Archive for the ‘Football’ Category

Tim Cokely, the football coach who led Greater Atlanta Christian back to prominence in his two seasons, is leaving for Florida.

Cokely is the new head coach of Marianna High.

Cokely’s GAC teams were 9-2 and 8-3. GAC finished 1-9 the season before Cokely was hired.

Cokely led Northwest Florida Christian to six state champions. He also coached at Colquitt County from 2005 to 2007.

“I make decisions in my life for what’s best for my family,” Cokely told Jackson County Floridan. “With my son graduating in Atlanta, we had an opportunity to see what was out there. [Having family close] was a part of it, but I think in the past when I was a younger man, it was about climbing that ladder and trying to find the most money and ambition, ambition, ambition.

“At this point in my life, if I haven’t learned anything else, I’ve learned that you work for people more than anything, and I really liked the people at Marianna. I like that part of the country. It was an easy decision to come to …

Continue reading GAC’s Cokely leaves for Florida job »

Got rankings. Also some comments on each class on how the rankings were shuffled and other going-ons in each class.

One vent — Kinda crazy that Wheeler can stay in the top five with nine losses and losing to Langston Hughes, but there are only three teams playing like top-five teams right now. Milton, Shiloh, Westlake. And we’re not sure about two of those. Almost everybody has lost games to teams in lower classifications, or multiple games in their region.

Is Class AAAAA down this year, or just more spread out?

AAAAA-
The top three looks pretty good. Milton, Westlake and Shiloh each have good wins and no bad losses. Every other team in the state has multiple stains on their resume. … Random fact: Milton’s Shaquille Johnson had seven dunks in the first half against North Forsyth last week. … Berkmar lost to Archer last week, and Mill Creek lost to North Gwinnett. Berkmar and MC out. In their place are North Gwinnett and Norcross, the two that will play for first place on …

Continue reading HS basketball rankings: Down year in AAAAA, or just lots of good teams? »

Two new No. 1 teams this week – Jordan’s boys and Model’s girls.

We’re trying something a little different this week in that we’re adding some commentary to each class. It’s a little heavy on the boys side this week, but we’ll balance it more next week when we get the routine down.

AAAAA-
No. 1 Milton beat Wheeler 65-60 in a boys game on Saturday as Tevin Glass had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Milton. (See MDJ story.) Wheeler’s Chuck Mitchell scored 30. Both players are their teams’ top inside players. … Previous No. 5 Norcross was upset by unranked Stephenson 51-48 on Saturday. Is that score right? Stephenson is 5-16. … No. 2 Shiloh went 2-1 in a tournament in Florida and blew a four-point lead in the final 90 seconds in the defeat. … No. 3 Westlake needed two overtimes to beat Marcus Hunt-led North Clayton 75-75. … No. 8 Berkmar beat unranked Alpharetta 65-62 on Saturday when Brandon Thompson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. … No. 5 Mill Creek lost 59-39 to G.W. Carver of …

Continue reading HS rankings: Jordan, Model take No. 1 in AA … Milton beats Wheeler … Norcross upset … and other news »

Milton’s boys will try to solidify their No. 1 ranking in Class AAAAA on
Saturday when they play at No. 4 Wheeler.

Milton has won 13 straight games and is undefeated when point guard Charles
Mann, the Georgia signee, has played. Wheeler has lost two starters since
December to academic ineligibility, so this will be a measure of whether the
Wildcats remain serious state-championship contenders.

Milton defeated Wheeler 77-59 in the 2011 regular season and 72-71 in
overtime in 2010. Wheeler beat Milton three times in 2009, including in the
state final. Milton’s Evan Nolte and Wheeler’s Chuck Mitchell, both highly
recruited seniors, have been around for all those games.

In other news around Class AAAAA, second-ranked Shiloh lost its opener in
the Montverde Academy Invitational to Orlando Christian 59-55 this week
after failing to hold a four-point lead in the final 90 seconds. Orlando
Christian made a pair of 3-pointers, and Shiloh called a time out it did not
have, leading to a …

Continue reading AAAAA blog: It’s Wheeler-Milton on Saturday; Shiloh drops one in FLA; Pope to honor TJ Yates »

The Westover girls went to the third round of the state tournament last year, and even with the loss of two starters who transferred, it seemed obvious they’d be good again.

The way Westover coach Lewis Smith talks, though, a 20-0 start wasn’t really what he expected.

“We replaced those two startes with some sophomores, and it’s a big deal for them,” said Smith, whose team improved to 20-0 overall and 8-0 in Region 1-AAA with a 51-41 win over Dougherty Tuesday night. “They’re in a little over their head, because we’ve kind of thrown them into the fire.”

How have they done it? By employing the three four D’s: DyTiesha Dunson, defense and determination.

Dunson, a senior who has signed with Florida Gulf Coast University, is averaging 24 points per game and burned Tift County with 35 in a win Saturday. Classmate Ieshia Young averages 14.

