Finally! Prep football is here, and there is joy in the hearts of football fans all across the State of Georgia. Few things bring communities together like high school football across all sections of this state. From the smallest of classifications to the largest…anticipation is high and all interested eyes are now on the prize we call Mercedes Benz Stadium, and the second weekend in December when the GHSA Championship football games will be played.  

It will be a few weeks here in 2017 before we put to rest the familiar term “Make it to the Dome”, but that too will come over time. I’m looking forward to this year’s title games as all Prep Football fans are, but there is a long and difficult season and a half to play before we see who the fortunate teams are that will make that trip to the new facility in downtown Atlanta.

In my opinion, several of last year’s finalists have that always slim chance to repeat here in 2017. To refresh, it was Grayson in 7-A, Valdosta in 6-A, Rome 5-A, Cartersville 4-A, Cedar Grove AAA, Benedictine Military AA,  ELCA Class A Private, and Macon County Class A Public who carried home the hardware from the Georgia Dome in December 2016. Could they all repeat again this season? It’s not likely.

Tradition is a large part of those continuous, successful, winning programs across the State and make no mistake about it; those traditions are tough to build, and even tougher to maintain. I do see some new faces on the horizon. Some upstarts now joining those long-time successful programs which are in the hunt for a title each season. It takes community, school administration, student body, cheerleaders, high school bands and fans for a team to make it through fifteen football games and capture a Prep Football Title in this State.

As is always the case, there are top players in every corner of the state this season. Seemingly, we have in the past few years, managed to produce top-flight players who not only are the best of the best here in Georgia, but carry the same weight nationally. This year is no exception and we are blessed as fans to be able to watch the top pro-style and option quarterbacks in the country, several of the top offensive and defensive linemen, and many running backs, which have College recruiters traveling all over this state on Friday and Saturday nights this fall.

There are a very few scrimmage games remaining to be played this week, but for the most part, it’s week one of the 2017 prep schedule. There are special event regular season openers all over the state this week in Atlanta, Macon, Carrollton, Brunswick, Statesboro and all points in between. A few of the matchups are more than worthy of a mention.  

On Thursday, the fun begins when Mary Persons of Forsyth meets highly-touted Lee County and Carrollton takes on Newnan. Friday’s menu is festive in a word, as the Winnersville Classic is played in Valdosta. The defending 6-A Champion Wildcats take on the Lowndes Vikings, one of the favorites to capture the 7-A Title this year. Other outstanding games feature Cartersville at Allatoona, Greater Atlanta Christian at Lovett and an annual mid-state matchup with two old rivals, Northside-Warner Robins and the Warner Robins Demons.

Along the coast, one of the top games in the state this season will be played this Friday in Brunswick. It’s the defending Class AA champion Benedictine Military Cadets at the Glynn Academy Terrors. Saturday’s top games are Norcross and Colquitt County and Class AA dark horse Screven County and Bluffton, South Carolina in the Erk Russell Classic at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro.

It’s finally here…the Prep Football Season!

Enjoy…