The 2024 high school football season is officially underway, and boy were there some eye-opening results.
Here are five things we learned from Week 1:
1. GAINESVILLE'S OFFENSE MIGHT BE JUST FINE
We knew there would be plenty of good things coming from Big Red's defense against Marietta, but we don't think that anyone saw a 41-point outburst coming from the offense. Kharim Hughley looked really good at quarterback, tallying 228 yards through the air with just four incompletions on the night, and Carmelo Byrd chewed up over 100 yards rushing. Moody (Ala.) will be a bigger test for Gainesville Thursday night, but this offense looks to be much further ahead of schedule than we might have thought.
2. CHESTATEE GETS CUNNINGHAM'S FIRST AS WAR EAGLE LEADER
A lot of people didn't know what Chestatee would look like in Year 2 of the wing-T offense under Stuart Cunningham, but the War Eagles showed that they are ready to cause fits in Region 6-3A. The War Eagles ran for 309 yards on 50 carries, led by Ben Plemons, who had three touchdowns on the night. We aren't saying that Chestatee will win the region, but the wing-T has always caused teams to sweat a lot defensively, so we will continue to keep a close eye on what's happening off Sardis Road.
3. CHEROKEE BLUFF IS PHYSICAL
So, we knew that the Lumpkin County vs. Cherokee Bluff game had a lot of really fun storylines in it, but one that we didn't necessarily expect is for the physicality to play a huge factor in this one. Yes, football is inherently a physical sport, but the Bears took that to a different level Friday night in their win over the Indians. The Bluff only allowed Georgia Tech commit Cal Faulkner to complete nine passes for 73 yards and rush for just 63, 52 of which came on the third play from scrimmage. If the Bears can tighten up their special teams before Region 8-3A starts, we might be looking at a team ready to contend for a region title.
4. TY TRUELOVE TRULY IS HEALTHY
We know Rabun County quarterback Ty Truelove is one of the best signal callers in the area as evidenced by throwing for an area-high 2,500 yards a year ago. He did most of that with a torn labrum after suffering that injury halfway through 2023. After an offseason of rehab, he went out and recorded six touchdowns, four through the air, to lead his Wildcats past White County in Cleveland. This Rabun County offense goes as Truelove goes, so if he can continue to stay healthy, the sky is the limit for what his numbers could look like at the end of this season.
5. EAST HALL'S DEFENSE SHINES
A lot was made of East Hall's returning players offensively prior to the start of the season against a new-look Banks County. What we didn't expect was for the defense to steal the show on Saturday when this game concluded. The Viking defense stood tall against the triple option and stuffed the Leopards on the doorstep to get a 16-14 win. The question marks as of late in Rabbittown always seemed to be around the defense, but if this is the new norm and the offense starts to click like we think it can, this darkhorse pick might just be one of the favorites in late October.
