Newton (4-0) is ranked for first time since 1995

I was at the Newton vs. Newnan game and that Akeem Hunt is for real. He carried the Rams on his back. They will be tested the next 3 games though with East Coweta, Stephenson, and ML King. WOW, what a region!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

Both Newton and Eastside ranked in the Top Ten of classes
AAAAA and AAA respectively.
Let’s hear it for good ole Covington

• Link
• Report this comment

I can’t believe that SWD and Parkview are having tough seasons this year. They are normally ranked every year. I guess everyone has a down year. Hopefully they can bounce back next year.

• Link
• Report this comment

Hiram will be ranked again at the end… We Will win out…..if we stop senseless penalties…..Too many penalties…..Hiram will battle EAST for #2… Kell will go undefeated…..and I hope North claims #4…..

• Link
• Report this comment

Kell is the new team on the block and you are already proclaiming them champions. Puleeze,get a grip on reality, you haven’t won state championships, haven’t been in grueling playoff runs to prove yourself. NSWR deserves top ranking after winning arguably the toughest region in the state last year, going long into the playoffs,and have back the core of that team that is even better. The only thing that is correct is that they haven’t played anybody.They would hand Kell their head in a basket count on it!

• Link
• Report this comment

kell Longhorns!

• Link
• Report this comment

These rankings shows how AAAA is better than AAAAA
1. Camden County vs Northside Warner Robins… Camden
2. North Gwinnett vs Clarke Central… North Gwinnett
3. Peachtree Ridge vs Tucker… Tucker
4. McEachern vs Kell… Kell
5. Lowndes vs Griffin… Griffin
6. Stephenson vs Marist… Marist
7. Norcross vs Flowery Branch… Flowery Branch
8. Valdosta vs Thomas County Central… Thomas County Central
9. South Gwinnett vs Chattochee… South Gwinnett
10. Newton vs East Paulding… East Paulding

AAAAA has to watch out for MLK who has a great offense but a horrible defense
AAAA has to watch out for Mays who knows how good they really are until they play Tucker on OCT 8

• Link
• Report this comment

Joe, Your an idiot.comparing 4A to 5A, look at all of them and Buford will kick your butts.

• Link
• Report this comment

Everyone one is forgetting about my team Upson-Lee down here in Thomaston ga. This friday night we gone smash Whitewater and show them how we run the veer. We going to the State. Our Quarterback is being recruited by CMR.

• Link
• Report this comment

blu eagle…

My post concerning KELL is that they are positioned to win the REGION 5N AAAA Championship…at this point NOTHING else as we still have a LOT of football left to play!!

So far KELL has proven themselves by beating Grayson on a neutral field in the Dome, then winning 2 at home and 2 away all against previously unbeaten teams! You may not like it but until someone beats KELL they deserve the ranking and the playoff talk.

• Link
• Report this comment

Im not sure what your drinking, but im sure if you take a look at your opponents win loss ratio you will see that you are lucky to be in the top ten at all. I mean your offence only scored ten points against an 0 and 4 team friday night. The defence is the only reason the score looked respectable, and that was a home game!! You will travel for the first time friday… you will get a chance to show your worth then. You wont be ranked ahead of lowndes untill you beat us, see you in two weeks…. Ya’lls door mat scedual is over!!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

Reeze, if you want to look at things like that than here are each of Kell’s opponents – opponents records:

Team—————————Opponents Records
Etowah —————————- 15-10
Woodstock ———————- 8-15
Grayson ————————— 11-11
East Paulding ——————- 13-10
Hiram ——————————- 10-14

• Link
• Report this comment

goldenglove002…….Gime me a break the only notable team either Etowah , Woodstock , Grayson ,EP or Hiram has faced this season is Woodstock vs Newnan , and Newnan is 1-3.

• Link
• Report this comment

Joe your AAAA/AAAAA comparison obviously shows your AAAA bias. The only AAAA winner I see in that head to head comparison might be
Northside (surprised?) and East Paulding. But I would have strong
doubts on both.

• Link
• Report this comment

I like the rift between Reeze and GoldenGlove002. -Both of you guys make good points. First I’ll make the point for Clarke Central. I saw their scrimmage game against Buford and left thinking, they were not a top 5 team. 2 weeks later I saw them in rival game vs a very very subpar Cedar Shoals team but what I saw was improved play at the very spots Buford kicked their tail at….the line. Clarke central still being #2 is a surprise to me but they are playing in a region where they will face Apalachee and the offensive machine in Flowery Branch. Central is pretty good and with the trio of QB Mattox, RB Watson and WRs Gartrell and Williams they are solid.

Now on the Kell tip, I’m sold! Kell has played pretty good but have yet to “pull away” and the national guys are waiting for them to do just that. Kell can hang with NSWR and the rest of 4A hands down!

Now onto the author Michael Carvell- yep Camden is poised to win the state (only North Gwinnett or McEachern can hang with them right now) but a win at St Thomas Aquinas is only going to put them more in the conversation of a national title. A sweep in the playoffs against the highest seeds possible and your then your talking. S. Panola (MS), Trinity(TX), Grant(CA), Don Bosco(NJ), and Phoebus(VA) are just a little bit more stout nationally than Camden, although I think Camden could beat 3 or those 5, so I like those odds. Keep in mind it took them having to win vs Miami Central to even get in the USA Super 25 and St. Thomas just entered last week (a sign of disrespect).

Also don’t want to sound crazy but has anybody noticed Alpharetta? Looking like at least a 2nd Round playoff team.

In 2A NO WAY Jefferson County should be out especially with Lovett being #10. Sorry I can’t by that. On top of that Dublin is suspect. Jefferson Co must have gotta hit after blowing that 24-7 lead but Swainsboro is no joke. Jefferson Co will be a factor so long and QB Stone and RB Broadus are still there. Sorry Lions fans that #10 spot belongs to the Jefferson County Warriors.

