What an offseason this has been. We have made it to the official start of the 2020 GHSA Football season. It’s not quite what we expected, but nevertheless, it looks like we will have high school football played in Georgia this week. Special thanks to all of the coaches, administrators, teachers and to the GHSA for helping get to this point.
Today we will start our weekly segment GHSA Football previews that we call Eight Greats Around the State. Each week, we will take 8 of the more intriguing GHSA Football match-ups and preview the games. The segment will be split into two parts, this is Part 1 of 2. Here are the matchups featured. Mitchell County Rivals Pelham and Mitchell County face off for the 106th time. Brooks County hosts Thomasville in a matchup of former region rivals. Warner Robins travels to Valdosta to take on the Wildcats. This game features two of the top quarterbacks in the state. While Grayson will travel to Jones County as these teams matchup for the first time ever.
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The Skinny
The Pelham Hornets enter the 2020 season on the heals of back-to-back semi final appearances. The Hornets will have a new full time starter under center as Brantley Shiver is poised to take over. Shiver threw for 585 yards and 12-TDs spelling now departed starter Kendrick Patterson. Jamarquis Ross is the teams leading returning running back, while Albany State commit Cameron Bailey should see double duty at receiver and corner this season. Bailey had 638 receiving yards and 10-TDs. All-State defensive lineman Davion Rhodes and Makiah Martin are back to terrorize opposing quarterbacks while Jermaine Johnson will team up with the aforementioned Bailey to help lead the secondary.
The Mitchell County Eagles have dominated the series between the county rivals. Yet they fell short in the quarterfinals after winning the Region title in 2020. The Eagles return starting quarterback Quentavious Hunter for his senior season. Last year, he threw for 1,461 yards and 25-TDs. Markel Shannon and Xavier Williams are the leading returning rushers for Mitchell County. At receiver juniors Malcolm Jones and Willie Williams combined for 559 yards and 6-TDs a year ago and should be leaders at the position in 2020. The Mitchell County defense returns Shannon, Hunter, Xavier Williams, and Jalen Clayton as players who helped limit opponents to 13.1 points per game last season. These teams have ben playing on and off since 1923. They have split the last four meetings. We believe the winner in this game will go on to win the region. We like Mitchell County on the road by 2 this week.
The Skinny
The Brooks County Trojans return a host of talent that played for a state tile last season. This year the Trojans find themselves reclassified to Class A but will open the season with a familiar foe. Quarterback Ni’Tavion Burrus (2,088 yards passing, 22-TDs), running back Omari Arnold (1,796 yards, 24-TDs) and receiver Willie Brown (554 yards, 9-TDs) all return for Brooks County. Defensively, linebacker Camron Priest (102 total tackles), and linemen J’shawn Baker and Joaquinn Dawson return as they look primed for another deep run in the postseason.
The Thomasville Bulldogs are also coming off of an impressive run in the post season last year as they lost to the eventual state champions in the semi-final round. Quarterback Ronnie Baker will look to build on his impressive passing numbers from 2019, which saw him throw for 2,579 yards and 22-TDs. He will be joined in the backfield with a tandem of young running backs, Ricky Fulton and Malik Harper who combined for 1,565 yards and 13-TDs. Receiver Ricardo Johnson is also back as the teams leading receiver from a year ago. DB Bo Mascoe and linebacker Ty Anderson are back to lead the Bulldogs on defense. Anderson led Thomasville in total tackles and sacks last year. We believe there will be a lot of points scored in this contest and like Thomasville over the home Trojans by 5.
The Skinny
The Rush Propst era begins at perhaps the most historic high school football program in the state of Georgia. The Valdosta Wildcats are no stranger to success. Last season, they reached the quarterfinal round. The ‘Cats leading returning offensive player is receiver Javonte Sherman, who led the wildcats with 53 receptions and 1,156 yards receiving. He will be joined by Aalah Brown, (61 receptions and 1,164 yards for Valwood last season) and newcomer quarterback Jake Garcia (USC Trojan commit). Jaquez White returns to help anchor the offensive line while linebacker John Brown and DBs Jadarian Rhym and Maxwell Cherelus patrol the secondary.
The Warner Robins Demons are coming off of a third consecutive run to the 5A state finals. They return quarterback Jalen Addie who threw for almost 2,300 yards and 23-TDs in his junior season. Another potent weapon returns to join Addie in running back Jahlen Rutherford. He rushed for 1,290 yards last season, averaging 7 yards per carry. Linebackers Demarcious Robinson and Ahmad Walker return as the Demons leading tackler last season. They will be joined by run stoppers Vic Burley and Santanna Willis. There is plenty of star power in this game and we expect a back and forth contest. We give the slight edge to the host Wildcats by 4.
The Skinny
The Jones County Greyhounds enter the 2020 season on the heels of a run to the semifinals in 2019. The Greyhounds welcome back thousand yard rusher Andrew Carner, but will be breaking in a new signal caller after Hunter Costlow’s graduation. The Greyhounds do return a threat at receiver as Maleek Wooten returns for his senior campaign. Last season Wooten caught 63 balls for 952 yards and 12-TDs. Deon Richardson and T.Q. Hicks also return to anchor the defensive front seven.
Meanwhile, the Grayson Rams will bring a talented team down to Gray this Friday night. Coach Adam Carter will start his second year after leading the Rams back to the quarterfinals in 2019. The Rams return running offensive leaders such as running back Phil Mafah, linemen Garrett Brophy and receiver Jamal Haynes. They will also be joined by newcomers quarterback Carlos Del Rio and receiver Daejon Reynolds, both Division-1 caliber players. Defensively, the Rams should be stout upfront with Victoine Brown and Noah Collins anchoring the line. Linebacker Grady Bryant returns as the teams leading tackler from a year ago. We still think Jones County is one of the top teams in Class 5A, but we don’t think they will be able to keep pace with Grayson. We like the Rams by 13.