One way of projecting the 2019 football season is to look at all-region teams from 2018 to see which standout players are returning. Based on that, Marietta, Roswell and Parkview are looking pretty good. Here’s a region-by-region look in Class AAAAAA.
Region 1: The number of returning all-region players is fairly evenly spread –
Lowndes (10), Camden Count (10) Colquitt County (9), and Tift County (6). But defending champion Colquitt County brings back the region’s best player, 1,480-yard rusher Daijun Edwards, a four-star recruit looking at schools such as Auburn, Georgia and Florida State. Defensive back Nyquan Washington is another first-team all-state candidate and D-I recruit. Colquitt also returns the first-team all-region quarterback, Jaycee Harden, who threw for 2,498 yards. Lowndes has a pair of D-I recruits on defense, cornerback Josh Brown and defensive end Jaylon Jones, plus its best lineman, Bryer Touchton. Camden County’s offense will have the second-team quarterback, Logan Watson, the two best returning running backs behind Edwards in Jamie Felix and Daryl Williams, and the only first-team sophomore wide receiver, Shawn Hardy, and offensive lineman, Micah Morris, a four-star recruit.
Offensive player of the year
RB Daijun Edwards, Colquitt County, Jr.
First-team offense
QB - Jaycee Harden, Colquitt County, Jr.
RB - Jamie Felix, Camden County, Fr.
WR - Shawn Hardy, Camden County, So.
WR - Ghetti Brown, Lowndes, Jr.
OL - Micah Morris, Camden County, So.
OL - Bryer Touchton, Lowndes, Jr.
OL - Jacarri Williams, Lowndes, Jr.
First-team defense
DL - Hunter Guarino, Camden County, Jr.
DL - Jacques Hunter, Lowndes, So.
DL - Leon Williams, Lowndes, So.
LB - Gary Osby, Lowndes, Jr.
DB - Nyquan Washington, Colquitt County, Jr.
DB - Wendell McClain, Tift County, So.
DB - Shawn Martin, Lowndes, Jr.
First-team special teams
P - Burke Nettles, Camden County, Jr.
RET - Montavious Ponder, Colquitt County, Jr.
Second-team offense
QB - Logan Watson, Camden County, Jr.
RB - Daryl Williams, Camden County, So.
WR - Lemeke Brockington, Colquitt County, So.
WR - Tyler Walker, Colquitt County, Jr.
OL - Remon Young, Colquitt County, Jr.
OL - Ty Connor, Tift County, Jr.
OL - Micah Ballard, Camden County, Jr.
Second-team defense
DL - Zy Brockington, Colquitt County, So.
DL - Quay Haynes, Colquitt County, Jr.
DL - Jalon Miller, Tift County, Jr.
LB - Walter Jackson, Tift County, Jr.
LB - Tiberius Drocea, Lowndes, Jr.
DB - Stephen Thomas, Tift County, So.
DB - Brandon Brown, Lowndes, Jr.
DB - Josh Brown, Lowndes, Jr.
Second-team special teams
P - Colby Gann, Tift County, Jr.
LS - Hudson Tucker, Camden County, So.
RET - Caleb Keaton, Camden County, Jr.
Region 2: Wheeler started 5-0 last season and beat No. 5 Roswell before the wheels came off. The Wildcats went 1-4 in the region. The Wildcats have four returning all-region players, tied with Pebblebrook for the most. OK, that's partly because J.d. White appears both as second-team defensive back and first-team return man, but Wheeler does have the region's best player, Ricky White, a wide receiver who had 55 catches for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns in just 10 games last season. Also interesting is that Wheeler, Westlake, Campbell and Pebblebrook will have new coaches this season.
First-team offense
QB - Michael Maginnis, Newnan, So.
RB - Bryson Moss, Newnan, So.
RB - Markcus Johnson, Westlake, Jr.
WR - Ricky White, Wheeler, Jr.
RET - JD Thomas, Wheeler, Jr.
