Football: Is Grayson Georgia’s top team in 2011? One national poll thinks so
Brookwood is the defending champion in Class AAAAA football. Camden County and Lowndes are programs that have won three titles apiece since 2003.
Which will be the team to beat in 2011?
None of those, according to MaxPreps, which released one of the first national preseason polls on Wednesday.
Instead, Grayson – the only AAAAA program that has reached the quarterfinals or better each of the past four seasons – is the choice of Steve Spiewak, who coordinates the MaxPreps’ top 25.
Grayson, which returns about 11 of 22 starters, is the only Georgia team ranked, coming in at No. 25.
“The more I looked into Grayson, the more I liked them,’’ Spiewak said. “They have a quarterback [Nick Schuessler] who can allow them to expand out of their Wing T offense. Korey Jones [a running back] seems like a legit athlete that can be used a number of ways. Devin Gillespie and Terrius Watson will also benefit from an experienced offensive line. On defense, [defensive lineman] Robert Nkemdiche might be the best defensive player in the country next year, and I expect Zach Barnes to have a breakout season on the defensive line as well. If the offense comes together as expected and the linebackers can mature quickly on defense, this could be the best team Grayson has ever had.’’
Grayson, a Gwinnett County school that opened in 2000, has never won a state title. In 2010, the Rams upset No. 1-ranked North Gwinnett and then Valdosta on the road last year before falling to Colquitt County 31-24 in the semifinals.
Don Bosco Prep of New Jersey is MaxPreps’ No. 1-rated team.
MaxPreps Preseason Top 25:
http://www.maxpreps.com/news/B4_jCIulEeCkhgAcxJSkrA/preseason-top-25-high-school-football-early-contenders.htm
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205 comments Add your comment
inside I-285
July 4th, 2011
7:10 am
Dunwoody lost all their running backs and most of their secondary on defense. They have some pretty big gaps to fill.
AVikingFan
July 8th, 2011
9:21 am
Time for Todd Holcomb to write another article. Comments on this one have about fizzled out! The season starts in about 6 weeks. Lowndes travels to South Gwinnett on August 19th. That should be fodder for a good blog.
Super Steelers
July 11th, 2011
1:30 am
MLK in my opinion is the going to make a serious run at the state title.. they’ve dominated almost every passing league this summer.. they have the top QB in the state pair with one of the best WR in the state…. not to mention they dominated stephenson at UGA 48-18
AVikingFan
July 11th, 2011
9:01 am
Like with Colquitt County if MLK can come up with some defense, their high powered offense can take them a long way. Passing QB’s sell tickets, hotdogs and popcorn, defenses most of the time win headlines and titles.
Camden74
July 12th, 2011
10:47 am
Geez! The game is 11 on 11, not 7 on 7!
Ghs class of 2012
July 12th, 2011
8:14 pm
Grayson will pass it more. It is the first year they have ever had with d1 caliber qb who has experience.
AVikingFan
July 15th, 2011
1:41 pm
Camden74 — Whats the latest on the Blue Cats?
SportsFan31313
July 15th, 2011
3:06 pm
AVikingAfan,
Bradwell has some size from what I have seen so far. But there is soooooo much to be desired there. They are going to build a new Football Stadium.
Camden74
July 15th, 2011
10:31 pm
AVikingFan,
According to the info I was given, fast and deep on defense! And depending on the new QB, offense could be surprisingly good………But we won’t really know for sure until September 5!
warner robins
July 16th, 2011
12:39 pm
i want to see camden smash glenville ohio to smitherines,whats so of yalls thoughts on that
Camden74
July 17th, 2011
12:21 am
Year in and year out Glenville is, most times, one of the better teams in Ohio! They stole one against Dwyer last season, but they’re supposed to be very good again this coming season. Camden will have to bring their “A” game! But I believe Camden will win…………..
warner robins
July 17th, 2011
5:53 am
i cant belive grayson is the only gorgia team in the top 25,seriously..im geting so tired of texas,california,flordia teams being over rated,bet south panola will not play anyone now,ranked num 1,i ican make a whole list of teams that would not have happened to,brookwood,lowndes,tucker,camden,carrolton,sandy creek,valdosta,peach c,marist,,, i could still go on and on,cc had an undersized defense of the likes you would have seen on a chumpy middle of the road class A team,
Grayson2009
July 17th, 2011
8:55 pm
Mickey Conn is the reason Grayson does not already have 3 State Championships in football. His teams are good, but he is lacks the confidence in his kids all season, so they doubt themselves when its all on the line!
