Michael Carvell’s Prep Zone Video Blog: The biggest and baddest football team in metro Atlanta is…?
Michael Carvell
Lowndes is the No. 1-ranked team in the state’s largest division (Class AAAAA). But which big metro school is the best?
Grayson is No. 2, and appears in many national polls, along with Lowndes. Grayson got a scare from South Gwinnett in a 27-16 win on Friday. North Gwinnett is probably the next best thing, and not yet is much known about Stephenson or M.L. King.
You could also throw McEachern, Peachtree Ridge, Newnan, Collins Hill and Parkview in the mix. It’s early in the season, and a lot of things are likely to happen before playoff passes are handed out.
Who is your pick for the metro’s best Class AAAAA team? State your team and your case below.
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107 comments Add your comment
msbssy
September 21st, 2009
10:42 pm
wow who cares about decatur, so Union Grove has thugs too? “you worry about your thugs and we will worry about ours!!! LOL with fans like you UGHS doesn’t need any enemies
JAGUARS
September 21st, 2009
10:42 pm
best safety in region 2-AAAAA?!?!?!
both stephenson’s safeties are the best in the region(jr. and senior)
kenneth ladler is a vanderbilt commit who wil knock your head clean off!!!
an who in this state can stop rarymond sanders?!?!?! SERIOUSLY
i dnt even have to speak on the defense
jagfan
September 21st, 2009
11:00 pm
who cares about decatur- YOU MUST BE WHITE SAYING SOMETHING LIKE THAT….THESE ARE KIDS THERE’S NO NEED FOR NAME CALLING. I DONT THINK YOU WOULD LIKE ANYONE CALLING RED NECK,CRACKER OR ANY OF THOSE MEAN WORDS EVEN THO YOU SOUND LIKE ONE CALLING KIDS THUGS…YOU ARE ONLY MAKING YOURSELF LOOK BAD BECAUSE YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THOSE KIDS…AND YOUR MAKING IT REALLY BAD FOR UG CUZES YOU GUYS IS TALKING TO MUCH NOT TO HAVE BEAT STEPHENSON YET!!! AND YOU GOT 1 D1 PLAYER GUESS HOW MANY D1 THUG COLLEGE PLAYERS WE HAVE THIS YEAR….HMMM…ONLY THING UG CAN BEAT STEPHENSON IS BASEBALL AND MAYBE NOT EVEN THAT…
stfu
September 22nd, 2009
12:07 am
HAHAHAAHA! UG SUCKS!
decatur where it is greater
September 22nd, 2009
12:07 am
who cares about decatur- You are full of crap you have two kids on your team with offers and with the new receiver possibly 3. So quit lying about offers. If ours guys are thugs and thats how you want to characterized them then fine, but we will put 20+ thugs in school this years on football scholarships after whipping UG butt again for the 5th time in a row. In 4 years we have beaten you by a score of 74-11, and you have the nerve to challenge us. If you have a rottweiler and poodle in the yard, i don’t think you agitate the rottweiler. They call that in the real world suicide.
Hoya Chuck
September 22nd, 2009
7:25 am
Peachtree Ridge dominates on both sides of the ball. North Gwinnett and Grayson are probably #2 & #3 respectively.
allcrimson
September 22nd, 2009
7:34 am
in the end you will see all 5 sux
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!
September 22nd, 2009
8:22 am
jagfan writes “YOU MUST BE WHITE SAYING SOMETHING LIKE THAT”, now that sounds like a racist characterization to me. I suppose only whites say the word “thug”.
EagleNationRising
September 22nd, 2009
8:29 am
Many of you guys are funny. When the season started, the toast of metro Atlanta is Peachtree Ridge. P-Ridge is still the best team in metro Atlanta. I know that is a challenge for you Atlantans to get your arms around. At the end of the day, this is one of the worst big city high school football towns in America.
The best looking team is probably Stephenson. Of course, Stephenson is Stephenson. My guess is the Atlanta program that will be standing is P-Ridge. The beatdown in Valdosta has hurt their confidence. However, I expect their focus to improve and the reality check at Martin Stadium against Lowndes will make P-Ridge a better team in the long run.