First-team defense
DL - Quincey Miller, Pebblebrook, Jr.
DL - Eric Geter, Newnan, Jr.
Second-team offense
QB - Jaquaviuos Jones, Pebblebrook, Jr.
RB - Marveon Boyd, Pebblebrook, Jr.
RB - JD Thomas, Wheeler, Jr.
WR - Jawon Boyd, Campbell, Jr.
OL - Rob Crummie, Westlake, Sr.
K - Aaron Genus, Westlake, Jr.
Second-team defense
DL - Jordan Rush, Campbell, Jr.
LB - Ketavious Foreman, Pebblebrook, Jr.
DB - Jaden Ross, Wheeler, Jr.
Region 3: This region does only extended first-team all-region, so the numbers are smaller. The return all-region totals are: Marietta (5), North Paulding (5), Hillgrove (2), McEachern (2).But let's be real for a minute – Marietta has far and away the most high-end talent in this region, and the state, with nine of the state's top 100 senior prospects, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Those include reigning region offensive player of the year Arik Gilbert (see highlight below) and four-star QB prospect Harrison Bailey (2,809 passing yards in just nine games), not to mention lineman B.J. Ojulari and Jake Wray, both four-star recruits. Defending champion Hillgrove has the region's top-rated prospect, defensive end Myles Murphy, a five-star recruit who strangely didn't make all-region despite 16 tackles for losses on a region-winning team. McEachern has the region's other three top-100 recruits. They are running back Jordan Simmons and defensive tackle Jamil Burroughs, who made all-region, and wide receiver Javon Baker, who did not. Burroughs is committed to Georgia, Baker to Alabama. Also, North Paulding is up-and-coming, and its best player might be a kicker. Brock Travelstead made 17 of 18 field goals last season, put 55 of 61 kickoffs into the end zone and averaged 43.0 yards punting.
Offense player of the year
WR/TE Arik Gilbert, Marietta, Jr.
Special teams player of the year
PK/P Brock Travelstead, North Paulding, Jr.
Offense
QB - Harrison Bailey, Marietta, Jr.
RB - Jordan Simmons, McEachern, Jr.
RB - Issaiah McCray, Hillgrove, Jr.
WR - Kellan Autenrieth, North Paulding, Jr.
WR - Taji Johnson, Marietta, Jr.
WR - Tre Walker, Hillgrove, Jr.
OL - Will Pieroni, Marietta, Jr.
OL - Andrew Smith, North Paulding, Jr.
Defense
DB - Tyler Davis, North Paulding, So.
LB - Jacob Amos, North Paulding, So.
DL - B.J. Ojulari, Marietta, Jr.
DL - Jamil Burroughs, McEachern, Jr.
Region 4: Roswell had a big turnaround season in 2018, going from 3-8 to 9-2 and a region title. The Hornets did it with a young team. Here's the count of returning all-region players by region – Roswell (9), Cherokee (4), Walton (3), Etowah (3), Lassiter (2), Woodstock (1). Roswell also has the only top-100 Georgia senior prospects in the region. They are tackle Trey Zimmerman and tight end John Copenhaver. Zimmerman (first-team all-state) is committed to North Carolina, while Copenhaver (44 receptions, 759 yards) reportedly favors South Carolina. Roswell has the only returning all-region quarterback, Ethan Roberts, who threw for 1,948 yards and 20 touchdowns.
First-team offense
RB - Nmandi Orjioke, Lassiter, Jr.
WR - Jacob Jarrett, Roswell, Jr.
WR - Devin Ellison, Cherokee, Jr.
TE - John Copenhaver, Roswell, Jr.
OL - Trey Zimmerman, Roswell, Jr.
OL - Walker Hurst, Walton, Jr.
First-team defense
LB - Will Troutman, Roswell, Jr.
DB - Jack Ferguson, Lassiter, Jr.
Second-team offense
QB - Ethan Roberts, Roswell, Jr.
