It’s finally here!
The opening week of the 2021 prep football season kicks off on Friday and after weeks of summer and fall practices teams are wrapping up their preparations for their opening week opponents.
(You can check out our weekly game previews here.)
As the season gets underway, we compiled some interesting tidbits and facts about several area teams and players.
Northeast Georgia Air Raid: Last year saw some big numbers put up by Northeast Georgia quarterbacks. A few, like J. Ben Haynes at White County, graduated and moved on to the next level. However, more than a half-dozen high-profile signal-callers return to lead their teams in 2021. Based on season-ending stats from 2020, there are just under a dozen returning quarterbacks in the state that threw for more than 2,500 yards -- three of them reside in the Northeast Georgia area.
Gunner Stockton of Rabun County (213-317, 3,128 pass yards, 45 TD, 4 INT; 191-1,581 rush yards, 26 TD -- Georgia-commit) led Class 2A in passing yards in 2020 and is back to lead the Wildcats, who lost in the Class 2A semifinals in 2020 and may be the early favorites to win their first-ever state title. Stockton, a senior, is closing in on two state records (passing yards and touchdown passes) and could achieve both with a deep playoff run.
Flowery Branch’s David Renard (161-249, 2,655 pass yards, 23 TD, 6 INT; 65-467 rush yards, 5 TD) also returns for his senior year. He led Class 4A in passing yards in 2020.
Zach Holtzclaw from Dawson County (158-259, 2,513 pass yards, 25 TD, 5 INT -- offer from Birmingham Southern) led Class 3A in passing in 2020 as a junior.
East Hall senior Clete Cooper (153-248, 2,197 pass yards, 14 TD, 6 INT; 47-187 rush yards, 3 TD), Cherokee Bluff senior Sebastion Irons (85-141, 1,442 pass yards, 15 TD, 6 INT), and Chestatee senior Luke Bornhorst (92-191, 1,116 pass yards, 11 TD, 6 INT) all passed for over 1,100 yards in 2020 and are looking for even bigger campaigns in 2021.
GROUND ASSAULTS: Programs like Commerce, North Hall and Buford have long been known for their ground game offenses. The Tigers and Trojans will run their patented triple-option and wing-T attacks and have several quality backs returning to put pressure on opposing defenses. The Wolves return three of their top four rushers from 2020.
But the team that could put up some astronomical numbers in 2021 may be Jefferson. The Dragons return bruising senior quarterback and Georgia-commit Malaki Starks (172-1,537 rush yards, 24 TD) and added sophomore Sammy Brown from Commerce, who rushed for over 1,200 yards and nearly two dozen touchdowns as a freshman last year. But others like senior running backs Jordan Perry and Reese Johnson and junior Bowman Horn, who combined for over 1,000 yards in limited roles, will give the Dragons a host of options as they will surely try to run over, through and around their opponents.
COACHING CAROUSEL: COVID or no COVID, it was a tough year for head coaches in 2020 around the state. In all, 97 GHSA programs statewide, almost one-quarter, made coaching changes following the 2020 season. Class 5A led the way with 16 schools switching coaches. Class 6A schools had 15 change head coaches, while Class 4A had 14 coaching changes. For the rest, 13 in Class 3A, 12 in Class 2A, 11 in Class A-Public, and only 8 in Class 7A and Class A Private each.
As for the regions that house Northeast Georgia programs, here are which schools made changes:*
Region 6-7A (where Gainesville resides) has two new coaches with Forsyth Central and South Forsyth. The Bulldogs promoted defensive coordinator David Rooney to take over for Frank Hepler, who resigned. Hepler went 18-29 in five seasons at Forsyth Central. South Forsyth also promoted an assistant as offensive coordinator Troy Morris replaced Jeff Arnette, who also retired. Morris has been on the War Eagles’ staff since 2010.
Region 8-6A (where Buford and Habersham Central reside) also has two new coaches. The biggest change was at Dacula, which had won four straight region titles until last season. The Falcons hired Northside-Warner Robins assistant Casey Vogt to replace Clint Jenkins, who is now the head coach at Morgan County. Lanier, another powerhouse, also made a change after Korey Mobbs left after seven seasons in Sugar Hill. The Longhorns promoted defensive coordinator David Willingham, who has been on the Lanier staff since 2010.
Region 8-5A (where Jackson County and Johnson reside) also had just one coaching change. Eastside, which made the state quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons last year, promoted long-time offensive coordinator Jay Cawthon to replace Troy Hoff, who left to become the head coach at Woodstock. Cawthon has been Eastside’s offensive coordinator since 2005.
Region 8-4A (where Chestatee, East Hall, Flowery Branch, and Jefferson reside) also had just one coaching coach as East Hall had to replace Michael Perry, who left for Union County, after just two seasons. The Vikings turned to alum and Lakeview Academy offensive coordinator Matt Turner. However, Turner is no stranger to the Vikings coaching staff having been the offensive coordinator in Rabbittown for nine seasons previously.
Region 7-3A had one coaching change among its seven current schools. But new school East Forsyth opened this year with former Union County coach Brian Allison moving from Blairsville to start the Broncos program. They will not play a region schedule in 2021, however. Meanwhile, Gilmer pulled off a tremendous hire in getting St. Pius coach Paul Standard to take over in Ellijay. Standard was 174-72 in 20 seasons at St. Pius.
Region 8-3A (where East Jackson plays) has one new coach as Franklin County hired Lincoln County defensive coordinator Parker Martin to replace Paul Sutherland. The Lions had made great strides in 2020 finishing 7-3 in 2020, winning their most games in 20 years, and making the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Region 8-2A has one new coach as Union County hired East Hall coach Michael Perry to replace Brian Allison, who became head coach at newly opened East Forsyth. Perry inherits a program that has made the playoffs seven of the past eight seasons and was 121-77 overall under Allison.
Region 6-A Private (where Lakeview Academy plays) has one new coach, but what a pickup it was. Fellowship Christian, which reached the quarterfinals in 2020, was able to get Blessed Trinity coach Tim McFarlin to take over for Al Morrell, who retired after eight seasons at Fellowship. McFarlin is among the state’s best over his career going 194-52-2 and winning state titles at Roswell (2006) and Blessed Trinity (2017-19).
Region 8-A Public (where Commerce and Towns County play) had two coaching changes. However, the defending region champ Tigers are one of them. Long-time assistant and then seven-year head coach Michael Brown left to take an assistant position at Jefferson. North Cobb Christian’s Mark Hollars took over for Brown, who ran the triple-option offense the Tigers are also known for. Hollars’ teams were 26-9 over the past three seasons. New program Lake Oconee Academy in Greensboro looked to Camden County special teams coordinator Drew Anthony to start its football program. The Titans will not play a varsity schedule until 2022. Anthony also has more local ties as he coached at Buford for 14 seasons, helping the Wolves win eight state titles.
(* -- Information provided by Georgia High School Football Daily and GHSFHA.com)