Grayson deserves credit, but their offense will not get it done. North Gwinnett has done nothing. Beating an out of state team does not merit the hype surrounding these guys. I expect P-Ridge and Grayson to stand taller than North Gwinnett.
Guess what, P-Ridge, Grayson, North Gwinnett, Stephenson, or MLK would be lucky to finish in the top 4 in Region 1-AAAAA. You guys know it is true. Where are the East Paulding posters screaming about those overhyped guys in silver and black?
HeadEast
September 22nd, 2009
9:03 am
Grayson – That won’t be N Cobb in the fist round, probably Etowah or East, N Cobb should finish about 6th behind Harrison. ENR – Valdosta misses two field goals and decides not to try the third one so now you’re hot stuff. Same trash talk as last year when you had all 4 teams going to the semis after the first round, but none of them made it past round three, none, zero, nada. Are you any better than last year when Camden stomped you in the 2nd round? And Lowndes the pride and joy of your region got whipped so bad by Grayson they blew up and started a fight, which they also lost. Over-rated, over-rated.
The Cannon Rules!!
September 22nd, 2009
9:44 am
WHERE ARE ALL THE RAIDER FANS…
Right here last week, this week and next week! The Raiders are still 2-1 and 1-1 in the Region with Marietta coming this week to
“THE BONEYARD”! Then a very tough away game at Etowah on 10/02 and home games with North Cobb & Harrison on the 16th (Hoya Chuck – that’s your date…CIRCLE IT) then away at Kennesaw Mtn. back home with Cherokee…Hmmmmm!!! Beat Etowah on 10/02 and our Raiders could be 8-1 and 7-1 in the region going into the game with Woodstock at “THE WOOD”!!!
McEachern SHOULD run the table now to win Region 5A-AAAAA but we still got a LOT of football so let’s see how things shake out.
Marietta…PLEASE keep believing how our RAIDERS got “THUMPED” and “WHIPPED” by McEachern and that EAST is going to be a pushover for you this week. I am sure that’s what really happened and you have nothing to worry about at “THE BONEYARD” this week…Heck, why not just bring your J.V. kids and rest the Varsity!
ga football
September 22nd, 2009
9:48 am
HEY GUYS HANDS DOWNS STEPHENSON IS THE BEST TEAM THIS YEAR THERE GOING BACK TO THE DOME THEY HAVE MULTI GUTS GOING D1 MIAMI KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE VANDERBILT AND MANY MORE…….STEPHENSON IS GOING TO OPEN ALOT OF EYES THIS YEAR
ga football
September 22nd, 2009
9:49 am
GUYS ^^^^^^^^^^^
ga football
September 22nd, 2009
9:55 am
EVERYBODY DONT CRY WHEN STEPHENSON BECOMES CHAMPIONS
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT
September 22nd, 2009
10:09 am
UNION GROVE FAN QUIT DREAMING IF YOU THINK STEPHENSON IS OVERLOOKING YOUR TEAM. REALLY THAT GAME IS MARK ON OUR CALENDAR. WE WANT OVERLOOK OR UNDER ESTIMATE ANY TEAM THIS YEAR. ONE GAME AT A TIME NEWTON COUNTY THIS WEEK. THATS WHERE OUR MINE IS NOW TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS ON WEEKLY BASIS. UNTIL THE WEEK PREPARATION OF UNION GROVE , UNION GROVE NEED TO WORRY ABOUT UNION GROVE.
footballmama
September 22nd, 2009
10:29 am
quit worrying about who should be ranked where!!! DO YOUR TALKING ON THE FIELD, the rest is just fuel for everyone’s fire.
AVikingFan
September 22nd, 2009
11:50 am
To GA FOOTBALL: I admit Stephenson does have some great athletes, they always do. It’s a remarkable accomplishment to have made the playoffs every year this decade. I even heard that the Un. of Ga is thinking about adding one of Stephenson’s former players, Reggie Ball, to its Ring of Honor in Sanford Stadium.
