The 2022 GHSA High School Football season is among us. We took a look at the new regions in each classification and gave our thoughts on how each region might shake out. We also thought it would be fun to give our way too early playoff predictions, including our preseason state champ just for some good bulletin board material
Now before you go getting all excited and tell us how much we are “sleeping” on you and your team, relax. Our list of key returners is probably a tad bit incomplete. We tried our best to make sure we covered the top returners for each team. In some instances, we had more available data so it was a little easier to compile a list.
We also realize there maybe a few transfers that we missed. We appreciate corrections. With that said, thanks so much for reading. We wish everyone good luck for the 2022 high school football season.
Class AAAAAA Overview
Region Champs: Lee County, Brunswick, Woodward Academy, St. Pius, Hughes, Rome, Roswell, North Forsyth
Toughest Region: Region 7
Final Four Prediction: Lee County, Brunswick, Hughes, Rome
State Champion: Lee County
Player of the Year: Prentiss “Air” Noland
The Skinny
On the outside looking in, we believe that it is Lee County and then everyone else; but don’t tell that to Northside Warner Robins. The Lee County Trojans bring back an experienced backfield with quarterback Chris Martin and sophomore Ousmane Kromah. Our biggest question mark is Tift County, who for so long seemed to be a sleeping giant. Can Tift County break through in Class AAAAAA? As we mentioned before, Northside is no stranger to making deep runs in the playoffs and they return enough talent to overthrow Lee County for the region title.
The Skinny
Region 2 is an interesting Region. The Brunswick Pirates seem to have enough talent on hand to win the region and make a deep playoff push. (If they win the region, we believe their playoff quadrant is extremely favorable.) What we don’t know is how well the Central Savannah River Area (SCRA) schools will fare. If the three schools from the SCRA, we believe Grovetown has the best shot of challenging Brunswick and Effingham County.
The Skinny
The big question here is can anyone challenge Woodward Academy. The War Eagles might be a little down at the skill position from years past, but don’t tell that to returning quarterback Jalen Woods. Perhaps Alcovy or Lovejoy return enough pieces to challenge Woodward, but we just aren’t so sure about that.
The Skinny
This might have been the toughest region to rank. We really like some of the pieces that North Atlanta brings to the table. However, it’s tough to pick against the consistency of teams like Marist and St. Pius. This years Marist team as not as star studded of teams in the past, yet we know they’ll be well prepared by the veteran coach Alan Chadwick. Meanwhile, St. Pius should have enough weapons on both sides of the ball, led by the versatile Jack Tchienchou to lead the Golden Lions to a region title.
The Skinny
Things seem to be setting up really nice for Coach Daniel Williams and the Hughes Panthers. Williams guided the Panthers from a 2-8 season in his first year on 2018 to a trip to the state finals last season and back to back 11 win seasons. Hughes returns a bevy of talent highlighted by quarterback Prentiss “Air” Noland. And while he doesn’t show up in our key returners, linebacker Gannon Weathersby is back at Hughes. Coach Williams let us in about this young man back in 2019 and he’s lived up to the expectation. We believe South Paulding and New Manchester return enough depth to challenge Hughes, especially with returning quarterbacks in Kasen Weisman (South Paulding) and Rico Jones (New Manchester).
The Skinny
The Rome Wolves look primed to make a deep run into the AAAAAA playoffs. They will be racking up travel miles this season as they will make three trips to Woodstock, Georgia this year. From top to bottom the Wolves certainly have the talent to take home the region crown. Allatoona has historically been a physical team that might give the Wolves some problems, but we don’t believe the Bucs have the star power to match Rome. If the Cherokee County schools, mainly Creekview and River Ridge, can get solid quarterback play from first year starters, then perhaps either one could challenge for that second position in region play and a home playoff game.
The Skinny
This could be a fun region, especially with Blessed Trinity joining the Region…a school that is practically across the street from Roswell. Roswell returns a lot of talent, especially at receiver. The biggest question for the Hornets is finding a replacement at quarterback. Ethan Nation, Ethan Crite, Chris Elko and Zeke Moore should make things a little less tenable for the new starting quarterback. Speaking of quarterbacks, Alpharetta’s Ben Guthrie might be the best returner in the region and should have the Raiders more competitive in this region. Look for Blessed Trinity to push Alpharetta and Roswell for a region title, but we don’t know if the Titans have enough at the skill positions to knock off their neighborhood foes.
The Skinny
This might have been the toughest region for us to evaluate in class AAAAAA. North Forsyth has been steady under head coach Robert Craft and with North dropping down a classification, it might be just what the doctor ordered for the Raiders to earn their first region title since 2001. Gainesville made a big splash hiring head coach Josh Niblett who’s had plenty of success in Alabama. We believe he will have the Red Elephants back in region title contention this season. Lanier has had a pretty good run they last few seasons and they and Shiloh should challenge in what we see is the most wide open region in the classification.