Auburn and Georgia are in a tug-of-war over Warner Robins defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker (55). (AJC photo by Jason Getz)

His senior high school football season is over. But Warner Robins’ Jeff Whitaker is not hanging his head.

“I’m good. I’m fine,” the Demons’ 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle said. “I have no regrets. I played as hard as I could.”

The Demons finished 6-4, which meant a rare playoff miss for the four-time state champions. But Whitaker had a fantastic individual season.

“He’s a great player,” coach Bryan Way said. “And a good kid, too.”

Apparently college recruiters think so, too. Whitaker, a four-star prospect who shot up as high as 11th in the nation at his position in recruiting rankings, landed more than a dozen major college scholarship offers.

His season now officially over, this U.S. Army High School All-American has trimmed down his list to five schools:  Georgia, Auburn, California, North Carolina and South Carolina. Most recently Whitaker went …

Lattimore told Scout’s Chad Simmons that he definitely intends to make an official visit to Athens on Jan. 29 (subscription required), the last weekend before national signing day on Feb. 3. He made an unofficial visit to UGA on Sept. 12.

“Georgia mainly got the last visit because I like the coaches down there,” Lattimore told Simmons on Thursday. “I especially like Coach [Mark] Richt and how he treats his players down there. I never really got a chance to hang out with any of the players when I visited there before, so I am going to do that and just check out the campus this time.”

A number of schools had been battling to get the final official visit from Lattimore, who has already had paid trips to Auburn (Oct. 31) and Penn State (Nov. 7). He currently has official visits scheduled for Oregon on Jan. 15 and North Carolina on Jan. 22. …

Why? Because, ultimately, they were the ones that allowed Hubbard to return to the football field after a year’s hiatus. And now, the 6-foot-7, 227-pound defensive end/tight end is one of the unexpected grand prizes in Atlanta’s recruiting class of 2010.

Hubbard is a rarity in the modern age of college football recruiting. That is, he came into his senior year a virtual unknown. Hubbard played football as a sophomore at Peachtree Ridge but he transferred to Norcross as a junior in order to play basketball for the Blue Devils. He did not play football.

This past summer, Hubbard came to coach Keith Maloof and told him that he missed the game and wished to come out for the team. You could only imagine Maloof’s delight as he stared up at the at the towering athletic figure. But he did not accept …

Du’Von Millsap, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman, committed to South Carolina late last week, Wolves coach Jess Simpson confirmed. Millsap chose the Gamecocks over Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Clemson and several others.

“Yeah, he’d been up there a couple times last spring and last summer and always liked them a lot,” Simpson said. “But he waited to make a decision. He’s been putting it off a while now and decided he just wanted to go ahead and get it over with.”

Millsap, who plays mainly offensive tackle and some defensive tackle for the Class AA Wolves, projects as a guard in college. Teammates Kolton Houston (Georgia), a offensive tackle, and Jessell Curry (Auburn), a linebacker who stars for Buford at running back, are also headed to SEC schools.

Houston and Millsap give Buford a mighty pair of bookend tackles, especially for a Class AA school.

“He’s just a big guy that bends well …

If you said Florida, you’re wrong.

According to a survey done by Doug Segrest of The Birmingham News, the state of Georgia has more residents on SEC rosters than any other state with 86. Florida is a close second with 84.

Segrest reveals all kinds of cool facts in his research, including:

• Every SEC school has at least two players from Georgia among its top 22 starters. The state of Florida provides at least one on every depth chart. Of course these numbers fluctuate from week to week.
• Alabama produces the third-most SEC players with 66 and Louisiana (46) and Tennessee (39) round out the top five.
• Somewhat surprisingly, the state that produces the sixth-most SEC players isn’t an SEC state. It’s Texas with 37.
• There are 28 home-grown players on Georgia’s two-deep, most of any school. Florida and LSU are next with 25 each.
• Vanderbilt has more starters from Georgia (11) than any …

The nationally-televised game (ESPNU) matched the nation’s No. 1 (STA) and No. 2 high school teams and featured about two dozen Division 1 prospects. A few of those recruits are considering Georgia.

And they did not disappoint in the game, won by St. Thomas Aquinas 42-34.

STA’s Lamarcus Joyner, who ESPN ranks as the No. 1 cornerback in America (No. 2 by both Rivals and Scout), ended up being the star of the game, but not for anything he did on defense (Byrnes had over 500 yards offense). Joyner had two touchdowns on a 93-yard kickoff return and a 52-yard pass reception. He still lists Georgia as one of his school considerations, along with Florida, FSU, Ohio State and Southern Cal.

Byrnes running back Marcus Lattimore is considered the top back in the nation by Scout and No. 2 by Rivals and ESPN. And he …

Jackson had his normal productive night running the football with 18 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown but he also had two receptions for 56 yards and a TD and scored on a 93-yard interception return.

To top it off, Jackson was crowned “Mr. Homecoming” at halftime.

Jackson’s exploits this season continue to draw the attention of recruiters, even though he has long been committed to Ole Miss.

“[Tennessee] Coach [Lane] Kiffin is on him hard,” North Clayton assistant coach Demarco Mitchell tells me.

Jackson was one of several committed prospects that had big nights this weekend. Some others were:

• Jefferson County QB B.J. Bostic: The Georgia Tech commitment had 150- yards passing and 3 TDs and 100 yards rushing on 11 carries.
• Collins Hill RB Charles Perkins: The …

Stephenson’s Mike Thornton is just such a recruit. Arguably the best uncommitted prospect in the state and certainly in Atlanta, this 6-foot-2, 280-pound defensive tackle attended his first college football game EVER the weekend before last when he made an unofficial visit to Athens. This past weekend he attended his second one when he went to Auburn for the West Virginia game.

As you might imagine, Thornton is walking away wide-eyed and excited about the experience.

“It was great,” he said of his first trip to Athens. “It was something I never expected. I didn’t expect to be as big or as crowded or as loud as it was.”

Of Auburn, he said, “It was great, too. Of course there was a weather delay and a lot of rain. I think as far as playing and everything Auburn looks like they’re pretty set. They looked good. As …

The Red Elephants, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA, feature a pair of AJC Super 11 selections in quarterback Blake Sims and wide receiver Tai-ler Jones. Both had them have lived up to those distinctions. Then there’s the matter of their lesser-known teammate Tyson Smith. As far as big plays per opportunity, his ratio is out of this world.

All their talents were on display this past Friday as Gainesville rolled to a 55-12 victory over North Hall.

>The quarterback Sims — an Alabama commitment — completed 14-of-21 passes for 275  yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another.

>The wide receiver Jones — a Stanford commitment — caught 10 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns and added a fourth TD on a 47-yard fumble return. A 58-yard punt return TD was called back for a penalty.

>Then there’s Smith, a running back that coach Bruce Miller likes …

He had already snatched away two interceptions from Dacula last Friday night and now here came yet another pass. This one was traveling the trajectory of a miniature rainbow. To Gaines that ball looked like a pot of gold.

“It was just this little blooper,” Gaines said. “All I had to do was step under it and catch it.”

He did, and Gaines’ third interception put the finishing touches on another dominating night for the Grayson defense. They cruised on to a 44-0 victory.

And so it has gone for Gaines this season. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound BYU commitment patrols the back line of a stifling defensive unit. He lives off the occasional scraps the Rams’ fierce front seven happens to let through and picks off the occasional errant aerial.

“I definitely credit our D-line and the linebackers [for the big night],” Gaines said. “It’s great to play behind them. They put massive amounts of pressure on quarterbacks …