But AAAAA State Champions? I’ll believe it the day after I see it! Maybe!!!
jagfan
September 22nd, 2009
11:59 am
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm! – how is that racist because i pointed out what you and i could plainly see….yes some black people do still say thug but not many anymore…. another thing is him being a UGHS parent my guess that its a good chance he’s white…and i will think that until he’s says im black!!! But you must be to because if you were black you understand my point and not point out something so small…get a life
It's time
September 22nd, 2009
12:57 pm
i think Grayson and North Gwinnett are the top Metro Atlanta teams. just my opinion. both are doing very well this year but i think if they played NG would come out on top because they have a better offense than grayson. and i know everyone talks about how good grayson’s defense is and i know they are good but have you seen North’s D? their defense is VERY solid. Both teams will do good and go far this year
football fan
September 22nd, 2009
3:32 pm
NG will get beat on 11/6/09.
reality..
September 22nd, 2009
4:21 pm
Brookwood fans have a reason to be angry. SG quarterback was at Brookwood but didn’t get a chance to compete. He was told there would be no place for Benjie to play..Brookwood coaches please realize this…Benjie is not a quarterback. He doesn’t deserve to be on the football field. Anyway, the guys at Brookwood has beaten down, Parkview, Grayson, SG and every body else they have faced without Benjie being the quarterback….remember the 7,8, 9 andd JV years.. No Benjie…now Benjie will have more losts on his record than any Brookwood QB, but I do believe that if Benjie learns how to treat the other players and humble himself and show some respect those guys will remember they are still the big dogs and win out… beating Grayson, SG and Parkview as they did in those other years…..coaches of Brookwood think about it…
drock09
September 22nd, 2009
4:38 pm
1. Newnan 2. Grayson 3. N gwinnett 4. Union grove 5. Jaguars. Newnan has the best defense in Georgia with a lot of talented pieces on offense. Grayson has a good defense and solid running game. The bulldogs has maybe the best coach in Georgia. I think the jags has more talent than anyone in Georgia. But will fold on round2
UG
September 22nd, 2009
7:05 pm
Union Grove is about to imploded! Lots of drama going on with the team.
MLK33FAN
September 22nd, 2009
7:11 pm
im tired of the same old b.S. at stephenson. Coach gartrell and that weak a$$ coaching staff need to pick it up. The defense is strong until they play teams where the coaches have to make in game changes (THEY CANT). The best players need to play on both s ides of the ball (THEY DONT). Stop being so bias and stop playing #21 and #6!!!! and you guys need to put coach sellers sorry a$$ son on the BENCH! The jaguars are the number 2 team in ga behind us (MLK).THEY JUST BE READY FOR THE MACK TRUCK ON 0CT 16TH!!!!
decatur where it is greater
September 22nd, 2009
8:08 pm
MLK33FAN mack truck now thats funny is he the same mack truck from last year that had 40 yards against us. when you tell jarvis to stop giving grass drills to players for discipline during games then you can criticize us.
jagfan
September 22nd, 2009
8:22 pm
MLK33FAN- please your mack truck was and 1988 broke down ford pick up truck last year with only 40 yards aginst us… and you only got 7 points we had 27 points don’t sound like you gave us much of a game to me! but this is a new year so we will see but i don’t think anything will change…we will stop him and beat you guys agin….go JAGS
decatur where it is greater
September 22nd, 2009
9:06 pm
union grove know one would care if every kid on your team quit you will go 8-2 at best
SouthGARules
September 22nd, 2009
9:17 pm
reality: Are you saying that politics are at work in the Bronco Nation? Is Benjie’s daddy a big money contributor? I was told that the reason the 2000 starting QB got the job was “allegedly” his daddy was a big financial booster to the program. Not saying its true, but makes you wonder.
footballmama
September 22nd, 2009
10:22 pm
mlk & stephenson fans, we know the rivalry is heated and trash talk happens, but both teams need to focus on the fact that neither team is respected throughout the state. Quit all the damn infighting amongst family and do the damn thing on the field. Make it past the 3rd round and shut some folks up!!! Oct 16th is just one game out of the 16 it takes to bring home a championship, yeah you get region bragging rights-that means nada come December!