• Link
• Report this comment

I am not sure I agree that 4A teams are actually better then the 5A teams, but I think the 4A divisions and brackets are much more interesting this year. That does not mean they are better teams, just more interesting matchups and games coming up.

I think school size really does matter in football. There is a greater talent pool to draw from. So the teams have fewer spots on the field with a weak player. And among the better programs, kids seem to just show up for the exposure and coaching. I am reminded of a strong player at North. A really big, fast kid showed up in the district and the guy lost his starting position and playing time. He got a transfer to P Ridge and did very well there. He went on to earn a full scholarship at a Div 1 school in Mississippi. (Deliberately trying to keep the details vague). That larger talent pool makes the kids just a little bigger, a little faster, a little hungrier – and across all positions.

Smaller schools are just more likely to have a weakness in some position. I am reminded of last year’s Red Elephants from Gainesville. Few observers knew they did not have a kicker until the weakness was exposed in the Championship game.

Kell and NSWR do not really fall into a group of “smaller schools” since they just moved down. They already drew from the larger talent pool, and when new schools were built, those 5A kids elected to stay at their current school rather than move to a new program. Flowery Branch is more like a 5A school but for a different reason. They are growing so fast that they effectively outgrow their division before realignment. Add in the fact that they are drawing athletes who are relatives of the falcons and the falcons staff, and they just do not have a typical 4A student body as their talent pool.

There are some really interesting games yet to play in all divisions. Since there are fewer total 5A teams, there are not quite as many critical matchups left: Valdosta v Lowndes, P Ridge/Norcross/North Gwinnett, among others. There is still plenty of football left to play, with some great games to go. Personally, I am really interested to see how things resolve themselves in 4A this year. What a great state for football fans!

I do not want to belabor the point, but I think Lowndes loss to McEachern and the 3 – 0 win over Ware shows this is not the same sort of Lowndes team that won State Championships. I’m sure Lowndes still has a very good team, just not quite “there” this year.

I also believe that Grayson is going to be a factor in the playoffs. I think they are still the likely champion in div 8AAAAA.

Good luck to Camden! Win or lose I know your players, fans and coaches will represent Georgia with grace and class. You’ve earn your title shot for the heavyweight championship, now go do us all proud.

• Link
• Report this comment

I agree totally JHillsman!!! Jefferson Co. should be #10 with a record of 3-1-1. How does Lovett be in the rankings with a 2-2 record and everyone else has 1 loss or less!!! True enough, we took a big loss in the Swainsboro game, but as you will see later on this season, Swainsboro is not all that!!!! The Warriors ran up and down the field on their so called “monster defense!” The Warriors just made a couple of mental mistakes and let Swainsboro back in the game. We get no respect, and we play in one of the toughest regions in Class AA, if not in the state! But they will see JHillsman, later on in the season, that Jefferson Co. is a force to be reckoned with!!!! Go Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

Trojan56 they have no idea how good we are this year. They have no idea that we have a state championship track team on the field. they have no idea that we go 2 and 3 deep at every position. The only way they will ever know is to play, some of these teams in the playoffs and even then those teams better hope they never play us at home where we dontlose, only one loss in three years at grisham stadium.

• Link
• Report this comment

still waiting for Grady to crack that top 10 in AAA…

• Link
• Report this comment

Your are right on with the importance this week of the Cook vs Fitz game. The winner could well be on their way to a state championship. I am putting my money on Cook.

• Link
• Report this comment

I love this Kell talk. The program has won one playoff game in their school’s history and people are proclaiming that Kell is top ranking in the state of Georgia material. This kind of talk from metro Atlanta football fans embracing every Johnny Come Lately is what drives football fans from outside of the metro area crazy.

Look, Kell is ranked fourth. What more do you want? Kell trails three undefeated programs that have proven themselves year after year. Kell has only won one playoff game…EVER. #4 is the ceiling for a program like Kell. Until Kell beats one program that has a State Championship banner, the Longhorns are not going to ever be ranked about nationally ranked programs like Northside, Clarke Central, or Tucker.

What is going to happen is Kell is going to reach the playoffs, travel south of the Gnatline (or play a program from south of the Gnatline) and get violated just like every other Cobb County school does when they finally play someone. Beating Grayson, 2 Cobb County schools, and a couple of Paulding County programs is not reason to earn ranking above “real programs.” FYI: Grayson is not special. They are a one season wonder that got lucky a couple of years ago against Lowndes County. You Atlanta posters are funny (and a real silly). I doubt Kell gets the football past the 50 yardline against defenses like Northside and Ware County.

• Link
• Report this comment

Suwanee Ownz: Northside is half the size (enrollment) of a school like Camden County. How is Northside not a smaller school? I am a little lost. Northside is signficantly smaller than huge Gwinnett high schools like Collins Hills. You guys have no clue. If you have 2500-4000 students, you have a signficant advantage above a school with 1800 students. For that matter, Kell is a smaller school.

Colquitt County made a run last season and will again in AAAAA. They were violated by a very small school. Lowndes County could not separate themselves from Ware County, certainly a smaller school. Large schools should have an advantage. The truth of the matter is AAAAA schools have underperformed this season. You pick the AAAAA school, not named Camden County. I can put 10 smaller schools in a hat: Northside, Carver, Ware County, Tucker, Peach County, Clarke Central, Sandy Creek, Griffin, Cairo, Baldwin. You pick the school. That school can play with ANY AAAAA program in this state. That is a clear sign that AAAAA is WAY DOWN.

• Link
• Report this comment

RonO – An George Walton has beaten who! Has played who? Play somebody and we will think about it.

