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Monday, March 31, 2008
Today’s state champs enjoy numerous college football opportunities
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve been doing some research on state champions through Georgia football history, looking at their starting lineups and the number of their players that went on to play college football. It’s a long project that I might never finish, but it’s been fascinating so far.
One thing’s for sure: Today’s top players have more college opportunities than they used to. Buford’s 2007 team will send 17 of its 24 starters to college football, although many will be preferred walk-ons, such as QB Twoey Hosch (Georgia).
In 2003, 18 of Buford’s 24 starting positions were manned by college signees, and 13 of those went Division 1-A, led by RB Darius Walker (Notre Dame). That’s pretty remarkable for a Class AA school.
I think the state champion I’ve found with the most impressive list of college players is 1985 Clarke Central. Clarke sent 19 of 24 starters to college ball (keeping in mind that I’m counting two-way starters twice).
That doesn’t include FB David Perno, who played baseball at Georgia and now coaches there. It does include TE Derek Dooley (Virginia), C Kent Jordan (N.C. State), QB Robbie Kamerschen (Stanford), FL Carl Platt (South Carolina), LB Doug Brewster (Clemson), LB Reggie Parrott (Ole Miss), PK John Kasay (Georgia) and freshman P Adrian Jarrell (Notre Dame).
Another interesting team was Southwest DeKalb’s 1995 state champs with Quincy Carter. Of 24 starters, 15 played college football, and two — Terrance Trammell and Angelo Taylor — ran in the Olympics as sprinters. They never played college football.
In 2002, Parkview’s third state champion sent 14 of 24 to college football, and 10 played Division 1-A, including linemen Zeb McKenzey (UGA), Brandon Pilgrim (Clemson) and David Overmyer (FSU).
And finally, there was 1949 Brown. Seven of the 11 starters (all played both ways) signed with Georgia Tech and helped launch Tech’s glory days of the 1950s. Tops among those were QB Pepper Rodgers and FB Johnny Hunsinger. Imagine lining up against a starting 11 with seven blue-chip recruits, all seniors.
Below are Georgia’s 2007 state champs and the number of starting positions held by college signees:
• Lowndes (6) — CB Kelly Dawsey (Western Michigan) and RB Darriet Perry (Florida International) signed with Division 1-A schools. Lowndes had a nice group of underclassmen, headed by Florida commitment Greg Reid, a CB and WB. Lowndes sends a high number of players to college (17 of 24 starters from the 2005 team), but the number of its major Division 1-A signees is not remarkable. Same with Northside, below.
• Northside-Warner Robins (10) — No Division 1-A signees yet, but Abry Jones and Eric Fields, both junior defensive linemen, will change that. They will be the only Division 1-A signees from Northside’s dominant 2006 state champs, and they were sophomores then, proving that it’s not the 5-star recruits that win state titles, but the depth of talent and the total team effort.
• Carver-Columbus (10) — The 2007 Carver team should rank highly in history due to its 15-0 record and numerous signees, including WR Jarmon Fortson (Florida State), QB DeRon Furr and junior LB Jarvis Jones (high D-1 prospect). Carver had 10 of 24 starting positions filled by college signees, and 11 other positions filled by junior or sophomores, so that list will grow.
• Buford (17) — Of Buford’s 24 starters, 17 will play college football next season, although five of the players (covering six positions) will be walk-ons. LB T.J. Pridemore (Florida), WR Melvin Harris (Ole Miss) and DT Omar Hunter (Florida) are the top signees.
• ECI (2) — Only LaCollie Gordon (Valdosta State) and OL Chad Turner (Appalachian State) signed from ECI’s 15-0 team, but the junior class is phenomenal with RB Washaun Ealey and LB Dexter Moody (both Georgia commits) and DL J.C. Lanier (Georgia Tech). It’s rare, but not unique, to have this many major D-1 recruits on a Class A team. Charlton County had four in 1999 — Marquis Elmore (UGA), Bama Adams (UGA), Brandon Drury (Wake Forest) and Muhammad Abdullah (Kentucky).
Kick off the debate: What team or teams do you remember with a long list of college signees? If it’s a state champion, Todd might already have a little info on them.
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Georgia High School Baseball Blog
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATED April 1 - 10:35 a.m.