Hmmmmmmmmmmm!
September 22nd, 2009
10:29 pm
jagfan I don’t characterize people’s skin color by their use of the word “thug”. I quite confidant you have some race issues to deal with.
Deal with it!
UG
September 22nd, 2009
10:38 pm
decatur where it is greater – Maybe your right but we will still make it as far as you guys in the playoffs so what does it matter!
HomeFieldAdvantage
September 22nd, 2009
11:04 pm
Best Metro teams? 1) Grayson 2) Peachtree Ridge 3) North Gwinnett 4) McEachern 5) Stephenson 6) MLK 7) East Paulding
Newnan -if it’s considered metro Atlanta – 9) Lasseter 10) South Gwinnett
K-MAN
September 22nd, 2009
11:38 pm
Best Metro teams—-1)Peachtree Ridge–they have a habit of being there at the end! 2)Grayson–have not beaten PTR yet! 3)It really doesnt matter who you put here next because EVERYBODY ELSE cant deal with the souths 4th place team…much less,the 3rd!
football fan
September 22nd, 2009
11:54 pm
K-Man, Grayson beat PTR in 2007 at Grayson.
decatur where it is greater
September 23rd, 2009
12:19 am
great message footballmama point made
HoyaFan
September 23rd, 2009
12:33 am
P-Ridge is my vote. Grayson and McEachern are good second bets.
jagfan
September 23rd, 2009
3:25 am
footballmama- that is a good point but Stephenson has made it to the dome and that was nothing but like 3 years ago and we made it every year to playoffs for i don’t no how many years in a row… if you don’t respect that then you don’t know football! noting even pointing out the fact that Stephenson and MLK both have not been around more then 13 years and have put just as many kids in college or more then teams that’s been around 20 and 30 years so we earned the right to talk trash to each other because that’s just not a game its on national tv…so maybe somebody may respect us if we are on espn don’t you think…Hmmmmmmmmmmm!i don’t have a problem with any race i love everybody but you i don’t because your and ass not because your white!!!!
MLK33FAN
September 23rd, 2009
9:04 am
A.J.C. are the racists!!!!!! They give these white schools too much credit… MLK and STEPHENSON are twice as good as those redneck South Georgia teams!!!!
THE CANNON RULES!!!
September 23rd, 2009
10:19 am
MLK33FAN…
Get a GRIP…go back and REREAD your post!…You are calling the most liberal newspaper in the SouthEast RACIST…You couldn’t be more wrong…The AJC gives much more coverage to football (and everything else) INSIDE 285 (along with Cobb & Gwinnet)t than they do ANYWHERE else in the state. They almost totally ignore Northwest Ga teams and have all but abandoned Paulding County / West as far as coverage. Yes they give East Paulding some print but ONLY because they are forced to as East plays the COBB County teams they do cover!
The AJC raised the cost of the paper to $ 1.00 daily and pulled out of most the counties except Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb & Gwinnett when it comes to coverage, so your comments are way off base. If you are not getting the coverage you want perhaps it is because of the QUALITY of play or the teams the schools you refer to are fielding…Just a thought!
JAG GUY
September 23rd, 2009
10:53 am
THIS IS OFFICALLY A MLK VS.STEPHENSON COMMENT SESSION.
The Jags are the best team in georgia period.No other school has the potenial,talent,or SPEED that Stephenson posses.Tuck your tail between ya legs because the jags are cumin after that ass!!!!
git-er-done
September 23rd, 2009
11:28 am
WOW, talking a little smack makes the season fun but some of you are taking it too far. One thing that we should all be proud of is that GEORGIA as a whole produces some top quality football players which speaks volumes for our Coaches and parents that get involved. Stephenson and MLK both have very good teams BUT so does UG. Yes Union Grove was 7-0 last year when they lost but they played without their starting tailback who will be back this week. Pre-season games don’t mean alot but the Vigor Alabama game was great. Those kids from Vigor are HUGE and by the way Vigor is crushing their opponents this year and ranked #1 again. Send their Coach and email and ask him what he thinks of UG. I do agree with SouthGA lets just wait until we play and we will all know. I do think we should keep this post about football and leave the racism out of it. Stephenson and MLK i will tell you that the actual Union Grove players have respect for you guys.