Smith points to the defense as the key. The Westover girls have held 13 of 20 opponents under 40 points.,

“Defensively we’re probably better …

Continue reading AAA basketball blog: Westover D’s up »

Fayette County and Greater Atlanta Christian are new No. 1 boys teams while Buford’s girls regained the their top ranking in the high school basketball rankings this week.

Fayette County’s boys, who made the Class AAAA semifinals last year but have never won a state title, replaced three-time defending champion Miller Grove, which lost Friday to Chamblee in a Region 6-AAAA game. Miller Grove has nine losses, but Chamblee was the first Georgia team to defeat the Wolverines in over a year.

In AA boys, defending champion Greater Atlanta Christian replaced Vidalia, which lost to Long County 70-68 on Tuesday.

In AA girls, Buford returned to No. 1 after a 58-44 victory on Saturday against Lovett, the previous No. 1 team, which dropped to No. 5. The return of Andraya Carter, the 2011 Class AA player of the year who has missed most of the season with a torn ACL, should provide a big boost for Buford down the stretch.

New this week to the boys rankings are Tift County, North …

Continue reading New HS basketball rankings: Fayette County replaces Miller Grove at No. 1 in AAAA; GAC boys, Buford girls also take top spots »

Now that the GHSA has agreed to hold separate state championships for Class A public and private schools, the next step is determining how set up the state playoff brackets for each division.

This week, most Class A private schools met at Eagle’s Landing Christian and came up with a proposal that would seed the 16 playoff qualifiers in football based on a points system. (Let’s stick to football now, as other sports will make this very complicated. In some sports, such as soccer, few Class A public schools field a team.)

Remember that public and private schools will continue to play each other and compete in the same regions — in the regular season. It’s in the playoffs that they’ll separate.

The private schools’ plan for the football playoffs is pretty simple. Teams get 10 points for each victory, and additional points for every victory won by teams that they have beaten. For example, Holy Innocents’ went 8-2. That’s 80 points (8 wins x 10). Those eight opponents won 39 games …

Continue reading How will GHSA set up Class A public, private playoff draws? Here’s how I’d do it »

Milton is the new No. 1 boys team in Class AAAAA after an impressive tournament victory in Erie, Pa., on Saturday.

Milton defeated four-time New York Class A champion Jamesville-Dewitt 93-52 in the final of the Burger King Classic as Evan Nolte scored 23 points, 12 on 3-pointers.

Milton (13-4) took the place of Shiloh (13-2), which lost to Berkmar 46-45 on Friday. Milton has lost four games, but three by forfeit over the ineligibility of point guard Charles Mann. Since Mann returned to the lineup, Milton has not lost.

There are two other No. 1 teams, both in the girls rankings.

Douglas County (15-1), which reached the state semifinals last season, took advantage of losses by previous No. 1 Chamblee (to Redan) and No. 2 Alcovy (to Newton) to move up from its No. 3 spot last week in AAAA.

In AA, Lovett (14-3) moves up one place into the top spot. Buford, the previous No. 1 team, dropped to No. 3 after losing to Alpharetta 60-42 on Saturday. Buford will have a chance perhaps to …

Continue reading HS basketball rankings: Milton boys, Douglas County, Lovett girls are new No. 1’s »

Howard offensive coordinator Jason Respert is the new head football coach at Douglas County.

Respert is a former all-state lineman at Northside of Warner Robins who played at Tennessee. He also has been an assistant at Northside and Peach County.

Douglas County was 23-28 in five seasons under John Oglesby, who resigned after a 2-8 finish in 2011. Douglas County has not had a winning season since 2007 after having winning seasons each of the previous seven seasons.

Douglas County will compete in Region 3-AAAAA next season. It will be the first time since 2001 that Douglas County has played in the highest classification.

Continue reading Douglas County hires Howard offensive coordinator Respert »

Centennial has hired Alpharetta defensive coordinator Jeff Carlberg as its head coach.

Carlberg, who came to Georgia in 2008 after three seasons as head coach of Apollo High in Owensboro, Ky., has led defenses at Lassiter (2008-09) and Alpharetta (2010-11), schools that won their first-ever region championships with Carlberg on staff.

Carlberg also has coached at Louisville as a graduate assistant under Howard Schnellenberger and at Lexington Catholic in Kentucky under current North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire.

Centennial, a north Fulton school, has not won a playoff game since 2002. The school was 24-28 under Jeff Measor, who resigned after five seasons to complete a doctorate. Centennial was 5-6 last season.

Continue reading Centennial hires Alpharetta defensive coordinator Carlberg »

Here are the AJC’s first state basketball rankings of the season. Let us know how you think the teams ought to be ranked, or which teams got slighted.

A few observations -

* Parity is widespread among Class AAAAA boys teams. Shiloh, Milton and Wheeler are the most commonly mentioned when it comes to talent on the roster, but all have been beaten, and several Top 10 teams have losses to unranked or lower-classification opponents. Norcross is ranked despite a 7-6 record.