• Link
• Report this comment

AAAA goes through NSWR until proven otherwise. Kell is playing pretty solid ball but they’re not the best AAAA team out there, although the Etowah and Grayson wins are pretty impressive as those are certain playoff AAAAA teams.
HHSHORNET – North Paulding, Hiram, and Pope will battle for the third spot in the north subregion, the last spot with a chance to get into the playoffs as Kell, East, and Lithia Springs will take 3 of the 4 playoff spots. Hiram has a year and a half of glory, but it’s mostly illusion based on beating teams like South Paulding, Paulding county, Osborne, and Cass. The illusion will end, just like N Paulding’s did last Friday, when you get to the Boneyard in a few weeks.

• Link
• Report this comment

Not sure I agree with bringing in Newton into Top 10 over Woodstock or even keeping Grayson in the Top 10. I know Newton is undefeated and recently beating Newnan (a former Top 10). Woodstock has been a solid team for the last several years and holding their own again this year. Woodstock has not blown anybody out, but also beat Newnan solidly NOT in OT. The only blemish for Woodstock is the loss to a very good Kell team. What other quality wins does Newton have? Woodstock has Newnan and arguably North Forsyth, a team picked to beat Etowah earlier in the year and is better than I think their record indicates.

I won’t make the case for Etowah just yet… the victory over Walton helped, but until the Woodstock/Etowah showdown in three weeks, perhaps the winner of that game will crack the Top 10?

I have to knock the Gwinnett bias and the anti-Region 5 bias in the rankings.

• Link
• Report this comment

GHSF Daily: Every person in entitled to their opinion. The Boise State beating Virginia Tech analogy is the very reason the Alabama has to get beat to fall in the rankings after running the table last season and returning practically their entire team from last season, i.e. Northside-Warner Robins.

Yes, Boise State beat Virginia Tech. What you forgot to mention is that Virginia Tech then lost to James Madison. I will repeat myself. Beating a Grayson program that has yet to show up in two years, beating two Cobb County programs (a county that collectively has not shown up in 40 years) and beating two Paulding County schools (a county that has not shown up in 80 years) is no reason to jump established programs that are wrecking people.

• Link
• Report this comment

@Reeze — Kell is undefeated and has beat winning teams, so I have no problem with their being ranked above Marist or other good 1-loss teams. The rankings are art, not science. I look forward to the playoffs when the top teams can make their case on the field.

• Link
• Report this comment

Etowah Fan: Warner Robins, GA is NOT South Georgia!!! Warner Robins is in a region called Middle Georgia, a beautiful place with beautiful people and hard hitting high school football. The dynamics and demographics of high schools outside of Atlanta change, as well. That is the “excuse” that Warner Robins HS staff and coaches are making to explain how a program with 2 National Championships is sitting at 0-4 and 17 total points in four games with Northside-Warner Robins next on their schedule.

The AJC hyped Warner Robins as one of the top 2+ loss programs in the state. I was honest last year when I put my own beloved Eagles on “Upset Alert” when we faced Warner Robins last season in the City Championship. Well, this season someone needs to place Warner Robins HS on “Violation Alert” Friday night. I expect Bryan Way, who won a state championship at Warner Robins in 2004, to get a pink slip after this game Friday.

Etowah Fan, this is a major contest of two tradition Middle Georgia powers. Programs like Northside, Warner Robins, Westside-Macon, Baldwin, Peach County, Washington County, etc. are in Middle Georgia. We are very different than South Georgia. We know that the good folks of metro Atlanta believe that anything south of Henry County is South Georgia. That is not the case.

• Link
• Report this comment

Welcome back ENR.

I did not say that NSWR is a “big school”. Instead, I said they play like a 5A school. The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who did so well in 5A stayed with your program even though they might now live in a different district. You are effectively drawing from a 5A talent pool even though NSWR is now a smaller school. This effect will continue for a couple of years until all of the players who were on that 5A team have moved through the program.

As I think about it, there might also be some advantage to having a military base in your district. I am not sure about your district boundaries, but it seems like other schools with military bases play a bit better than their competitors. I can believe that captains, chief petty officers, sargeants and other who have some choice about assignments might choose to be assigned to Georgia if they kids who are strong football players.

Of course, the single omst important factor in the repeated success of some teams, is coaching. Quality of the weight room and other facilities can also make a big difference. But you cannot coach speed or size. Yes, good coaches and facilities can turn a 6′1″ wimp into a 6′1″ Parkview middle linebacker. But they cannot make him faster, and they cannot grow a kid who is 5′9″ into a 6′1″ player.

Talent pool is a very important factor. Buford has succeeded year after year because of coaching, facilities, and because they can draw from the programs of several 5A schools around them.

I believe that Mill Creek is now the largest High School in Georgia, and that growth has happened almost over night. The quality of their academics places them among the elite in Gwinnett, and I believe their football program is making huge strides. Mill Creek is on the bubble for whether they make the playoffs this year. But they will be a factor in the future, partly just because of their size. To their credit, they are concentrating on academics first, but they are already on the elite stage in Swimming and “Fine Arts”, and I assume other programs. Gwinnett County could not build a new school fast enough to deny them a huge talent pool should they decide to become a top tier football program.

• Link
• Report this comment

WarEagle: Are they still doing the thing with private schools where each student counts as 1.5 students? Or is Marist just playing up? If so, why? So many people asked why Northside has allowed our program to move down to the second largest classification twice. The first time was under Conrad Nix, who just NEVER bought the concept of Northside playing up. During portions of that time, our other two city high schools were playing in AAAAA. His point was that Northside was always going to play Warner Robins and Houston County, huge gates and big money games. He did not understand that benefit of playing up.

Now, some people have asked the same question. It works much better now, because people see that our other local schools are playing in AAAA. To my understanding, all Houston County schools (Northside, Houston County, Warner Robins, Veterans, & Perry) will inevitably play in AAAA together. I just do not get the benefit (if Marist is playing up) to playing up.

