to it,” Parker said of COVID disruptions. “We’ve just got a situation where our school system and community’s got a lot of positive cases, and when you start contact-tracing out, the numbers kept growing.”
Other counties that have closed schools but not canceled games are Ware County, Macon County, Long County and Glascock County.
In 2020, the pandemic canceled about 10% of regular-season games and postponed many more.
“I don’t want to be a pessimist,” Parker said, “but I expect we’ll have this going on every week.”
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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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Dynamic duos
Sam Horn and Travis Hunter are the 11th pair of teammates to make the preseason AJC Super 11 team, which has been selected each season since 1985. Here are the 11 pairs and their team's final record. Commerce in 2000 and Marietta in 2019 won state titles with two Super 11 players.
*2021: Collins Hill (TBD): QB Sam Horn, WR/CB Travis Hunter
*2019 Marietta (14-2): QB Harrison Bailey, TE Arik Gilbert
*2012 Walton (7-3): RB Tyren Jones, C Brandon Kublanow
*2009 Gainesville (14-1): QB Blake Sims, WR Tai-ler Jones
*2008 Northside-Warner Robins (10-2): DE Abry Jones, LB Eric Fields
*2004 Peach County (11-2): LB Darius Dewberry, RB Tony Wright
*2002 Harrison (12-1): RB Jason Evans, DB Paul Oliver
*2000 Commerce (13-2): QB Michael Collins, RB Monte Williams
*1991 Clarke Central (10-3): LB Scott Freeney, DB Lamont Johnson
*1989 Warner Robins (11-2): QB Eric McDowell, WR Zedrick Womack
*1985 Dunwoody (7-3): LB Jeff Brown, QB Billy Ray
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Four of GHSF Daily’s No. 1 teams in 2020 finished No. 1, but only two went No. 1 wire to wire. Which were the two? (Answer Tuesday)
Answer to Friday’s question: Cherokee Bluff in 2020 won a region title in its third year after opening. The last Georgia programs to win region titles so quickly after opening were Grayson, Union Grove and Spalding, all in 2002.
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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Class 7A
1. Milton
2. Collins Hill
3. North Cobb
4. Grayson
5. Colquitt County
6. Lowndes
7. Parkview
8. Marietta
9. Walton
10. North Gwinnett
Class 6A
1. Buford
2. Lee County
3. Hughes
4. Westlake
5. Carrollton
6. Allatoona
7. Valdosta
8. River Ridge
9. Rome
10. Dacula
Class 5A
1. Blessed Trinity
2. Warner Robins
3. Ware County
4. Coffee
5. Cartersville
6. Calhoun
7. Jones County
8. St. Pius
9. Eastside
10. Creekside
Class 4A
1. Jefferson
2. Benedictine
3. Marist
4. Carver (Columbus)
5. Perry
6. Cedartown
7. Hapeville Charter
8. Flowery Branch
9. Bainbridge
10. Baldwin
Class 3A
1. Cedar Grove
2. Peach County
3. Oconee County
4. Pierce County
5. Greater Atlanta Christian
6. Carver (Atlanta)
7. Crisp County
8. Westminster
9. Appling County
10. Rockmart
Class 2A
1. Rabun County
2. Fitzgerald
3. Callaway
4. Thomasville
5. Lovett
6. Bleckley County
7. Bremen
8. Northeast
9. Haralson County
10. Jefferson County
Class A Private
1. Eagle’s Landing Christian
2. Trinity Christian
3. Prince Avenue Christian
4. Athens Academy
5. Wesleyan
6. Savannah Christian
7. Fellowship Christian
8. Darlington
9. Holy Innocents’
10. North Cobb Christian
Class 1A Public
1. Brooks County
2. Irwin County
3. Clinch County
4. Dublin
5. Washington-Wilkes
6. Macon County
7. Commerce
8. Metter
9. Turner County
10. Wilcox County
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Today's interviewee is I.J. Rosenberg, president of Score Atlanta, a sports marketing company, and co-owner of the Corky Kell Classic. Score recently announced a partnership with CBS46/PeachtreeTV to televise 31 high school football games this season. That includes all 11 Corky Classic games this week, starting with the Mays-Cherokee game that kicks off the season statewide Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at West Forsyth on PeachtreeTV.