Hot Hoyas going strong
Only one team in Class AAAAA remains unbeaten after the season’s first month — Harrison is 14-0.
The Hoyas have six hitters averaging .375 or better and five pitchers with at least two victories. At the forefront is speedster Jamal Austin (.390 average, 10 stolen bases), and David Chabucos and Davis Hamby have teamed to knock in 26 runs to help Harrison average nearly eight runs per game. The pitching staff has five shutouts, led by Matt Graef (1.17 ERA) and Chabucos (16 strikeouts, two walks), who are each 4-0.
Bat on the ball
Three hitters who are enjoying super hot seasons:
• John Roberts, senior catcher, South Effingham — The Mustangs are 3-0 in Region 3-AAA, and Roberts is a big reason, with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs through 14 games.
• Corey Davis, junior first baseman, Coffee — Davis is hitting .850, and his eight home runs and 28 RBIs have helped the Trojans to an 11-3 start and a 4-0 mark in Region 1-AAAAA.
• Shaun Ball (shortstop) and Justin Carruth (outfielder), seniors, Ridgeland — These left-handed wizards have sparkled at the plate. Ball is hitting .630 with 19 RBIs, and Carruth, who has gotten on base more than 80 percent of the time, is hitting .650 with 17 RBIs.
AJC Top 10*
An all-classification look at the state:
1. Brookwood (1) — Broncos have won five straight since loss to McEachern.
2. Harrison (5) — Pitching staff has surrendered one run in last five games.
3. Greenbrier (3) — Wolfpack 5-0 in Region 3-AAAA after Monday’s thumping of Richmond Academy.
4. Columbus (4) — Bounced back from Brookwood loss with eighth straight Region 2-AAA victory.
5. Walton (2) — Defending Class AAAAA champs have slumped lately, dropping consecutive shutouts before Monday’s victory against Sprayberry.
6. Holy Innocents’ (6) — Golden Bears are 5-0 in Region 6-AA; surprising Creekview and Buford next.
7. Heritage (7) — Twelve straight victories after 0-2 start.
8. East Paulding (8) — Staff has allowed two runs per game in 12-1 start.
9. Valdosta (9) — Wildcats are 11-1 and 5-0 in Region 1-AAAAA.
T10. South Effingham (10) — Roberts’ 10 homeruns and 32 RBIs lead a potent offense averaging 10.7 runs per game.
T-10. Parkview (NR) — Eight straight, with victories against Columbus, Greenbrier and Cartersville.
*(Last week’s rankings in parenthesis)
Squeeze bunts
McIntosh cruised to victories against Fayette County, 20-0, and Riverdale, 13-4, behind Andrew Austin (4-for-5, home run, eight RBIs in the two games) and David Pauley (4-for-4, four RBIs vs. Fayette; 3 IP, 3K, 0 runs vs. Riverdale). … University of Georgia-bound Chase Hawkins is 5-0 with 39 strikeouts and three walks in 29 innings pitched for AJC No. 1 Brookwood. … Jonesboro is 55-for-55 as a team in stolen bases, led by Logan Morrison (19-for-19) and Antonio Allen (17-for-17).
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Monday’s Scores
Chattahoochee 10, Bay (FL) 2
Creekside 14, Banneker 7
Dawson County 6, Banks County 4
Druid Hills 11, South Oldham (KY) 5
Dutchtown 5, Westside-Macon 2
East Jackson 5, Fannin County 4
Forest Park 2, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 1
Gainesville 8, Pickens 1
Georgia Military 6, Johnson County 0
Grayson 6, Central Gwinnett 5
Hiram 6, Newnan 4
Hiram 5, Paulding County 4
Jackson County 5, Dacula 0
Kendrick 10, Jordan 2
Loganville 5, Salem 2
Marist 4, Greenbrier 3
Mill Creek 11, Norcross 6
North Gwinnett 4, South Forsyth 3
Northgate 8, Westlake 2
Rome 1, Dalton 0
Shaw 13, Troup 7
Shiloh 3, Berkmar 0
Stephens County 4, Oconee County 3
Thomson 2, Burke County 0
Toombs County 8, Pierce County 6
Union County 6, Rabun County 5
Walker 14, Pace Academy 0
Wilkinson County 13, Central-Macon 6
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