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 8-2A — Defending champion: Fellowship Christian (now in Class D1)
Basically, the GHSA took the old Region 8-3A, dropped most of it down to Class 2A, and then kept one holdover and added a behemoth from Class A.
East Jackson is the only holdover from the old Region 8-2A, which saw its seven teams scattered around in new classifications. This new configuration is mainly the bulk of the old Region 8-3A (Franklin County, Hart County, Hebron Christian and Stephens County) along with Prince Avenue, which moved up from Class A D1.
Stephens County (8-3A) and Prince Avenue (8-A D1) both won region titles in 2023, with the Wolverines capturing their second straight Class A D1 state title.
If it turns out anything like 8-3A from the 2023 campaign, this will be one whale of a battle. The top five teams all were separated by just two games, with the Nos. 2 through 4 spots all finishing tied and playoff positioning decided by tiebreakers.
But with Class 2A using the new Playoff Rankings System (PRS) for the postseason, strength of schedule will play a huge factor for teams in this region, for the public schools for sure.
Prince Avenue lost All-State quarterback Aaron Philo (4,596 yards, 56 TDs, now at Georgia Tech) and their top two running backs. They do return their top five tacklers on defense that combined for 46 TFLs and 16 sacks in 2023.
The Indians return the bulk of their offensive production from what was a young team last season. Back is senior quarterback Tripp Underwood (1,523 yards, 13 TDs) and dynamic senior running back Javin Gordon (1,635 yards, eight 100-yard games, 20 TDs), who is committed to Duke. They also return three of their top four receivers who totaled over 700 yards with 7 TD catches in 2023. However, the defense was hit hard by graduation, losing four of their top five defensive standouts, which had 84 TFLs last season.
Hebron Christian returns a lot on offense, including their starting quarterback, top three rushers, and top three receivers from a unit that averaged just under 30 points/game with a mostly new group. The Lions, however, graduated half from a defense that allowed just 17.36 ppg in a tough region.
East Jackson posted its most wins since 2009 in 2023 (6-4) but could not crack the playoffs in what was a brutal region last year. It won't be any easier in 2024. The Eagles have one of the more dynamic quarterbacks in the region with junior Drew Richardson (1,800 yards, 15 TD in 2023), who is poised for a breakout season with several experienced receivers back as well. It may come down to the defense, which allowed just 25.5 ppg for the season but gave up 217 points in region play (43.6ppg).
Hart County missed out on the playoffs for a second straight season, the first time that has happened for the Bulldogs since the 1990-91 seasons. And they will be young in 2024. They graduated their quarterback and top two rushers on offense.
Franklin County’s only win in 2023 came against non-Georgia team Pickens (SC). They had just a handful of seniors and a young roster last season got a ton of playing time. They should be more competitive in 2024 but would need an upset or two to build enough SOS points for the playoffs.
The voters had Prince Avenue edging out Hebron Christian for the title -- they meet on Nov. 11 in the season finale. But a showdown between Stephens County and Prince Avenue on Oct. 4 in Toccoa will be huge. The Indians will travel to Hebron on Oct. 18. All three of those teams were unanimously picked to make the playoffs with the fourth spot likely to come down to a battle between East Jackson and Hart County in Commerce on Oct. 18 as well.
But again, with the PRS in place, quality wins may be more important than number of wins.
- Up Next in region previews: Region 7-2A
- Previous region preview: Region 8-A D1
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/8/1255669/region-8-2a-preview-aug-5