From 1944-1997 the Rockmart Yellow Jackets and the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes played every season. But as metro Atlanta grew and stretched up Interstate 75 reaching Cartersville, the Purple Hurricanes moved up in classification and the rivalry slowly disappeared. As a result, these two teams that first started playing each other in 1925, have played just six times over the last 26 years and not since 2013.

FFIG

Until tonight. So, join as for Week Two of our 2024 GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia schedule as the Jackets take on the Canes in the 71st all-time meeting between these two schools separated by less than 25 minutes. Our Emmy Award winning coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. from historic Weinman Stadium in Cartersville on GPB-TV Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Talk of renewing the rivalry had been kicked around for years. When Rockmart coach Biff Parson first arrived on the job, in what has turned into an incredible eight-season turnaround of the Yellow Jackets program, he was approached by then Cartersville coach Joey King about playing. The Purple Hurricanes had a quarterback named Trevor Lawrence. Said Parson, “I told him I’m not interested in that right now.”

The conversation continued when Canes defensive coordinator Conor Foster was promoted to the head coaching job in 2019 until finally here in 2024 the rivalry is being renewed. Both coaches have found their respective fan bases to be thrilled. Said Foster, “All us ‘old heads’ remember when this was a yearly game.”

Now, while the players of today don’t remember that they are quickly plugged into the rivalry because of the proximity of the schools and the fact many of them have played youth ball together and against each other. In fact, Jackets QB Luke Parker started out in the Cartersville program before transferring to Darlington and now to Rockmart for his senior season.

Both are state championship contenders in their respective classifications. The Purple Hurricanes opened the season with a 40-0 rout of 2023 quarterfinalist Columbia last week and are ranked No. 1 in this week’s GPB Sports 4A Top 10. The Canes have reached the state semifinals the last two seasons, finals in 2020 and won two of their four all-time championships in the past decade when Lawrence was the QB and King the coach. Foster has been nearly as good going 60-7 as he is now in his sixth season as head coach. Cartersville has been ranked in the Top Ten 136 consecutive weeks, second only to Buford.

The Yellow Jackets are 0-1 after losing to 2022 state finalist Cedartown 24-3 in their season opener last weekend. That game was suspended Friday night because of bad weather, resumed Saturday night, and because of another weather delay didn’t end until around midnight. That made for a long weekend and a little bit shorter prep time for this week’s game.

The Jackets reached the state championships last season for the second time in Parson’s first eight seasons before falling to Pierce County in an epic 48-45 triple overtime thriller at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on GPB. Parson is now 83-19 in his ninth season after taking over a Rockmart program in 2016 that had won just one state playoff game since 1988 and whose greatest years, until now, had been in the 1950s.

Cartersville leads the all-time series 37-29-4 and has won 13 of the last 14 meetings. The Yellow Jackets last win in the series was three meetings ago in a 7-0 victory in 2009.

That’s the game preview. Here’s the Top Prospects to Watch.

Cartersville Purple Hurricanes

Jamauri Brice, Cartersville

Jamauri Brice, Cartersville

Credit: 2247 Sports

Seniors

Jamauri Brice – 5-10, 185, Senior – Committed to Georgia Tech over Georgia and 28 other offers – Consensus 3-Star ATH – Three-Year Starter – Career Stats: 92-1,452 yards receiving and 12 TD.

Jordyn Woods – 6-4, 175, Senior – Committed to Cincinnati June 25th over Michigan State and three other offers – Consensus 3-Star CB but also plays safety which is his likely position in college football – 2023 Season: 41 TT, 1 INT.

Cayden Aleman – 5-8, 170, Senior WR – Offered by Middle Tennessee - 2023 Season: 13-141 yards receiving, 1 TD.

Andrew Purdy – 6-2, 205, Senior QB – Committed to Alabama baseball June 1st – Rated by Prep Baseball Report the No. 11 3B in the country and No. 2 in Georgia – Canes No. 2 QB and Punter

Logan Shrewsbury – 5-11, 170, Senior SAF – Committed to Columbus State baseball July 22nd – Career Stats: 37 TT, 2 INT.