RB - Niklas Maddox, Etowah, Jr.
WR - Sebastian Moss, Woodstock, So.
WR - Brady Bocherer, Cherokee, So.
OL - Nick Jones, Cherokee, Jr.
OL - Matthew Copeland, Roswell, Jr.
OL - Tal Brill, Walton, Jr.
OL - Porfirio Acosta, Etowah, Jr.
K - Caden Long, Roswell, So.
Second-team defense
DL - Caden Bondurant, Roswell, Jr.
DL - Raymone Devezin,, Etowah, Jr.
DL - TJ Parks, Cherokee, Jr.
LB - Doneiko Slaughter, Roswell, Jr.
DB - Patrick Dahlen, Cherokee, Jr.
DB - Andrew Bartolero, Woodstock, Jr.
P - Charlie Pollack, Walton, Jr.
Region 5: Defending state champion Milton lost 11 all-region players but returned six, the most in the region. Here's the tally: Milton (6), South Forsyth (5), North Forsyth (3), West Forsyth (2), Forsyth Central (1), Lambert (1). Milton's talent in 2019 will be its linemen, four of which made all-region in 2018. That includes Paul Tchio, a Clemson commit who is full-time on the offensive side but got in 20 defensive snaps in the state-title game against Colquitt County last year. The next-best player in the region might be North Forsyth wide receiver Nicky Dalmolin. He had 47 catches for 514 yards in 10 games on a run-based team last year. He's committed to Duke. Another good one is Jordan Brunson, who rushed for 925 yards and 15 touchdowns for South Forsyth. And on defense, watch for West Forsyth linebacker Eli Orr, who had 130 tackles last season.
Co-offensive player of the year
RB Jordan Brunson, South Forsyth, Jr.
First-team offense
WR - Nicky Dalmolin, North Forsyth, Jr.
OL - James Fehr, South Forsyth, Jr.
OL - Paul Tchio, Milton, Jr.
DL - Zander Barnett, Milton, Jr.
DL - Alex Szakacs, Forsyth Central, Jr.
OLB - CJ Ford, South Forsyth, Jr.
First-team defense
ILB - Jack Hughes, West Forsyth, Jr.
ILB - Eli Orr, West Forsyth, Jr.
NB - Jack Rhodes, Milton, Jr.
Second-team offense
WR - Cameron Schurr, South Forsyth, Jr.
TE - Patrick Deans, Lambert, Jr.
OL - Alec Hutchinson, Milton, Jr.
OL - Anthony Minella, Milton, Jr.
Second-team defense
DL - Marcos Rangel, Milton, Jr.
OLB - Jax Weaver, South Forsyth, Jr.
DB - Miles Hartsfield, North Forsyth, Jr.
LS - Will Barton, North Forsyth, Jr.
Region 6: North Gwinnett has gone 6-0 in region play each of the past two seasons and won a state title in 2017. No reason to believe the Bulldogs won't have the necessities to repeat. Here's the all-region count: Mill Creek (4), North Gwinnett (4), Collins Hill (2), Discovery (1), Mountain View (1), Peachtree Ridge (1). Josh Downs has 1,729 career receiving yards and 18 touchdowns. He's committed to North Carolina. Also watch for Devin Crosby, who rushed for 731 yards at 9.7 yards per carry, and defensive end Jared Ivey, who has offers from six ACC schools, including Georgia Teh. Mill Creek has Chancellor Lee-Parker (1,284 yards rushing), Parker Wroble (1,352 total yards) and Ronald Clarke (three-star recruit in the secondary). Collins Hill defensive end Cameron Kinnie also is a three-star prospect.
First-team offense
RB - Chancellor Lee-Parker, Mill Creek, Jr.
WR - Josh Downs, North Gwinnett, Jr.
WR - Parker Wroble, Mill Creek, Jr.
OL - Cameron Kinnie, Collins Hill, Jr.
First-team defense
DB - Ronald Clarke, Mill Creek, Jr.