Valdosta plays up. Tift County only has 1400+ students and they are playing in AAAAA. It doesn’t benefit the schools. They get killed and it hurts school pride. For example, Valdosta, would still have opportunities to play traditional rivals like Lowndes, Tift County, and Colquitt and actually have a prayer of winning. It seems egotistical and silly to me.

Let us know about Marist. Are they playing up or does Marist have to play up because it is a private school?

• Link
• Report this comment

5A is better than 4A. With teams like camden, NG, lowndes, peachtree ridge, and valdosta how could you think other wise.

• Link
• Report this comment

To me if you line up the top 10 teams in 4A and 3A and let them play each other 3A teams would win half of those match up. So there no way 4A is better than 5A.

• Link
• Report this comment

Suwanee Ownz: Kids that live on Robins Air Force do not and have NEVER been zoned to attend Northside HS. In general, practically every starter for Northside was raised in Warner Robins. There are some examples of kids moving in. However, they have traditionally played at Warner Robins HS and (now) Houston County (the poster child for an underachiving high school program).

As for fine arts, winning at Northside is not isolated to high school football. Review the GHSA site and take a look at how many State Championships that Northside has in One Act, Forensics (Debate), and State Literary. It makes our football team appear to be underachievers. Winning is a way of life in Warner Robins. You see it with our Little League teams, One Act, Literary, you name it.

I once had this belief that large schools ruled the day until I was sitting on the edge of my seat hoping that Northside’s defense could hold a highly talented Carver (Columbus) team. Those guys were as fast, as big, as disciplined, and as talented as we were. We play the best (Lowndes County, Camden County, Peachtree Ridge, Newnan, Tucker, Marist, etc.). Carver is as good as all of those guys. I promise.

If you want to see a very special program, watch Peach County play sometime. Some people in Middle Georgia will tell you that Peach County is probably the best team in the state (any classification). ***I don’t believe it. (wink. wink)…we had to go for two to beat those guys a few years ago with a group of kids that went undefeated (regular season). We got lucky and beat Peach County 11-10. We scored 35-56 points on practically every other AAAAA team we played. We were down 9-10 and going for a 2 point conversion to beat AAA Peach County.

• Link
• Report this comment

Good post, Etowah Fan. North Georgia natives grew up with no distinction between Middle and South Georgia; the Gnat/Fall Line was the geographic divider. With the help of a year at ABAC and 20 years with my Middle Georgia in-laws, I have learned to know better.

True about the rarity of 2nd generation players in metro ATL programs. We have only 5 that come to mind whose parents played for McEachern, though we do have a huge number with parents who are Cobb County natives. I honestly believe this is a great intangible benefit for us, especially when compared to to other Cobb & metro programs. Heck- you can sit in the stands for a game at an east Cobb school or Harrison and never hear a Southern accent…experienced it yet again this past Friday sitting on the Kell side.

• Link
• Report this comment

Trojan94……….The best team in middle Georgia is AAA Peach County , and I’m a Northside Fan…….Peach County is second in the State only to Camden. They are just thaat good this year.

• Link
• Report this comment

FYI: ENR……. Tift county is a AAAAA……it has 1935 according to last years FTE numbers.
High school in considered 9-12…. Tift county has Two(2) campus one being Tift conuty had 1401 and Northeast Campus, Tift County High School has 534, but they are considered one school as far as GHSA. Coffee county has the same type of system you can find this information at http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fte_pack_enrollgrade.entry_form …
but this does not affect how well they play or don’t play….. this is FYI…..several school besides the two named do this around the state.

• Link
• Report this comment

Enter your comments here

• Link
• Report this comment

I wonder what Cairo will do this week since its open date….maybe pitch a shutout… I think we should be considered as a powerhouse in the “SOUTH” and in AAA.

• Link
• Report this comment

ENR, how can you call Grayson a one year wonder with a 38 and 6 record since 2007. Throw out the 2007 season where they lost to Camden in quarter finals. Grayson is 28 and 3 if you include injury loss in dome this year. In 2008 and 2009 they were in final 4. This year final 4 next year they win state…not sure if you would call it one year wonder but you have been known to put things out there in the past that have not made sense before. But hey…I just got nutty myself with prophesy that Grayson will win deep this year and win it all next year.

• Link
• Report this comment

@joe…i am a NG alum and former player…i root for them always, but Camden could destroy, and i will repeat DESTROY any team from any classification or any year this year… it hurts me to say it but they are that good.

• Link
• Report this comment

EaglesNationRising: To be clear, Marist is in AAAA (not the highest classification). As for whether the move up has hurt Marist’s chances for success across the board, I don’t think so — Marist has won the Directors Cup for AAAA every year it has been in AAAA, and won 9 state championships in 2008-09 school year. For Marist, the decision is made by the AD, and not just by the coaches for one sport. As I said, I think each school has to evaluate the issue of whether to try to play up for itself, based on what is important to the school (school finances play a part) and to the school’s athletic program.

• Link
• Report this comment

Etowah fan….Look man…. bring your opinions and diagreements into region 7AAAAA and you will be awstruck when your team goes 4-6. Could’nt hang in 06′ and could’nt hang now.

• Link
• Report this comment

One last thing….Does anybody ever recall or can they vaguely imagine any camden fan/player/student complaining about student population…???????????????….the answer is no because they don’t care about demographics…they play football and beat everybody…In most ways NG is similar to camden with student pop. because NG’s best athletes have and continue to be neighborhood kids. NOT transfers or recruits. And look what these two programs have done over the last four years. Please AAAA just talk about some other excuse or complaint as to why the best AAAA teams can not beat the best AAAAA teams on a weekly basis. Its getting boring and old.

• Link
• Report this comment

DSGB Cairo is already as a powerhouse in the south. As far as AAA goes every team that is ranked is a powerhouse. Belive me when i tell you that win over thomas county central was notice throughout AAA.

