Region preview: Gladiators get the nod in a wide-open 8-5A

Last season, the writers and guests at AccessWDUN Sports correctly picked four out of eight region champions that involved northeast Georgia teams in the Georgia High School Association. Fellowship Christian (8-A Division 1), Gainesville (8-6A), Jefferson (8-5A), and North Oconee (8-4A) all captured titles in 2023. 

We also nailed 26 of the 32 playoff teams in the eight northeast Georgia regions in the GHSA.

The 2024 campaign will certainly be different as the GHSA dropped down to just six classifications. However, despite the smaller number of overall classifications, there are now 10 new regions among six classifications housing area teams that should bring some exciting action this fall.

A 13-person panel, made up of media members from Blitz Sports Georgia, Friday Game Night, Gwinnett Daily Post, North Georgia SportsLink, WDUN AM/FM, White County News and WRWH AM/FM, cast their votes during the offseason for who they think will win the 10 area regions.

We will look at two regions each day this week, starting with Class A and finishing with Class 6A.

REGION 8-5A -- Defending champion: Jefferson (now in 8-3A)

This region has been remade with three of the four playoff teams from 2023 now in different classifications, leaving Clarke Central, Loganville, and Winder-Barrow as the three remaining teams. The region added a trio of 8-6A teams from last year in Apalachee, Habersham Central, and Jackson County, with Alcovy out of Covington moving down from 3-6A.

And it should be wide-open from the start as only Habersham Central and Loganville made the 2023 playoffs and neither got out of the first round. The newly-configured seven team region as a whole was just 27-45 overall in 2023 and no team posted a winning record.

Clarke Central is the most established program in the group but missed out on the playoffs in 2023 for the first time in David Perno’s first eight seasons and the first time since 2015. The Gladiators averaged 8.1 wins in Perno’s first six seasons but have managed just five wins each of the last two seasons. Senior running back Corey Watkins Jr (1,367 yards, 12 TD) returns but the Glads also will be breaking in a new signal caller and they graduated their top four receivers.

Habersham Central has quarterback DJ Pass, Antonio Cantrell in the backfield, and leading receiver Zeke Whittington all back on offense but the Raiders will be rebuilding the defense. They should be in the running for a second straight playoff appearance, which hasn’t happened since Gene Cathcart led the Raiders in 2006-07.

And speaking of Cathcart, his Loganville squad may be one of the more intriguing stories in Class 5A. The Red Devils have dynamic junior quarterback Brody Hannah (2,910 yards, 24 TD, 14 INT) back and he and senior receiver and Georgia Tech-commit Ahmed Souare were perhaps 5A’s best duo in 2023. Souare had 68 receptions for 1,310 yards and 16 TD and led the state, all classes, during the regular season. But the key will be if they can improve a young defense that allowed 36.64 ppg last season.

Jackson County, whose participation numbers have skyrocketed under coach Kory Mobbs, may benefit the most with this new region. The Panthers lost three games in overtime last season and return five on offense and six on defense. Junior quarterback RJ Knapp III is poised for a breakout season in his first full season. The question mark on the offense will be in finding playmakers after graduating their top two rushers and their top five receivers.

Winder-Barrow had a young team in 2023 that scored just 64 points in region play. That’s the bad news. The good news is the bulk of that squad is back with a year under their belt. Now juniors Demetrius "MJ" Dowdy and Xavier Mccoy return in the back field after combining for over 1,700 yards and 10 TD last year. But they lost six of the top seven defensive standouts from 2023 and also will be rebuilding the defense.

Clarke Central was the clear favorite from the panel with Loganville tagged as the runner-up. Both area teams Habersham Central and Jackson County were picked to make the playoffs.

But Jackson County has the biggest roster in the region with developing depth across both lines of scrimmage. If the Panthers find some playmakers for Knapp to get the ball too, they could be a serious title contender.

And the Panthers will get a shot to show if they’re contenders opening region play at home against Clarke Central on Sept. 20. They also get Alcovy and Winder-Barrow at home. But they close out region play with road games at Loganville and Habersham Central.

The Gladiators also will hit the road at Habersham Central (Oct. 4) and at Winder-Barrow to finish the year. They will get Loganville at home (Oct. 11) and the Red Devils knocked off the Glads in a 51-50 shootout last season.

Habersham Central has a tough start with road games at Loganville (Sept. 13) and Winder-Barrow (Sept. 27) before playing host to Clarke Central the following week (Oct. 4). And they get a favorable finish with games at Raider Stadium against Apalachee and against Jackson County in what both programs probably hope is a region title showdown.