DL - Chris Miles, North Gwinnett, Jr.
DL - Jared Ivey, North Gwinnett, Jr.
P - Albert Jang, Peachtree Ridge, Jr.
Second-team offense
RB - Devin Crosby, North Gwinnett, Jr.
Second-team defense
DB - Anthony Rochester, Discovery, Jr.
DB - Antar Williams, Collins Hill, Jr.
DL - Myles Jackson, Mill Creek, Jr.
DL - Jeremy Tuider, Mountain View, Jr.
Region 7: Parkview has increased its victory total in each of coach Eric Godfree's five seasons – from 3-7 to 4-6 to 6-5 to 8-4 to 9-4 to 11-1. Not sure that's ever happened in a Georgia coach's first five years on the job. Don't be surprised if that number hits six in 2019. Returning all-region count: Parkview (8), Brookwood (4), Meadowcreek (2), Central Gwinnett (1), Lakeside (1), Norcross (1), Berkmar (1). Parkview's best players are all-state linebacker Kobe Wilson and running back Cody Brown, who rushed for 1,588 yards as a sophomore, including 200-plus in each of his last three games. Jordan Williams was the first-team all-region quarterback. He threw for 1,976 yards and 14 touchdowns. Other than Brown, none of Parkview's players, or any team's players in this region, are major college recruits. Wilson has offers from Pitt, Georgia State and Troy. He had 81 solo tackles last season. Brookwood might have the region's best two offensive linemen. Aidan Perkins and Sean Hill each have multiple all-star game offers and had 97 knockdown blocks between them in 2018. Expect Eli Kohl to have a huge season at running back.
Defensive player of the year
LB Kobe Wilson, Parkview, Jr.
First-team offense
QB - Jordan Williams, Parkview, Jr.
RB - Cody Brown, Parkview, So.
RB - Justin Wilkins, Central Gwinnett, Jr.
WR - CJ Daniels, Parkview, Jr.
OL - Aidan Perkins, Brookwood, Jr.
OL - Tyler Wagner, Parkview, Jr.
OL - Sean Hill, Brookwood, Jr.
First-team defense
None
First-team specialists
P - Matthew Franklin, Lakeside, Jr.
KR - Eli Kohl, Brookwood, Jr.
Second-team offense
QB - Quincy Bonner, Meadowcreek, Jr.
RB - Eli Kohl, Brookwood, Jr.
WR - AJ Feliciano, Berkmar, Jr.
OL - Jackson Walls, Parkview, So.
Second-team defense
DB - Derrick Brown, Parkview, Jr.
DB - Quincy Bryant, Parkview, So.
Second-team specialists
K - Kellen Grava De Peralta, Norcross, Jr.
KR - Alonzo Howard, Meadowcreek, Jr.
Region 8: This region recognizes only a first team, so there's not much that its all-region team can tell us. What is know is that Archer's Carter Peevy is an all-state candidate. He was 179-of-269 passing for 2,565 yards and 27 touchdowns last season for a state semifinalist. And despite graduating some 12 major D-I prospects, Grayson won't go away quietly. The Rams have no returning all-state players but do return quarterback C.J. Dixon (reported offers from Georgia and Alabama) and wide receiver Ryan King (committed to Georgia Tech). Newton wide receiver Robert Lewis is a three-star prospect whose college favorites have been Tennessee and Virginia Tech. He had eight TD receptions in 2018. Shiloh actually returns the most all-region players with three. They include defensive end Jasheen Davis, a three-star recruit with 18 offers, one from Georgia Tech.
Offensive player of the year
QB Carter Peavy, Archer, Jr.
Offense
RB - Arthur Rodgers, Shiloh, Jr.
WR - Robert Lewis, Newton, Jr.
Defense
DL - Jasheen Davis, Shiloh, Jr.
LB - Isaac Dowling, Shiloh, Jr.
LB - Lex Stocker, South Gwinnett, Jr.
DB - Nyland Green, Newton, So.
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