• Link
• Report this comment

Wow,,lots of good passionate commentary. As a transplant to Paulding County(from up north -Nebraska way), I have come to appreciate even more the high school football that is played here in Georgia. I’m an East Paulding fan first, then root for all the Paulding schools. I’ve only been around for the past 6 yrs so I’m mostly a newbee to GA football. Right or wrong this is how I see things: East Paulding came on the scene 5 years ago and has remained a very strong program since The beat downs in the playoffs and otherwise were inevitable opportunities for learning (Marist at the dome,,TCC in Thomasville, Grayson, Etowah, Woodstock,,and our cobb neigbor rival in Harrison). I’ve only been personaly witness to EP playing one team south of the ‘gnat’ line, but it definitly was one of the most memorable lessons that EP has learned along the way. Since then they have lost certainly, but I do think it was that game that showed the coaching staff, kids, parents and fans like me what it really would take to be a champion. All kudos to southern ga teams (though that is only one team). EP this year is much more resiliant then in the past,,,plays with a sense of urgency and purpose and a more physical brand of football and in general are starting to feel more like a team and program that wants to be around for the long haul.(Thanks TCC).

I see a growing Paulding county trend. Hiram for 2 years now is on the rise. Yes they got squashed in the playoffs last year but I think they are starting to build that championship caliber continuity also. An now we have an upstart North Paulding team playing its very first varsity schedule with Seniors on the team …..starting 4-0, putting up gaudy offensive numbers against over matched, out coached teams with out any history………they travel to EP and promptly get a huge beat down, by a team playing a totally different level of football (looked like EP/TCC in reverse). Point is North now too has had its eyes opened as to what it takes to play at a higher level and perhaps be competive when it gets out of the comfy confines of Paulding and Cobb county.

I think what the message is……80 years without doing anything is coming to an end and it will be sooner rather then later. There are 3 Paulding county schools all set in the right direction, and my hunch is that you”ll continue to see all 3 of them improve and be a big part of the football chatter in the coming years. My prediction …..Paulding county will bring a state championship to this area of the state long before big ole Cobb county does. Aspiring to play south georgia style football is a great thing……..

Lastly……….I think that EP getting moved into the rankings this week with 1 loss is evidence that respect comes not from one season but rather a number of years put togher of playing good football to get you appreciated and recognized in that manner. That may be right or wrong but explain the reasoning that Kell remains and will remain ranked behind teams with much longer winning tradtions.

• Link
• Report this comment

RealisticEPFan…

GOOD POST! Tippin’ the ole hat in your direction!!!

GO RAIDERS!!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

I have to this is the most informative discussion posts that I have read this year. Real high school football insight on this one. A few crazy comments, but mostly real talk.

My only comment is to the posters who are proclaiming that 5A is down this year, especially Region 15A…could it be because a lot of 5A schools are not really 5A and playing up, like Valdosta. I may be wrong, but there are really only 2 schools (Lowndes and Camden) with enrollment over 2200 or so, everyone else is really close to being a 4A school anyhow, so there is not much difference below the gnatline, so to speak.

• Link
• Report this comment

Ref: EagleNationRising and Reeze post on PCHS. I am in total agreement with the both of you. I must admit I’m a little biased toward the Trojans since I’m from Fort Valley. But everything I’ve heard quoted about this team has me convinced this is the best team Peach County has ever suited up. I hope I get a chance to make the trip from Missouri and catch them during the playoffs. To all naysayers, Peach County will have their second consecutive undefeated season. Go PCHS!

• Link
• Report this comment

MAYS WILL SEE ABOUT TUCKER

• Link
• Report this comment

@ Titletownfan
check out the ghsa site and seach enrollment for the student numbers of all Ga. schools. Looks like there are 28 schools over 2200 students.

• Link
• Report this comment

Bulldawg 15, while I am a fan of NG, I beg to differ with you. NOT all of the kids on the NG team came up “through the program”. I hate to single out players so I will pick a couple of numbers.

I assume we are both aware that one of the D1 linemen moved in this year from Florida.

#4 came up through the GFL (Gwinnett Football League – little league) in the Buford system where he led his team to several County Championships. And he played for Buford in his freshman year. The family has domiciles in both districts, and that player made a decision to play for Bob Sphire.

#21, THE FRESHMAN, moved into the district. His Daddy was a pro player. This kid is going to make a huge difference to the team, and nobody expected him to just arrive. I believe there are others, and there have been others.

A similar kind of thing is happening at P Ridge. Cameron Heyward (Ironhead’s son) played GFL for Duluth and Collins Hill but he chose to play for P Rdige. I mention Cameron by name because he has moved on from High School and I just plain love to watch him play. Ironhead was a wonderful man, and he made sure to put Cameron on a bright path to the future before he departed this earth. P Ridge has similar players on their roster now. Kids whose families have the wherewithall to choose the High School district in which they will live based upon the coaching in the sports programs.

In several cases there are athletic families who have a reasonable expectation that their offspring will make their living in professional sports. They want the best coaches for their children to give them the start they need. Once you have a superior coach like Dexter Wood, or Ballard, or Sphire some outstanding athletes just show up in your program. Sometimes, strong athletes who came up through the program are shunted aside, when one of these “phenoms” shows up.

There are also children of professional athletes who did come up through the program at those 3 schools. Nobody makes a big deal of it but in most cases the family chose the community for school quality, and affordability, along with the potential for strong coaching. In some cases the family assisted in GFL and chose Gwinnett because we do not play “pound ball” in Little League. The “big boys” play alongside the other kids their age. Smaller agile athletes have to learn how to deal with size. And of course, the “big boys” themselves are not penalized by dads who do not want their kids to have to play against them. Cobb and Fulton play “pound ball”; therefore many of the “big boys” settle in Gwinnett at an early age.