Camden74
July 18th, 2011
1:02 am
It’s getting close y’all………..Kick butt, Camden Wildcats!
longhorn FAN
July 19th, 2011
5:42 pm
kELL IS LOCATED IN MARIETTA AND WE WILL FIND OUT HOW GOOD GRAYSON IS AUG. 20 IN THE GEORGIA DOME! CANT WAIT
REAL DEAL
July 19th, 2011
5:45 pm
Grayson is loaded but i think that kell team may surprise a few people just like they did last year. either way i think thats going to be a great game and a heck of a way to kick off the season!
warner robins
July 19th, 2011
7:45 pm
ya ia had to look twice when i saw that grayson-kell score last year ,wouldnt be suprised ,turns out AAAA and AAA was way tougher than AAAAA last year,AAAAA was at a all time low in 10,AAAAA really wasnt much better than AA,i think that will change this year, mabey its just my imagination,hell A clinch vs buford would have been a al -some- (mispelled)game to watch,why dont buford go kick some more texas a$s,that would be fun to watch
Camden74
July 19th, 2011
8:55 pm
@warner robins………LOL……….WHAT?
warner robins
July 19th, 2011
11:25 pm
CAMDEN 74,ok there is a method to my madness,grayson,lost to AAAA kell,colquitt(state champ runner up,lost to AA ook,&AAAA thomas cc,witch did get shlacked by lowndes in a scrimmage yes,tift,$ got a bet down by fitsgerald,coffee lost to ware county 31-12,also got a beat down by fitsgerald 36-7, brunswick which also beat them 20-7,camden beat them 28-18,probalby would have benn 35 or 42-18 if yall kept the starters in which is around the same ball park,look at hillgroves schedule,then look at sprayberries,hillgrove won but statisticly it was a close one,by the way im not useing hillgrove as a dis,that game could have went etheir way,centennial lost to carrolton 49-14 but it could have been worse,tucker killed ware county 42-3,witch loss lowndes 0-3,that dosent even cover half of it ,mabey im right mabey im wrong but im just looking at the stats,i understand with what i said earlier & Camden being in AAAAA you didnt want to hear all that$h1T im just sayin…im not drinking my koolaid,this stuff has never happend before,it just did in 2010
no disrespect
warner robins
July 19th, 2011
11:36 pm
and yes the if you brought any one of back the back camden state champs before,they would have trampled everone in the playoffs and looked like juggernauts in the 2010 AAAAA state championship
as they did in 2009
warner robins
July 19th, 2011
11:53 pm
$h!t!!!before i get dised on my spelling… i know
Camden74
July 20th, 2011
1:53 am
@warner robins……….I don’t believe any of those teams would have made it past round 2 in the 5A playoffs! Camden beat Miami Central, the Florida 6A Champions.I don’t believe any other team in Georgia could have done that! Then they turn around and lose to a pretty good Hillgrove team. Here’s my point, once you move past the first round in the 5A playoffs, their are no powder puffs! You have to come with it every week after that. I don’t believe a lower classification team can take the punishment or the pressure of winning 5 games in a row against the best teams in Georgia’s highest and best classification!
Camden74
July 20th, 2011
1:55 am
There*
warner robins
July 20th, 2011
10:30 am
just cause miami central is from flordia dosent mean they are world beaters,valdosta also beat one of flordias state champions,flordia is just a buch of flash and dash,camden could have beat st thomas aquinas,the score lies,they just made to many mistakes. st is flordias best team,,im not sayn camden is incapable they were still very good,probably going ton be better this year,man i really think tucker,chattahoccee ,carrolton,sandy creek- ( exedra) would have beat the piss out
of miami central,its the #1 & #3 ranked teams camden played from flordia, they(miami central) would have been ranked number 2 if they did not lose to yall due to win/lose statistics.. this is clueless maxpreps bigitry ,that camden squad that beat hoover 44-16 fairly destructively would have wallopted st thomas aquinas 100% .the AAAA & AAA playoffs were defintly not filled with your average bears this year,i think AAAAA is going to be 3 times better than it was last year
warner robins
July 20th, 2011
10:30 am
you go!!!*
warner robins
July 20th, 2011
2:29 pm
and did you see what lowndes did to leon fl 53-7,and it really could have been 70-0….(leon) a team that lost to FL
AAAA champ 10-15 ,….less than a touchdown ..i would relly like to see miami central blow lincion
out,they maight win but not by much
Gold and Blue
July 20th, 2011
2:40 pm
Mceachern may be even better this year than people realize. I don’t know the true #’s, but I think that they are going to have close to 40 seniors and 40 juniors. Even if they have no great players,(which they do) that would be hard to contend with. With their offense they could average 50 points a game for the season, they will have better special teams in every game they play, and their defense has 8 or 9 returning starters. Unless they seriously underachieve this year I can’t see anyone beating them!!! Until they battle on the field know one knows whats going to happen, but their first two games should be a great indicator of how their season will go. I think the NG and Mceachern game is definitely going to be the highlight of the Corky Kell Classic, CAN’T WAIT!!!!