Quinn
September 23rd, 2009
3:19 pm
Kudos to EagleNationRising and AVikingFan for giving Peachtree Ridge credit as the best team in Metro Atlanta. I will say though, i think PRHS would finish in the top 4 in Region 1 As would Grayson (Unsure about N.Gwinnett). They are definitely not a shoe in to win the region, but I think They would at least finish in the top 4. I still feel that PRHS gave itself a bad rap when we played like crap against Lowndes, I mean, had we played our best the game would’ve been MUCH MUCH closer. But I hope we can redeem ourselves. And if Lowndes and PRHS both finish #1 in their region, we would face off in the third round of the playoffs. I’d really like to see Lowndes come up to Suwanee this time, as it would definitely take some of Lowndes advantage away. (Martin Stadium/Concrete Palace is such a hard atmosphere to play in as the enemy). Again, thank you to all the South GA guys who give PRHS some credit.
JagFaithful
September 23rd, 2009
9:59 pm
Jags has the most talent in the State period. AJC always hate on Dekalb. true they do Metro Atlanta, but all they do is white teams in gwinnet county (North Gwinnet, Grayson, Brookwood) THEY ALL SUCK!! we saw what happened 2005 when Parkview played some real boys (Stephenson) in the playoffs Marcus Ball layed the wood to Caleb King all night and jags came out victorious so I think Stephenson should get more respect than they do.
Decatur 4 Life
September 24th, 2009
11:20 am
The AJC only did that because of the financial crunch that everyone is in. It cost more to make the paper and send it out of the city than what they were getting from doing so. Thats why they did that and why would you complain about them covering the metro Atlanta schools more that the schools outside the perimeter. It is called the Atlanta Journal and Counstitution not the Georgia Journal and Constitution.
SportsFan31313
September 24th, 2009
4:42 pm
Eagles Nation Rising,
I agree with you. But my Top two is Grayson followed by Peachtree Ridge those to teams will Dominate North Georgia in Class AAAAA or any Class in Metro Atlanta. But that is as far as it goes…. The question was who is the baddest football in the Metro Area, and I gave you my answer. Anyone beg to differ?
But the Baddset Football team an any Class is South Georgia’s Region 1-AAAAA Lowndes County this year.
SportsFan31313
September 24th, 2009
4:43 pm
But I like the others that Eagle Nations rising spoke of to include East Paulding…
BulldawgBite
September 24th, 2009
7:38 pm
I believe there is a good chance that lowndes couldnt beat any of the #1 seeds from the metro area if they were on the road (besides region 6). The biggest baddest teams in the metro area have to be grayson, NG, PTR, and maybe Mceachern? If you count newnan as metro-atlanta they have to be on that list. these south GA teams are over rated because their fans talk them up to be all-world
JagFaithful
September 24th, 2009
8:54 pm
Stephenson is going to the DOME! Clearly Grayson isn’t the (power house)everyone thinks they are. They just came out of a bid Dawg Fight with South Gwinnet which they really should’ve lost if Grayson’s referee’s didnt cheat.
SportsFan31313
September 25th, 2009
12:06 pm
BulldawgBite Says:
“I believe there is a good chance that lowndes couldnt beat any of the #1 seeds from the metro area if they were on the road (besides region 6). The biggest baddest teams in the metro area have to be grayson, NG, PTR, and maybe Mceachern? If you count newnan as metro-atlanta they have to be on that list. these south GA teams are over rated because their fans talk them up to be all-world”
BullDawgBite,
You need to get off the sauce….. Do you need the number to AA?
BulldawgBite
September 25th, 2009
1:59 pm
Im just saying homefield advantage means a lot once you get to the playoffs, obviously lowndes will get a #1 seed. if they have to actually play somewhere other than the dome they should be ready for a dogfight