• Link
• Report this comment

Marist does very well in most sports they compete in, but as far as football goes the Marist coach was quoted as saying one big advantage in staying in AAAA was a more convenient travel schedule. And Marist would do very well in AAA and AA but would find it no easier to win a title in either classification because a lot of those teams have better coaching and play a more disciplined style of football and many of those teams actually have home stadiums and rich football traditions. So while it is quite commendable how Marist competes while “playing up” their success would not necessarily be any better than it is now by playing in lower classifications.

• Link
• Report this comment

It amazes me how all the homers from each area says their school is so good and the best in any classification. Camden County has beaten the best, plays the best, and if you come watch them, you will not be bored. The is NO WAY, I mean, NO WAY, any lower classification school could match Camden County in speed or defensive ability. Anyone who posts differently is really not paying attention. Anybody checked to see how Miami Central is doing since they lost to the Wildcats? They are averaging 57 points a game and beating teams from not only South Florida but also Texas. Does anybody on this blog really believe that Carver is even close to the talent level of the Rockets of Miami Central. GET REAL.
Now, I think Camden will have their hands full with St Thomas Aquinas, but I believe they will come thru in the end with the victory. God luck Cats.

• Link
• Report this comment

Mike, you hit it dead on my friend. And Miami Cantral is giving up basically no points. The starting QB sat out the first half of last weeks game and only played a half of the game before that. A very talented team.

• Link
• Report this comment

GHSF Daily- Yup, any team ranked in the top 10, let alone top 5, is a huge accomplishment. And ranking the teams within it is really all matter of opinion that has no exact science to it. I have no problem with the schools ranked ahead of Kell here being ahead of them, just my opinion of how a rankings system works that is a little different.

re: the AAAA vs AAAAA argument, It’s an interesting one that can’t really be anything more than discussion with the teams not playing each other. I was extremely disappointed at first when Kell moved down to AAAA, but AAAA is definitely proving to be a very interesting division this year. And there have definitely been some big teams in AAAAA defeated by AAAA this year.

• Link
• Report this comment

@ Real Talk… Kell and Flowery Branch are clearly not in Dekalb..Peachtree Ridge clearly is not the best team in GA…..Camden is hands down. And yes Tucker would beat Peachtree Ridge this year..Tucker has wayy more division 1 prospects..The best linebacker in GA..but you will see once Peachtree plays North Gwinett how good they really are..smh

• Link
• Report this comment

Real Talk,What in the world are you smoking. Camden is clearly the best team in the state, followed closely be Lowndes, yes Lowndes who wants to play them come play-off time. It could be very possible for Camden to win 4 in a row with all the guys I here they have coming back next year as much as I hate to say it. I don’t care how many former NfL players kids are on that team from PeachtreeRidge( I hope some don’t play like their fathers)that just doesn’t make them no better than my kid or yours. You must have attended PeachtreeRidge or your kid goes there, for you to make a statement like that.

• Link
• Report this comment

Outsider,

You sound like a hater…you hope they dont play like they fathers? Well there fathers were good enough to make it to the NFL, did you even play football in high school? You were probably in band with the rest of the losers. I guess we won’t know who is the best n 5A until the games are decided on the field. And Lowndes is 2nd best huh? Funny I’m sure McEachern beat them and Peachtree Ridge beat McEachern, smdh.

• Link
• Report this comment

Let me put this best in the state of Georgia hands down in perspective.
For the last 2 years every one was saying the same thing about Lowndes
right about mid season. And about mid season Lowndes looked like the best in the state hands down. A lot can change over the course of the season and teams can regress and teams can improve. Especially if that team gets hot in the playoffs. So be wise, and cool the best team in the state hands down talk. Even if Camden beats St. Thomas and I hope they do, it will not automatically qualify them as state champs. Even if they are best team in the state hands down, they still have to beat the next opponent and win the “last” game of the year to be “officially” declared best team in the state hands down. Trust me I know what I am talking about on this. I have learned the hard way 2 years in a row now.

• Link
• Report this comment

@Real Talk,

Your right, McEachern did beat Lowndes, but since you posted under the name “Real Talk”….. lets do that. A break here or there McEachern beats PTR and is undeffeated right now…. a break here or there and lowndes beats McEachern and has two losses right now. Both games are very competative, and all three teams will have learned somthing from those games that will help them during the season and the playoff’s. What did we learn from these games? 5A playoff’s will be very competative this year. I’ve always respected PTR and there fans, but in my opinon these begining of the year games wont mean a thing come playoff time, all three teams will have gotten much better. As a Lowndes fan, I know somthing about haters, we seem to have alot of them. I love them! I hope we have a hundred more next year! Having haters only means one thing…. YOU HAVE A WINNING PROGRAM!! Anyway whoever you’re a fan of, good luck the rest of the year.

• Link
• Report this comment

well said NsideBlue….their are lots of so called “band geeks losers” that are running the show in many companys

• Link
• Report this comment

So such comment are uncalled for “@Real Talk”

• Link
• Report this comment

ENR, Your really a funny guy. Tooting the horn of AAAA football. You know if you were in AAAAA you would singing a different song. A fair weather fan is what you are. But I forgot these are the same fans that left the game early, instead of watching their team get their trophy at the end(fair weather fans). Oh I forgot you had to ride the wet slippery roads home in the terrible weather to go home so you can be in church the next morning(2hrs away). The same road Camden had to travel to go church as well(6 hrs away) By the way what time did you get home 1 or 2 in the morning, I got home at 5:30, with my 5 year old son and went to church with his Grandfather who is also a pastor.

• Link
• Report this comment

Rankings are just fluff at this point, the seeding in the playoffs is much bigger. Teams with losses should fall out with the chance to redeem themselves by getting into the playoffs. Spread the fluff, let teams that lose fall, it may motivate.

• Link
• Report this comment

GHSF Daily How can a team be the best the past 2 years and dont have a ring to show for it . your opinion does not mean anything ,that was determined on the playing field. the best team has the trophy!