Saints 1
July 20th, 2011
2:42 pm
MLK plays Cedar Grove for their jamboree game. It will be two of the best QBs in the state. who will win? and who will pass for more yds? Jonquel Dawson or Jonathan McCrary
Camden74
July 20th, 2011
5:29 pm
@warner robins, you very well could be right, but I disagree. I believe a win in the regular season is much different than a win in the playoffs. The mental intensity a player has to have during the playoffs definitely takes a toll both mentally and physically. I don’t believe a lower classification team could run the table during the playoffs! And as far as Miami Central is concerned, they were the fastest HS offense I’ve ever seen! And I live in Texas where there are some very good HS football! No HS team in Georgia last year was accustomed to seeing that kind of speed…….. Also, the Leon of present is definitely not the Leon of years ago. We could debate this point forever! Unless there are few games featuring the best of 4A vs the best of 5A, state wide, we’ll probably never know for sure!
warner robins
July 20th, 2011
8:41 pm
yah true tjeir is no 100% definitive evidence but in your honest opionion what do you think (allen) i think the top team in texas would squre off agianst brookwood,& trinity vs a good lowndes or camden team? did you play for camden
warner robins
July 20th, 2011
8:43 pm
disregaurd ithink after allen…
warner robins
July 20th, 2011
9:03 pm
heres my opionion , i think the best high school football is played in 1.gorgia
2 utah
3 tenn
not texas,cal,fl,my cousin is a jornalist for maxpreps and he told me its all about money
Fred
July 21st, 2011
12:12 am
Wow, how did I miss this! I know I have been working too hard when I don’t see this. A couple of observations – Finally! Someone with longer posts than mine (OOOWTGO).
Just kidding of course. About the Corky Kell last year and Grayson – our starting QB broke his wrist the week before in the scrimmage with NG. We were rotating QBs and while you might not have know what the exact play was going to be, when Nick was in you knew it was going to be a pass and when Kayman was in a running play. Just an observation, not an excuse. This year could be a good year for Grayson. There are a lot of returning players that matured a lot last year. They what happens when you ease up at this level (you lose), when you play perfect (you win -1st 3 playoff games) and when you get too confident and look past your opponent (you lose – CC Packers, a good team but one we should have been able to beat in a close game). I won’t predict how far we go but I expect a longer as opposed to a shorter post season. I’m ready for the season to start!
Camden74
July 21st, 2011
1:55 pm
@warner robins…….I played for Camden in the early 70s. I believe the top 5 teams in Georgia would stack up well against Texas teams! The only difference is, with Texas being so BIG, there are many more good teams. There are 2 divisions in each classification, 2 state champions in each classification. In my opinion, the best football HS football is played in Florida, Texas, Georgia and California. Then I would add Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tenn., NC, Miss.,/ Alabama………There’s one thing I’ve noticed, of all the really good teams I’ve seen over the past 10 years, Camden is by far, year in and year out, the smallest! But I’m told that this year they have decent size……..
LEONCOUNTY
July 21st, 2011
7:28 pm
Warner Robins, Leon has not been great since the late 80’s and 90’s. Lowdnes will always handle them that way.
