Last week marked the start of another exciting high school football season in Georgia. And with it came more big time players verbally committing to some big time colleges.

Brookwood’s WR Matthew Hill has decided to catch passes next year for the Auburn Tigers. Marietta’s playmaking DE Azeez Ojulari will stay in the “Peach State”- verbally committing to UGA next season. Another WR, Tucker High School’s Josh Vann, wants to be a Gamecock so he’s taking his talents to South Carolina.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Georgia high school football fans are experiencing a shift in power – not seen in about a decade – since the new classifications and changes in regions were established. Case in point: teams like Harrison (6A, Region 6) in Kennesaw, Georgia had struggled to make it back to the playoffs until recently. But now, Harrison is experiencing a rebirth of sorts – improving each year since 2015.  Meanwhile, teams that stood at the top of the mountain for many years like Colquitt County (7A Region 1) haven’t shown the same dominance just two years after winning their third consecutive State Championship and first National Championship. That shift is something worth keeping an eye on, and it’s safe to say that this season of Georgia high school football is likely to be like no other.

This week is again packed with powerhouse match-ups across Georgia. Star QBs Trevor Lawrence (Cartersville) plays Bartram Trail of Florida and Emory Jones (Heard County) plays the Saraland Spartans of Alabama. These games will be on ESPN Networks. In South Georgia, Colquitt gets visitors from the west as they battle Vista Murrieta of California. Vista’s Broncos look to prove that they are part of the best state for high school football. But the Packers look to continue the dominance they had last week holding Norcross to -12 rushing yards and sacking the quarterback 6 times. These games will be filled with talent in another exciting week of football.

Looking back on Week 1, some Georgia “Gunslingers” lit up the stat sheet to lead their teams to victories. Marietta’s sophomore QB Harrison Bailey was able to move up multiple spots in the GPB Sports “Arms Race” with his dazzling performance against Wheeler. Roswell senior QB Cordell Littlejohn cracks the Top 10 with his solid play against South Forsyth in the Corky Kell Classic.

Arm’s Race Rankings:

1.     Justin Fields. Harrison, DUAL, 6’3, 221 Last Game: 6 total TDs 2 rushing 4 passing 228 Passing yards and 153 yards Rushing. Next Game: Rome

2.     Trevor Lawrence. Cartersville, PRO, 6’6, 208, Last Game: Started off slow with throwing a pick early but picked it up throwing 19 times for 230 yards and 2 TDs with a long of 70 yards. Next Game: Bartram Trail (Fla.) On ESPN2

3.     Jarren Williams. Central Gwinnett, DUAL, 6’2, 206, Last Game:  On 35 attempts Williams was able to complete 20 passes for 305 yards and 3 TDs. Next Game: Dacula

4.     Harrison Bailey. Marietta, PRO, 6’4, 215, Last Game: 332 passing yards on 22 completions with 5 of those being TDs with no Interceptions. Next Game: Blessed Tri

5.     Emory Jones. Heard County, DUAL, 6’3, 195, Last Game: 10/15 for 168 yards with 1 TD, 5 rushes for 40 yards, 1 TD. Next Game: Saraland (Ala) on ESPNU

6.     Cade Fortin. North Gwinnett, PRO,6’2, 207, Last Game:15/21 for 179 yards, 2 TDS, 16 rushes for 65 yards. Next Game: Milton

7.     Steven Krajewski. Colquitt County, 6’4, 205, Last Game:138 passing yards, 0 TDs,1 rush, 8 yards. Next Game: Vista Murrieta (Cal.)

8.     Knox Kadum. Rome, PRO, 6’2, 170, Last Game. Did not play but will face off with the #1 ranked QB on the list Justin Fields. Next Game: Harrison

9.     Luke Shiflett. Northwest Whitfield CO. DUAL, 6’2,180, Last Game: 130 passing yards 142 Rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs including an exciting 80-yard run. Next Game: South Atlanta

10.     Cordell Littlejohn. Roswell, DUAL, 6’4,190, Last game:121 passing yards 1 TD 20 Rush yards 1 TD Next Game: Central Gwinnett

Others to watch:

11.     Gunnar Watson. Taylor CO. PRO, 6’2,187, Next game: Greenville

12.     Jordan Yates. Milton, DUAL, 6’1,186 Next Game North Gwinnett

13.     Octavis Battle. Carver, DUAL, 6’3,185, Next Game: Tri-Cities

By Brooks Burns