• Link
• Report this comment

LOL… I get so much enjoyment out of reading many of post on here daily. Lots of the posters do show their age with some of the things that they say.

• Link
• Report this comment

Well said Gator……That’s what make Camden good ,Not many stars ,other than Days and a few others over the last couple seasons.. Team effort man,O-line ,Backs ,TE’s always got their pads in someones chest every play…… In 2008 and 2009 , no doubt about , Lowndes was very good , Take it from a Northside fan and observer to detail ,Camden was a lot better both seasons.

• Link
• Report this comment

Headeast…I have to admit man I got a big smile when i read your post, How many state championships do we have to win in ten years to get any respect from anybody? So what, we need to win six out of seven state championships. But hey I guess thats what you get with a winning program, having to deal with people like you. But by all means keep bashing us it doesnt bother me. I kinda like it.

• Link
• Report this comment

Somebody please tell me how in the world is WESTMINISTER and LOVETT still in the top ten rankings…but JEFFERSON CO. is out at 3-1 after losing to SWAINSBORO by 2 points?

• Link
• Report this comment

Trojan94, I’m curious about your identity. Is 94 a number you wore or year you graduated? I graduated in ‘97 so we would have went to school together for at least one year.

• Link
• Report this comment

@GHSF DAILY your entitled to your opinion, but when you say that Dekalb county schools lack coaching or discipline I must disagree. You will have alot of bloggers agree with you when you say this about Dekalb Schools, but you sir are a Homer. I always hear you talk highly of South Georgia, Gwinnett. I can’t wait until the day comes when you and the rest of these bloggers have to say Well a Dekalb County school won it all in 4A and 5A there is a strong possibility it could happen this year. Let me be the first to tell you this. Until then I will let you and your bloggers argue the point who can will win it all. Toddles

• Link
• Report this comment

Trojan94…………Here’s a little somrthing on Peach County…http://www.macon.com/2010/09/29/1281601/risper-impressed-by-peachs-team.html

• Link
• Report this comment

Swagg08, you just made the case for most folks on here. It takes more than 2-4 good players to win. Those players on the sideline have to step up, that’s what make programs great. Players can step in and teams not miss a beat. Programs that constantly rotate players create experience on the sidelines and establish a competitive nature amongst themselves. Therefore when 1 player goes down, there is always somebody there to step in. To address One On One With The Great One. Stephenson has always had a good team. But, they have yet to parlay that team into a State Champion. The talent has always been there, but, they cannot get over the hump. Why? Is it the system? Is the players? Is the coaching? Is it the goal they set each season? No concern about a State Title? Remember Buffalo went to ball often, but never achieved that last dance. A program has to get the kids to buy into the system and not themselves. I think that once this occurs at Stephenson then they will take that next step. I have to admit that Stephenson is a college producing machine. However there are championship programs that turnout next level players as well, however they are not as well known as Stephenson, maybe the coaches keep that chatter until the team gaol is accomplished. If I was a player and knew that I was already committed to play at the next level, why would I risk injury? Why would I go all out every friday? I am talking about once the playoffs start. That’s where Stephenson has it’s issues. During the regular season, yes they can win 9-10 games. But when the playoffs start, they fall off. Their production is not there. Why? Just something to think about. Not Stephenson bashing, but when a program signs 29 athletes to D-1 schools, something is wrong when you can’t win a state title, no matter AAAA or AAAAA.

• Link
• Report this comment

blu eagle,,Are you kidding me, when you ask the question who is Folkston and what have they done. You are really not a highschool football fan. 4 State Champioships numerous players on D-1 rosters and probably home to this years player of the year, or top 3 finisher, And home of Champ Bailey, like the ESPN NFL crew says, COME ON MAN.

• Link
• Report this comment

@ Real Talk I live in the peachtree ridge are and you can even ask there coachs that they get man handle in the off season every year by Buford! So I’m here to tell that PT is not that good and neither is NG

• Link
• Report this comment

Folkston is the best team no one knows about. Charlton county won numerous state titles this decade and has been equal or better than Buford every single year this decade. That is consistancy! their head coach Coach Mac is one of the best coaches in the state. You can ask any Camden fan if their warm up game against charlton is ever easy and their answer will be no. likely they will win it all this year in single A. They could give any ga team a run for their money with their pure athleticism matched with coaching. They have been down the past couple seasons if you consider not making it past quarterfinals a down year.

• Link
• Report this comment

Do anybody disagree?

• Link
• Report this comment

I understand that pridge has TIED for a championship but NG has been better than them almost every single year since they have been a school. this year is no different. this year NG is way better than pridge.

• Link
• Report this comment

I have a lot of respect for Lowndes, which only decreased slightly after the performance at Grayson. The football looked pretty good, but the coach and lack of discipline were pretty bad.
In my opinion the rankings are pretty good right now. You’re a toss up with McEachern, the game proved that, and neither you or McE can beat NG, P’ridge or Camden until proven otherwise. You should cruise through a couple of rounds of playoffs, now that NSWR is back in AAAA, until you run into one of the top three teams.

• Link
• Report this comment

Trojan94 No, I am two years older than Reggie and Blake. Reggie was a sophomore when I was a senior and Blake didn’t play until his junior year. I played ‘93-’96. Graduated in ‘97 but senior football season was ‘96. Did you play?

• Link
• Report this comment

@Gatorbait… All I am saying bloggers always seem to base state titles in fromt of educationally values. I totally agree with you and the rest of tyhe bloggers saying Stephenson has not won the BIG ONE YET. But as I tell people, “a sleeping dog don’t lie sleep forever”. I know that the players bought imto the system because they are still winning football games. I know the coaching is good because if not they would have been fired a long time ago. I will say over the past 5 years Stephenson has been a producing machine of talent of players. Now it’s time to put everything together and win the BIG ONE. Hopefully you and other bloggers will get a chance to see this team play and Stephenson will go deep into the playoff and see one of your teams in the Dome.