PackerFan
July 23rd, 2011
6:16 pm
FYI, that Packers did hire former Iowa State and Gene Chizik assistant to be its defensive coordinator. Gonna be a huge improvement on defense
warner robins
July 23rd, 2011
9:52 pm
if the packers could come up a with stout defense and with the same caliber offense as they had then i would raise an eyebrow,
some how some way they need to get south panola back on their schedule,(cam) 74 i think the top 50 ga teams would stack up well agianst texas teams,the top 5 would trample texas teams at the line of srimmage,but ya ,camden has been great even without half the team nearly being a d1 unlike the bigest example (stephenson),theyve won state championships i think when their was not evn one d1 atl at all,in the hardest place to play.if was funny when they played hoover the first time,they looked like a bunch of underage peach face humble young men that woulndnt possilbly hurt a fly going against hear say neck bone eating wrist chained sage smoking head stompers from al,turned out that was a joke, i remember when i played against them in the dome twice we out sized them , same strenght, speed stats wasnt to far off but they played like some one turned all their stats up to 99 like the game,we got lucky the first time ,the next year they killed us in the crky kell clsc
Camden74
July 23rd, 2011
11:21 pm
@warner robins, If you’ve noticed, Camden sometimes has problems with dual threat QBs who are complimented by a fast running back and good wide receiver. Texas has a number of teams like that. Make no mistake about it, Texas has some very good HS teams! But I believe the best teams in Ga. can definitely play with them and win! Camden has always had speed and determination, but Herron brought in the can do, unselfish championship winning attitude. I was ROTFL when they played Hoover in 2008, especially after they did the special on “The Hoover Tradition”! Then Camden rolled up around 400 yards rushing, that was unreal! The score was 44-16, but it really wasn’t that close! Camden just blew the game in 2009, after that, Hoover didn’t want to play anymore! I wouldn’t mind seeing Camden play Katy, North Shore, Abilene, Allen, Euless Trinity, Coppell or any of the other top Texas teams……….
nukieie
July 24th, 2011
6:55 pm
Some intersting reading from rivals.com
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1242122
warner robins
July 25th, 2011
11:26 am
man what is up people,imiss the good ol days were you typed a sigle letter and have 5 people get snapy at you
AVikingFan
July 25th, 2011
11:47 am
Welcome back Fred. You too Sportsfan31313!
Fred
July 25th, 2011
9:55 pm
Thanks AVikingFan! It is shaping up to be a great year for Ga HS football!
Canden74
July 26th, 2011
1:24 am
warner robins…..In about 3 weeks, you’ll get all you can handle!
68 Viking
July 27th, 2011
3:31 pm
to a viking fan great post on 6-26-11 on first woman pres. I am sure all high school fans can identify with that sentiment just change the name of the team and no one could disagree with you, see u in atl
BLACKGOLD
July 28th, 2011
12:54 am
CANEFAN : Are you ready for 2011 Hurricane football; I cant wait for those friday nite lights and tailgate parties .
BLACKGOLD
July 28th, 2011
12:54 am
GO PURPLE HURRICANES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AVikingFan
August 1st, 2011
10:28 am
Does ANYBODY know what South Gwinnett is supposed to have this year? Has anybody seen them work out? They looked pretty good last year when they came down to Lowndes, and I know they had a good run for their region title. But what do they have coming back? Lowndes will travel to Escargotville August 19th and I assume because of the afternoon and evening Friday traffic it probably would be best for us to get off I-75 at McDonough and drive thru Conyers to get there. We have also looked at going up thru Jackson and Covington to Loganville, like when we went to Grayson a few years ago.
Any of you Gwinnett County folks got some traffic advice for us? It would be appreciated.
Viking 68 — You ARE driving to S. Gwinnett on the 19th aren’t you? How ’bout you YO and Lowndes 96? We will need to take a crowd! Hopefully the Touchdown Club will get there early and set up a hospitality tent for us when we get there.
Fred
August 1st, 2011
3:20 pm
AVikingFan, Friday afternoon traffic in Atlanta *@#$A*! US78 from I-285 will be congested and most likely slow in areas. Grayson and South are not very far apart. I would strongly consider the Jackson-Covington-Loganville route. Just stay on US78 through Loganville. Once you get to Snellville look for the QT on the left. The school is about 1/2 – 3/4 mile up the road on the left right on US78. I’d tell you where to park but it is tight on campus as the school has grown a lot since it was originally built. There is a big Kmart parking lot across the street from the school with a traffic light for easy crossing if you prefer. If you are going to tailgate and can get there early enough, go to the light at the corner of the school and turn left onto Skyland Drive. Go past the elementary school and the next parking lot on the right is for the softball and I think baseball fields and is pretty big. Lots of people tailgate there.
Have a safe trip!
Lowndes96
August 1st, 2011
7:52 pm
aVikingFan I will be in moultrie watching my son and the rest of the Cook Hornets on the 19th. I will make it to the TCC game and to the games on Cooks by weeks. Other than that it will be me and wes james while watcing the Cook games LOL. I’ll be depending on you guys to keep me informed on the Vikings this year and next.
Fred
August 1st, 2011
10:56 pm
AVikingFan, by the way, it is SNELLville (for the Snell family) not Snailville like most of us pronounce it. Although Escargotville is pretty funny!