Football: Grayson ranked No. 2 in preseason poll
It’s been 20 years since a Georgia high school football team has won a national championship. Grayson, a returning state champion in Georgia’s highest classification, is poised to make a run.
This week, the Rams were ranked No. 2 in preseason by MaxPreps in the first major national poll. Grayson was 15-0 last season and finished in the top five of several national rankings. This season, 10 of 11 defensive starters return, including defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, the 2011 all-classification player of the year.
‘’Grayson should have the country’s best defense, and their offense, with the amount of skill it returns, will be just fine,’’ said Stephen Spiewak, editor of MaxPreps’ national football rankings. “I do expect them to return to a more run-based offense to which the program has been more accustomed. Not to mention, no matter which team Grayson plays, it will always have the single best player on the field [in Nkemdiche].’’
Ranked No. 1 is Manatee of Bradenton, Fla. Grayson and Manatee will have one common opponent – Central of Miami. Grayson plays Central on Aug. 31 at Grayson.
Another Georgia team is in MaxPreps’ top 25. That’s Colquitt County at No. 18.
‘’Colquitt seems to have a good blend of veteran leadership and talented youth,’’ Spiewak said. “I really think Cole Segraves is going to have a huge senior season. It came extremely close to beating Grayson last year and would give them a game this season as well. Overall, I think it’s going to be a very good year for high school football in Georgia.
The most recent Georgia team to win a national title was Valdosta, which was selected in 1992 by the National Prep Poll and the National Sports News Service.
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229 comments Add your comment
PPanther
August 14th, 2012
12:14 pm
First of all Tucker should definitely be in the mix as top ranked, I wathced them scrimmage Stephenson Jaguars (15 D1 recruits) last year and they beat them every way but the scoreboard. There Head Coach is brilliant and a class act and his boys respect him. I admire what Grayson accomplished last year but Colquitt is a more sound disciplined football team. Having said all that, Keep an eye on the forgotten Parkview Panthers; they have 34 Seniors; a big and quick experienced offensive line,a talented running back, a fast hard nosed tough senior QB and 10 veterans returning on a fast defense with depth at the corners.
NGHS 09
August 14th, 2012
1:07 pm
@ PPanther…You mean the same “sound discipline” that cost Colquitt a trip to the dome last season? Which personal foul was “sound discipline”?…Just curious. LOL You are just a Grayson hater.
GoPackGo
August 14th, 2012
2:59 pm
I think it was 2 pass interference calls on 2 balls thrown 15 yards over the receivers head. No personal fouls in that game at all.
NGHS 09
August 15th, 2012
1:17 pm
It doesn’t matter personal foul or pass interference. They fell apart discipline wise. Simple as that.
sportsnut
August 15th, 2012
1:24 pm
No matter how you look at it, someone will have a loss come Aug. 26th. AAAAAA is a crap shoot. You will not be afforded many mistakes this year. Region 1 will be tough enough without allowing surprises that are of a negative nature. Do you really think Colquit and Camden can afford a setback so early? North Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge are formidable opponents that could win these games. It may not be region but it is against fellow class members and could come into play when seeding comes around. We don’t want to hear about playoff structure. Win them all or as many as you can to ensure a favorable slot in the bracket. This seems to be a concern for the South Georgia schools. Take care of business all season and you have no need to worry about such things.
sportsnut
August 15th, 2012
4:31 pm
MaxPreps Top Ten is as follows == AAAAAA
Grayson
Colquit Co.
Walton
Lovejoy
Camden Co.
North Gwinnett
Lassiter
Tri – Cities
Alpharetta
Dacula
AAAAA
Northside(WR)
Tucker
Northgate
Flowery Branch
Gainseville
Warner Robins
Kell
East Paulding
MLK
Glynn Academy
NGHS 09
August 15th, 2012
7:28 pm
I highly doubt that a loss in the Corky Kell would hurt any of the ten teams when the playoffs arrive. Certainly a win will go a long way in building team confidence and momentum, but realistically these teams are going to have to win their regions to get favorable seeding.
I’m excited to see Peachtree Ridge’s defense bow up against a stout Camden offense. Also curious as to how long NG can play with Colquitt. I think Colquitt fans will be surprised with how good NG’s defense is again this year, but I hope Colquitt’s defense doesn’t hurt to many of NG’s offensive players! I’ll know more for sure after NG plays Stephenson on Friday, and Colquitt plays Norcross. Good health to all this weekend!
Camden74
August 15th, 2012
7:50 pm
Sportsnut…….Surely you jest! Where/how do these guys get their rankings?
sportsnut
August 15th, 2012
11:10 pm
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it. I asked the same question when I see schools ranked nationally and have not won locally. I believe Maxpreps uses the same type formula as the other services but the criteria may be different. I do know they use the Freeman rankings as their primary source.
Camden74
August 16th, 2012
12:19 am
Sportsnut…….Is the Dobbs kid that transferred to Alpharetta that good, will he make that big of an impact?
Tucker DAD
August 16th, 2012
1:17 pm
Wow, alot of noise on here this week! A newcomer “Kayton Samuels” one of my former football prodigies is making bold statements about a team that has yet to taste this kind of competition, Jab is already at his usual pestimistic pose, Sportsnut is in a new region and classification… feels weird, Cannon rules is already shooting off his big… CANNON, so this can only mean one thing….. IT’s GOTTA BE FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!
