As we wind down our preview articles, we make our way to the big boys. Northside-Warner Robins looks to defend, Houston County will challenge them for more than just the region title, Ware County moves into “Year 2” under Franklin Stephens, Lanier could post a second straight undefeated season, and Kell and Allatoona carry the Cobb County banner.
Here is the schedule leading all the way up to kick off on Friday, August 21st:
Today: GHSA Football, 5A season preview
Today: GHSA Football, 6A season preview
Wednesday 12th: The Mooneyham Poll…GHSA 1A Football
Thursday 13th: The Mooneyham Poll…GHSA 2A Football
Friday 14th: The Mooneyham Poll…GHSA 3A Football
Monday 17th: The Mooneyham Poll…GHSA 4A Football
Tuesday 18th: The Mooneyham Poll…GHSA 5A Football
Wednesday 19th: The Mooneyham Poll…GHSA 6A Football
Thursday 20th: The Top 15 games of the 2015 GHSA football season
Friday 21st: Lineup for kick off. We preview our first 680 The Fan Friday Night Football Game of the Week.
A brief look at the top teams and storylines in 5A Georgia high school football, 2015:
Northside-Warner Robins is a contender again this year…because, well, it’s football season. The defending state champs will lose former 2,000-yard rusher Willie Jordan and top offensive lineman Brandon Sandifer. It is arguable that no team in the state, regardless of classification, has reloaded better over the last two decades. From 1998 to the present day, 17 seasons, the program has posted an unbelievable 206-22 record. That is the kind of stat that makes you want to go and double-check me as an author. Believe me I get it. Junior quarterback Tobias Oliver, the hero of the state title game, returns to an offense that lost nine starters; including four starting offensive linemen. The Eagles chances of a repeat will rest on a defensive unit led by junior linebacker Kam Burnett, junior defensive back Chris Haughton and junior defensive back Tae Daly. Playoff seeding will be important; which makes their regular season matchup with Houston County, in the final game of the season, for the region title, even more important.
Speaking of Houston County, this could be the year. They have enough fire power to beat good defenses, including Northside, Warner Robins and Ware County. They have enough defense to stop high fliers like Jones County and Kell. They even sport one of the top special team squads in the state. Junior quarterback Jake Fromm (6’3/ 215/ 3629/ 31/ Bama, SC & Ole Miss are leaders), SR WR/CB Darion Anderson (2014: 55 Rec/ 1262 Yds/ 16 Tds/ 23 YPC/ 62 T/ 4 TFL/ 6’1/175/ UGA commit, battling a May knee injury), and K Jordan Strevig (11-12 FG/ 60-67 PATS) will be the key leaders. They did graduate running back Kenny Gant, but reports out of middle Georgia say Coach Lassiter feels good about his replacements.
Depth could be an issue for the Ware County Gators; could be. Like so many other top flight programs, they blow out a lot of opponents. When they do, the younger guys get valuable playing time. Some key new additions should have plenty of time to adjust to being fulltime players; as they traverse through a region that should be a tad down in 2015. The fact that Georgia Tech commit LB/RB Dedrick Mills is back to join senior quarterback Xavier Holloman, could be enough to push to a title. And, of course, they have one of the top high school coaches in America in Franklin Stephens. At Tucker, in Year 2, he won a state title. In his second year at Lamar County, he led them to a state runner-up. 2015 is his second year at Ware. In a year where, I believe, 5A will be awfully even, having a guy of his ilk is a tie-breaker.
Kell has spoiled everyone with their success. With success comes criticism. Some have spoken negatively about the Longhorns region schedule over the last few years. Derek Cook’s group has not lost to a region opponent since September of 2011. Last year, the Longhorns schedule was a little tougher than most realize. Plus, they won four contests in 2014 inside the final four minutes of the game and the region should be pretty good this year as well. Why bring this up? They return a total of 16 men who either started or played significant, dramatic minutes last year. Ten of those players come back on defense; including one of the deepest linebacker corps in the state. Senior Bryson Armstrong is a tremendously underrated two-way player (2014: 113 Tackles/ 50 Rec/ 725 Yd’s/ 3 Td’s) and Ivan Walls (1056 Yd’s/ 11 Td’s) is back to tote the rock. The biggest negative? Like so many other major contenders in 2015, they’re looking for a quarterback.