I.J. Rosenberg, president of Score Atlanta
1. Let’s start with the Corky Kell Classic. What game this week do you find most interesting, and why? “We had to scramble so much last year to get in just nine games at nine different locations that Dave Hunter [event co-founder and former Brookwood football coach] and I really focused on the matchups for 2021, and it’s hard for me to narrow it down to one game. On paper, I would say the Friday night meeting between Buford and North Cobb matches up what very well could be the best team for the third straight year in Class 6A in Buford and a North Cobb team that has the talent to win Class 7A. When we get to Saturday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, we have never had five matchups in one day like we have this year. While we will have our first out-of-state team in the 30 years of Corky coming in from Alabama [Hoover] to face North Gwinnett, I have to say I am also very excited about seeing Parkview and Mill Creek play for the first time. The fact that these two Gwinnett schools have never played makes absolutely no sense considering Mill Creek has now been around since 2004. These schools are 15 miles apart and have never played in 17 years.”
2. Score will assist in the televising of 31 games on CBS46 this season. Why is this significant? “It has been a few years, but when Score Atlanta was still a young company, we were brought into Georgia Public Broadcasting to take their high school sports to another level. First, we put Corky Kell on GPB. Then we changed the way they were doing the state championships by keeping the broadcast (halftime and between games) at the stadium and finally put in a game of the week. GPB has done a great job maintaining their weekly games, and the state championships, but I always wanted to do a game of the week that focused on the entire state. We are going to be all across Georgia, not only in the regular season, but we will be doing four playoff games like we did last year. In our own way, we are going to treat every Friday night like ESPN does Gameday.”
3. Where can fans find the schedule of televised games, and will everyone in the state be able to see the games? “There are 12 weeks in the regular season, and Corky takes the first one. Then we will produce the Great Atlanta Bash at Midtown High School [formerly Grady] before starting our Friday night schedule on week No. 3. Beginning this afternoon, the best place to check out the schedule will be ScoreATL.com as well as this newsletter. As far as who will get to see the games, they will all be available on PeachtreeTV, which hits 2.65 million homes in the metro Atlanta area, reaching more than 60 counties. Digitally, everyone will be able to watch on the CBS46 app and the National Federation High School Network.”
4. What are some of the games on the schedule that you’re most excited about? “The night before Georgia plays Clemson, we will have Bulldogs signee and five-star quarterback Gunner Stockton and Class 2A Rabun County visit Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy. ELCA, a Class A Private powerhouse, recently went down to Lowndes and knocked off the big Class 7A school in a scrimmage. We are not scared to televise the smaller classifications. We learned that when we went to Prince Avenue Christian last year and televised a playoff game. Then the following week we will see Collins Hill, who has what many consider is the best player in the country in Travis Hunter, play at Rome, a top Class 6A school. Then we come back to metro Atlanta for two Class 7A heavyweights when Parkview travels to Marietta. But the game I worked the hardest to get will be played the fourth week when we go down to Warner Robins to see them host Lee County. It took me six weeks to talk the school officials in Warner Robins to let us come down, and you very well may see the best team in Class 6A playing the best in 5A. We have other games we are focused on like Blessed Trinity-Calhoun [Oct. 8], Walton-North Cobb [Oct. 15] and Roswell-Milton [Oct. 22] and will make announcements of new games very soon. With COVID being so tough on these schools and players, I am excited that high school football fans across the state will be able to watch two TV games of the week for the regular season and playoffs and support these young athletes.”
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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.
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.
Crisp County seeking varsity game on Sept. 3
Crisp County High School in Cordele is looking for a varsity football game for Sept. 3. If interested, contact Coach Martin at 678-953-2842.
Salem hiring football assistant coaches
Salem High School in Conyers has three varsity positions available immediately. Positions are negotiable but specifically wide receiver, running backs, and secondary. Possible teaching positions attached. For more information or to apply, contact head coach Jarrett Laws via email by clicking here or on Twitter by clicking here.
South Carolina team needs a game
D.W. Daniel High School in Central, S.C., needs a game Sept. 3 and Oct. 22. The school is located near Clemson, about two hours up I-85 from Atlanta. Would like to play at home. We will help with expenses, share gate, etc. If interested, contact Charlie Conn at 678-386-2405.
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GHSF Daily classified ads
Reach 23,500 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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