Then Tucker Tigers are primed for another great season with many key players coming back. This year our defense will feature a missing piece from last years team to hold the middle down. 6′6 300lbs nose guard Eliajh Shaw. Returning seniors to anchor us like the “hitman” Austin Benton, the “hammer” Soloman Jackson, the straw that stirs our drink, Juwaan Williams QB.
There will be a host of other Juniors that either started or played significant minutes on last years state championship team.
By the way… sec? on your statement about the 5A class being D2, we are only a couple of hundred students away from being 6A. All that means is that you will have more players on your sidelines than us but that doesn’t mean that you can out play us. That only means that when your 9th grade and JV suit up with your Varsity team on Friday night, your sideline just looks bigger. That 11 man group that you run on the field on offense and defense will still have to deal with us. The 9th grade and JV can’t help you there!
All I got to say is “If we can’t get along, then let’s get it on”! It’s football season, welcome to the best divison in highschool football Region 6 class 5AAAAA!
sportsnut
August 16th, 2012
2:07 pm
@ Camden 74 == It appears that he is capable of making a difference for a team. He is a 3 -Star athlete with a QB rating of 5.6 on a scale of 6.1, according to Rivals. A pro=style qb that did well at the Dallas Elite 11 camp. He had a total of 16 offers and showed no intrest to anyone but Arizona State, to whom he committed. His other offers came from:: Arkansas St.
Boston College
Duke
Harvard
Illinois
Maryland
Miss. State
Princeton
South Florida
Southern Miss.
Syracuse
TCU
UCF
Wake
Yale
sportsnut
August 16th, 2012
2:14 pm
Sorry == that should not read Arkansas State but Arkansas.
Camden74
August 16th, 2012
3:05 pm
Sportsnut……I guess we’ll see what happens when the lights come on and the crowd is in a frenzy. And then, there’s playoff time, the pressure will separate the MEN form the BOYS! Can they live up to the HYPE?
Rich
August 16th, 2012
7:32 pm
from NOT form
Camden74
August 16th, 2012
8:37 pm
Thanks Rich, didn’t catch that! “From”………
sportsnut
August 17th, 2012
6:42 am
@ Todd Holcomb == What happened ? You said your rankings would be out on the 17th of August. You removed your post saying so.
bugs
August 17th, 2012
8:01 am
In 1998 Parkview was ranked #2 in a pre season national poll and McEachern beat them 35-7 in the kickoff classic.McEachern lost to Valdosta in the state championship game that year
FearTheSpear
August 17th, 2012
11:57 pm
@sportsnut Druid hills is playing Lakeside tomorrow at 6pm at adams stdaium
sportsnut
August 19th, 2012
8:07 am
@ Fear The Spear == Wanted to make it but was not feeling well. How did it go ? It won’t be my only chance to see them. I had to listen to Lovejoy vs. Peachtree Ridge friday on the IHigh broadcast because there was no video feed. Lovejoy won 20 – 7. Now the real stuff starts. The games start at 9:00 a.m. this saturday at the Dome and I think I will try to make it to the hood and watch with the “OLD PRO’s”.
FearTheSpear
August 19th, 2012
4:36 pm
@FeartheSpear Druid Hills came in ready to play! They were disciplined and really won 49-12 if druid hills wouldve never get called for mentall mistakes like late hits! Desi had 5 tackles and 1 for lost and he only played defense for just 1 quarter and played for 2 minutes in 3rd!! They got a wide reciever named Jaquan johnson who had 4 touchdowns and is getting highly recruited!! Desi had a good offensive game!! And there quarterback is very good!! Also Trevino Huff had a 52 yard run on varsity!! It let’s you know how good druid hills oline is going to be!! Trust me druid hills is ready to play in 6A and Lovejoy will not win easily
DawgNation
August 19th, 2012
4:39 pm
@Sportsnut and @Fearthespear Druid hills is GOOD this year!! And the Referees said that this is the best team they seen at druid hills in 20 years!! Lovejoy better be ready to play!!!!!!!!!
grayram
August 21st, 2012
1:44 pm
The team from Miami that Grayson plays in a few weeks had all their wins from last season taken away for using illegal players.
Camden74
August 21st, 2012
8:00 pm
Miami Central’s starting QB from last year was said to be an illegal transfer. My question is, why didn’t they know this when he was cleared to play? I don’t think this will be a factor on August 31st…..
bksmith14
August 23rd, 2012
9:37 pm
WILDHAWG2012
when grayson wins 2 more in the nxet 3 years to go with the 1 they have then i may call them the class of ga………maybe you just say that bc they knocked you guys out last year…….
there are a lot of good teams ……………last year grayson was the class of ga……….this is a new year…..they arent a dynasty yet……..
Old cat
August 28th, 2012
4:05 am
From Valdosta living in Fort Worth,Tx. Seen both high school games played Ga by far kicks Tx. Ga. Football plays better defense. Texas teams will throw more but couldn’t handle the pressure of the defense. I think Valdosta ,Lowndes,Grayson and many other Ga. Teams would kick Texas best.Fla. schools would too.
Old cat
August 28th, 2012
4:20 am
Everyone go to sleep forget about Valdosta.They will see you in the playoffs.
Camden74
August 28th, 2012
11:48 pm
It’s a definite fact, the best of Georgia would match up very well against the best of Texas!
Tucker Fan
September 2nd, 2012
8:17 pm
Arabia Mountain is probably the team that will suprise everyone in 6-AAAAA ..There offense is explosive ..dont believe me ,watch them against Stephenson at Halford Stadium Friday @ 8 …They’re most likely beat Stephenson and lose to US (TUCKER) !