* Three-time defending AAAA boys champion Miller Grove is No. 1 despite a handful of defeats, most recently on Saturday to nationally ranked Simeon of Chicago, 69-66. Simeon is ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps and others. Miller Grove has no losses to Georgia teams.

* Vidalia (15-1) and North Cobb Christian (15-0) have never won basketball state titles, but their boys teams are ranked No. 1 – Vidalia in AA and North Cobb Christian in A.

* All five of last year’s state girls hampions are ranked sixth or …

Continue reading HS basketball rankings: Shiloh, McEachern are No. 1 in AAAAA »

Avondale, a school that won state titles in 1958, 1963 and 1976, closed this year. Here are schools that have won GHSA titles and are closed (with the years of their closings and their state titles). It includes Waynesboro, which won a title in 1957. Waynesboro and Sardis-Girard-Alexander merged in 1987 to form Burke County, which won its first state title this season.

2011

Avondale (1958, 1963, 1976)

2004

Americus (1962, 1965, 1975, 2000-01)

1996

Douglass, Montezuma (1981)

Hogansville (1952)

1994

Waycross (1960, 1961, 1977, 1981)

1992

Brown (1949)

East Rome (1978-79)

R.E. Lee (1988)

West Rome (1965, 1982-85)

1991

North Fulton (1966)

Northside, Atlanta (1957)

1990

Palmetto (1982-83)

1989

Rossville (1954-55, 1962)

1988

Murphy (1952)

1987

Lyons (1975)

Waynesboro (1957)

1986

West Point (1948, 1950, 1958)

1975

Davis (1964)

1970

Athens (1955, 1969)

Fort Valley (1948, 1961)

Lincolnton (1960, 1962-63)

1967

Jesup (1954, 1959)

1966

Blakely-Union (1964)

1959

Quitman …

Continue reading State-championship schools that have closed »

Awards for state coaches of the year typically go to the head coach whose team wins the state championship. There’s nothing wrong with that, as a coach can’t do better than win a state title. But not enough credit goes to those coaches who make teams better from one season to the next.

Bryan Way at Warner Robins didn’t win a state title, but Warner Robins led the state in “victories improved” from 2010 to 2011, going from 2-8 to 11-3. Then there was Mark Wilson at Bryan County. His team went to 6-4 from 0-10.

Below is a list of 10 coaches in each classification who improved their teams. To be objective, we devised a formula to do it. The formula = (number of 2011 victories – number of 2010 victories) + (improvement in winning PCT x 10) + (number of 2011 playoff rounds – number of 2010 playoff rounds).

If it sounds complicated, don’t worry. We did the math.

Just trust that these 50 coaches deserve a raise.

CLASS AAAAA

Team
Coach

2010

2011

W+

Pct.+

Continue reading Coaches who improved their teams the most in 2011 »

Here are three observations about the regions that will make up Class A in 2012:

*The regions listed below are based on what is currently proposed by the Georgia High School Association, which is scheduled to meet on Jan. 10 to ratify the regions. There is no way to project any changes the GHSA might make at its executive committee meeting or the impact a much-talked about secession by public schools would have on the region setup.

*The best region, according to the Maxwell Ratings, will be 5-A, which will consist of six football-playing private schools and be the smallest region in Class A. Eagle’s Landing Christian, 2011 runner-up Landmark Christian and Holy Innocents’ are all rated among the top 10 teams in the new Class A.

The chart below might give you a feel for strength of regions and the teams to beat next year.

Make sure you understand how it works:

*The W-L record is each school’s record over the past five years.

*The rating on the right is each team’s power rating …

Continue reading Early gauge of the new regions: Class A »

Below are the leading rushers, passers and receivers in Georgia high school football for the 2011 season.

Rushing

2,375 – Tyren Jones, Walton

2,183 – Kevin Ellison, Habersham Central

2,180 – Marteze Waller, Putnam County

2,179 – Chaz Thornton, Stephens County

2,142 – Miles Jones, Allatoona

2,063 – Janier Ferguson, Pepperell

1,928 – Mike Davis, Stephenson

1,839 – Travis Custis, Lovejoy

1,805 – Chris Brown, Seminole County

1,802 – Brendan Douglas, Aquinas

1,790 – Quenshaun Watson, Clarke Central

1,770 – Tre Hamilton, Charlton County

1,738 – Shadrach Thornton, Liberty County

1,706 – Imani Cross, North Hall

1,704 – John Tatum, Eagle’s Landing Christian

1,684 – Marquez Holloway, Carver (Columbus)

1,658 – Voltaire Driver, Bremen

1,622 – Chris Beck, Seminole County

1,615 – Kenyan Drake, Hillgrove

1,564 – Tolerance Shepherd, Fitzgerald

1,561 – Tyshon Dye, Elbert County

1,559 – Lewis Watkins, Glascock County

1,552 – Jayden Compton, Gordon Central

1,551 – Wezley Ealey, ECI

1,548 – Tre …

Continue reading 2011 leaders in rushing, passing and receiving yardage »