• Link
• Report this comment

BulldawgBite, I think you might want to take a look at the actual record between P Ridge and North before you make yourslef look bad. PTR has not been around that long, so there are not really that many games to search.

And just for fun, you might also want to take a look at the record between North and Norcross over the last decade. Having seen most of those games, when Norcross is good it is in large part due to their defensive secondary. A defense like that can give fits to North, but is less likely to be effective against the offense of PTR.

The long and the short of it is that North could wind up 3rd in Div 7AAAAA with a few bad bounces.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that PTR and North will finish 1st and 2nd in the division. And that Valdosta and Lowndes will finish 1st and 2nd in their division. The playoff brackets look VERY interesting. If Lowndes cannot beat Valdosta then they will earn themselves a dream vacation of a playoff game in Suwanee GA. Maybe it will be Valdosta? Maybe neither one of them will make it that far in the playoffs? The Div 1AAAAA runner up will have to handle McEachern at McEachern to even get to Suwanee. Hmmmm, more pressure on Lowndes to win that game against Valdosta.

The season gets more and more interesting, with some outstanding games still to be played. Personally, I believe with Flowery Branch and Kell still in the hunt, NSWR might want to hold off a bit on ordering the rings. In contrast, Camden might as well go ahead, now, and make hotel reservations close to the dome.

• Link
• Report this comment

Valdosta, thomasville, tcc, brooks co, lowndes and cairo just to name a few. how could you not know about all that tradition down there.

• Link
• Report this comment

@WILDCAT FAN, I’m about to go catch my plane back to Hawaii this morning. Just wanted to let you know I will be trying my best to watch or listen to the WILDCATS Friday night. To all the CC WILDCAT supports who are making that trip to South FL, have a safe trip and represent us well. GO CC WILDCATS

• Link
• Report this comment

Safe travels my friend. I really wish you could be there. MY wife, few other family members and I, are leaving tonight for my sisters house in West Palm, she is about and hour away. Hope you can catch the game on TV. Stay safe and don’t enjoy that BEACH to much. Send me a post whenever you can and will answer it. God Bless.

• Link
• Report this comment

DSGB I was looking at the playoff brackets last week and notice that if cairo and carrollton win there regions and there first two playoff games then the would play in round 3 of the playoffs. Maybe we can finally play the game we should have played 20 years ago.

• Link
• Report this comment

Calhoun, Cook, Dublin, and Swainsboro, are all good bets to face Carver in the finals. I know Buford is a solid squad….but like I said earlier….they are not the same team we are used to seeing…..a newcomer WILL challege for the title this go around.

• Link
• Report this comment

Class 5AAAAA rankings have 3 teams that dont belong …NEWTON VALDOSTA & STEPHENSON !
1) NEWTON–East Coweta will show you that youre just not ready yet!
2) Valdosta–Lowndes will kill this defenceless sqad AGAIN this year!
3)Stephenson–is always faking the funk! ( they have great talent …but fly up under the radar year after year ) they need a better coach! Around play-off time…he,ll use the same escape-goat of an excuse ” Id rather get my kids scholarships than win a championship ” LAME!….this is why they are overrated!

• Link
• Report this comment

Sorry Charlton county heard of you did not connect folkston to you.Of course it does not matter with you being down there in class a where nobody goes, better luck next time.

• Link
• Report this comment

K-MAN you get a kick out of mentioning stephenson. why is that could it be that you are envious of stephenson. keep our name out of your mouth. we are not on the blog bragging or talking trash. we are going out every week and winning. especially when we were not supposed to win region this year we were supposed to fall off and rebuild. all we do is win

• Link
• Report this comment

All Northside fans are verg ARROGANT, why is beyond me. Your school had one good class and won 2 Championships with that class. You won nothing before and nothing since, and that wasn’t even in the largest classification. Stop acting you guys just got this great history, hello you dont. Play up and win one, until then you are playing second fiddle to the big boys.

• Link
• Report this comment

BullDawg 15, I am a fan of all 3 Suwanee schools: Collins Hill, North, and PTR. I have coached kids who currently play for all 3 schools. I respect the coaching staffs and players at all 3 schools. I am very pleased to see that CH is putting together a “nasty” offense that is going to give some teams fits.

I never, ever, cheer for Buford even though I respect the staff and players.

One of my kids currently plays for one of the Suwanee schools. I may see you at a game eventually. Now that the weather is colder, I will probably wear my college hoody. I went to the same college that produced the FIRST Heismann trophy winner.

I am very pleased to see the progress at Flowery Branch. I think they have a great program. Just as population growth shifted the football power from Brookwood/Parkview to Suwanee, I think growth may shift the power in another 5 years or so to Mill Creek/Dacula. It really is a question of whether they get the coaching staff to take advantage of the talent pool. Dacula is already starting to flex their muscles and these changes can happen almost overnight, just as champion football arrived suddenly at PTR, NG and Grayson.

• Link
• Report this comment

hey outsider stay there please noone cares,NSWR has great tradition, something they will put on the demons tonite, in what used to be a great rivalry.

• Link
• Report this comment

Tonight the Camden County Wildcats ran into a F-5 tornado called St. Thomas Aquinas! But, the Wildcats will come into the Georgia 5A playoffs with a chip on their shoulders! NG, PTR, LCHS and all others, You’d better come with it and come with strong!!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

K-MAN who is your team i am curious to know since you are so critical on Stephenson. our back up plan is called scholarships for 100 percent of our seniors. i would say that is a hell of a plan. if any parent wants dam near a guarantee that their child will go to school move into our district. we have a program where our coaches work for our kids so don’t hate on Stephenson

• Link
• Report this comment

Howdy are using Wordpress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

• Link
• Report this comment

Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appeal. I must say you’ve done a amazing job with this. Additionally, the blog loads super quick for me on Firefox. Superb Blog!

• Link
• Report this comment