Juniors

Langston Hogg – 6-1, 260, Junior – Eight offers including Vanderbilt – Consensus 3-Star and rated as high as ESPN No. 2 Center 2026 – Second-Year Starter – Starting LT in 2023

Brady Marchese – 6-1, 175, Junior WR – Offered by Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, and Miami-Ohio

Sophomores

Cole Crawford – 6-2, 220, Sophomore – Nine offers including Georgia Tech, Georgia, and Auburn – Rated as high as 247 Sports 4-Star and No. 6 LB in the country 2027 – Also one of the country’s top baseball catchers – Rated the No. 8 sophomore catcher in the country by Prep Baseball Report – Coach Foster says “Cole is a football player who loves baseball. If someone (college program) wants him for football, they’ll also give him a baseball opportunity – Son of former Houston County Football Head Coach Ryan Crawford who now coaches the middle school program for the Purple Hurricanes – Last season as a freshman 35 TT, 5 TFL, 2 QB sacks.

Elijah Peeks – 6-2, 275, Sophomore NG – Offered by Arkansas and UAB

Freshman

Kaiden Kent – 5-9, 150, Freshman CB/WR – Offered by Purdue – Had 3 catches for 21 yards in season-opening win vs Columbia – Coach Foster calls the 14-year-old Kent “a star of the future.”

Kylen Pope – 6-2, 220, Freshman DE – Offered by Georgia State and Tulane

Rockmart

Rockmart will be all business when it lines up on Friday at Cartersville.

Credit: Luke Clay Twitter

Rockmart Yellow Jackets

Seniors

Tristan Anderson – 6-3, 176, Senior WR – 10 offers including UAB, Eastern Kentucky and Chattanooga – Earned All-State Honors as a junior for Rockmart’s 2023 state finalist team with 66-1,098 yards receiving and 13 TD – Also starts at CB.

Luke Parker – 6-0, 185, Senior QB – Receiving interest from Yale among others – Made first varsity start for Yellow Jackets last week after transferring to Rockmart from Darlington in May – Started out in the Cartersville football program.

Luke Clay – 5-10, 168, Senior LB – Receiving interest from Reinhardt – Coach Parson calls Luke “an unbelievable wrestler” for a Jackets program that’s won three straight state championships.

Sammy Brown – 5-11, 227, Senior DE – Receiving interest from Reinhardt.

Reece Owens – 6-2, 197, Senior LB – Receiving interest from Reinhardt.

Juniors

Nate Davis – 5-10, 182, Junior LB – Receiving interest from Georgia State – Rockmart’s leading tackler as a sophomore on last season’s state finalist team with 85 TT, 50 solo, 8 TFL and 3 QB Sacks - Named to the GPB Sports All-Finals Team with his finals-leading 16 TT, 8 solo, 1 TFL in Jackets 48-45 3OT loss vs Pierce County in 2A championship Game

Sophomores

Jaiden Thompson – 6-4, 296, Sophomore – Offered by Auburn and USF and receiving interest from Georgia - Rated as high as On3 4-Star and No. 2 Interior OL in the country 2027 – Thompson just turned 15 years old and has 81-inch wing span.

Jy’Quice McCrary – 6-2, 282, Sophomore OT – Receiving interest from UConn – He also just turned 15 years old and Coach Parson says “has the most salt and pepper in him” among all their offensive linemen in what might be the biggest OL in Parson’s nine seasons as head coach.

So, join Wayne Gandy, Jon Nelson, Hannah Goodin, and me for our Emmy Award-winning Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week as the 4A No. 1 Cartersville Purple Hurricanes host the 2A Public No. 4 Rockmart Yellow Jackets starting at 7:30 p.m. Remember at halftime Hannah will highlight this week’s Make That Kid an Offer nominees.

You can watch Football Fridays in Georgia in so many ways. You have traditional TV (GPB), online at GPB.org, GPB Sports app, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Twitch.

Now if somehow, you miss it live or just want to watch it again, don’t worry, we replay the entire Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week at 11:15 p.m. or you can watch it on demand anytime at GPB.org. 

Enjoy your August 23, 2024, Football Friday in Georgia!