Lanier. Oh, Lanier. Last year’s 10-0 regular season was ended in the opening round of the playoffs; by a Sequoyah team that needed to win a division cross-over game to reach the playoffs. In 2014, a handful of teams were upset across the state in the first round of the playoffs, but this was the biggest. The two negatives: 1). Will they be able to move on? 2). They lost a good bit of talent. Having said that, they do still trot out arguably the top overall player in the state, senior defensive lineman, Derrick Brown. Plus, they had five guys carry the football for a significant amount in 2014; three of those young men return, including senior tailback Ashton Barnes.
Lovers of the ground game will have their eyes fixed on senior running back Russell Halimon from Allatoona in 2015. He will try to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year and join some illustrious, historic company. As for the Bucs chances at a title, they will need to replace a two-year starting quarterback, one of the top linebackers in the state, and a couple of offensive linemen. If the Bucs had not suffered injuries to both Halimon and former feature back Josh Bettistea in the first quarter of their semifinal loss to Northside, Warner Robins; they may have won that game and the state title. They will probably be top ten all year; but how high is their ceiling?
Watch out for Glynn Academy. In 2015, the Red Terrors are going to be very deep. I spoke with Coach Rocky Hidalgo over the summer and he raved about his offensive line. Numerous times he spoke of their toughness and how it could be the strength of his team. Plus, Coach Hidalgo said, “the experience from last year’s playoff run was incredibly important”; and that 2015 will be a “great year”. Their playoff run last year was probably a year ahead of schedule. His star will most likely be Deejay Dallas. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he believes Dallas is “as talented a kid as I have ever dealt with”. That’s high praise from one of the top coaches in the state.
I must admit I have a tough time getting a beat on Jones County this year. Junior quarterback Bradley Hunnicut is back alongside two of his top weapons from a team that enjoyed the greatest season in Greyhounds history. This year, like in 2014, we wonder if they can slow opposing offenses down enough to outscore them. Remember, in the quarterfinals last year, they outplayed Mays, the eventual state runner-up, yet lost 44-41.
Carver, Columbus has perhaps the best player in the state to fly to far under the radar. Senior Jawon Pass has been one of the best quarterbacks in this state since the start of his sophomore year. He is one of the highest rated pro-style guys in America. Although, if you ask opposing coaches, they will tell you he is a top dual-threat quarterback. Pass rushed for just shy of 500-yards, nine scores and is committed to Louisville. The Tigers also have a beast on the defensive line in TJ London and experience coming back in all areas.
It is easy to forget just how good Stockbridge has been the last few years. Kevin Whitley, a really underrated coach, has led the Tigers to six double-digit win seasons with 10 playoff app. Last year, they had Mays dead-to-rights with a 15-3 second half lead that they were unable to hold onto. They return a good bit of talent from last year’s semifinalist including one of the top defensive linemen in the state Charles Wiley.
The predictions from pundits, when it comes to the 2014 state runner-up Mays, are on every end of the spectrum. Last year wasn’t quite an all-or-nothing type scenario, but it was close. I hate to say this aloud, but some MAJOR high school media reporters have some bad information, and are reporting incorrectly, in regards to the Raiders. I was on the play-by-play call of the state championship game in December on 680am The Fan here in Atlanta. I am looking at their “starting lineup board” that I built for the broadcast as we speak. Some folks will tell you that the Raiders are returning a certain amount of players. I have news for you: The Raiders lose every offensive starter from the state championship game except SR WR Randrecous Davis, now a Georgia commit. They do have six starters back on defense, including Tobias Little, Marquez Daniels and Monquavious Brinson. How soon can they rebuild the offense? Some think the defense will be good enough to win eight games; some believe they miss the playoffs. I think the actual result is in the middle.
Next: GHSA Football, 6A season preview
Chris Mooneyham 