The 2022 high school football season is officially underway, and the first weekend provided some eye-opening results across the area.
Here are five things we learned from Week 1:
1. Niblett already has Gainesville ready for the big time
In an offseason full of storylines, none were bigger than Gainesville's hiring of longtime Hoover, Alabama head coach Josh Niblett to revitalize a program that missed the playoffs for the first time in more than two decades in 2021. The looming questions entering 2022 were how good would Niblett be able to get his new team and how quickly would they get there? The answers: really good, really fast. Gainesville opened its new era with a 34-23 win over private school powerhouse Marist in Atlanta Friday night. The War Eagles were ranked sixth in the state in Class 6A entering the season, but Gainesville showed no fear in jumping out to a 20-0 first-quarter lead before holding off a late charge to take the win. While the sample size remains small, it's hard to be anything other than impressed with this year's Red Elephants. Now the mind wanders to the next question: how far can they climb this year?
2. Northeast Georgia flexes its muscle against out-of-state competition
Georgia high school football is well-known across the country as some of the highest-level competition in the nation. A pair of Northeast Georgia teams did their part with eye-opening victories Friday night. First, it was Buford, who opened their inaugural season in Class 7A in style by taking on Thompson of Alabama. The Warriors had won three straight state champions in Alabama's highest classifications, but after a defensive battle in the first half, the Wolves exploded for a 38-7 blowout win. Later that night, it was Commerce's turn. The Tigers, in their second year under head coach Mark Hollars, traveled to South Carolina to take on Southside Christian, a team that had won three of the last four state championships in the Palmetto State and had not lost a game since 2019. Commerce ended that streak with a 21-17 upset win in Simpsonville that shocked the Crusaders and surely gave a confidence boost to a team looking to rebound from a 6-5 campaign last year. While one area team, Towns County, suffered an out-of-state loss to nearby rival Hayesville of North Carolina, that result was overshadowed by the performances Buford and Commerce put on. It serves as evidence that when you're watching the best teams in Georgia, you're watching some of the best high school football in the United States of America.
3. Running backs look ready to lead the charge in 2022
In today's age of high-powered passing attacks and summers full of 7-on-7 camps, some area teams are going old school early this season. Several running backs had big performances to open their 2022 campaigns Friday night. One of them was Commerce sophomore Jaiden Daniels in the above-mentioned upset win over Southside Christian. After a breakout freshman season, he opened his sophomore year with a three-touchdown performance. Flowery Branch, meanwhile, had monster games from two different running backs. Senior Myles Ivey racked up 218 yards rushing with three total touchdowns, while junior Malik Dryden had 195 yards on the ground in a wild 39-38 win over Decatur. Lumpkin County tallied over 300 yards rushing as a team in their win over Riverside Military, with 121 of those yards coming from Mason Sullens, who also scored four touchdowns on just 13 carries. Banks County's Andrew Shockley took the cake, though, with a staggering 398 yards rushing and six touchdowns to lead the Leopards to a 41-20 win over Johnson in Homer. There could be many more big rushing performances coming this season if Week 1 is any indication.
4. New coach? New quarterback? No problem for Rabun County
For most programs, losing a coach the quality of Jaybo Shaw and a quarterback the caliber of Gunner Stockton would send them back down to Earth. That doesn't appear to be happening to Rabun County, however. The Wildcats, under new head coach Michael Davis and transfer quarterback Keegan Stover, opened their season with a blowout 49-3 win over Haralson County Friday night. The win was impressive, considering it was a road matchup against a Rebels team that went 10-2 in 2021 and hasn't won fewer than seven games in a season in five years. Stover looked perfectly comfortable in Davis' system, throwing for over 360 yards and five touchdowns, with four of those scores going to senior Jaden Gibson. There is no indication that Rabun County will be anything other than a powerhouse for the foreseeable future, as they enter this season seeking their ninth straight region championship and seventh straight 11-win or better season. However, that will be put to the test this week as they take on an improved Stephens County team in their home opener.
5. Lumpkin, Union show major improvement ahead of Week 2 matchup
Very few people outside of Dahlonega and Blairsville likely had their eyes on the Week 2 matchup of Union County and Lumpkin County. That has probably changed for some after Friday night. The Indians opened the Heath Webb era with a 61-7 blowout win over Riverside Military. It was the most points Lumpkin County had scored in a game since 2016 and their largest margin of victory since a 1974 60-0 shutout of Banks County. It was proof of concept for Webb, who is looking to duplicate his program-rebuilding model that turned Winder-Barrow into a consistent playoff team in the mid-2010s. The Panthers, meanwhile, opened their season with a 14-7 upset win over rival Fannin County. An impressive win considering the Rebels had won 10 games in each of the previous two seasons. Michael Perry appears to have something building in his second season in Blairsville. So, both teams have momentum and confidence heading into this matchup, and it could paint of picture of if these teams are ready to make noise in their respective regions later this fall.
