I get calls and emails each summer from those who do national high school rankings, each asking how Georgia's best teams look. Some years, there aren't any that clearly deserve to be in a national Top 25 in preseason.
That included last year, when Colquitt County emerged as a top-10 team nationally after one of the most dominant seasons in recent Georgia history. But at the time, Colquitt was not clearly the No. 1 team in Georgia and lacked star power. Which is why you have to play the season to find out who's really good.
That said, in 15 years of covering Georgia high school football, I can't remember a season in Georgia in which three teams looked so good nationally in August. Which might mean nothing in November. But in August, Georgia has three teams that have the bells and whistles that national rankers are looking for.
All three should be ranked in the national top 25.
Let's look at them:
-Colquitt County: Colquitt is ranked in five of six national polls, peaking at No. 8 with PrepNation. If you make the Georgia semifinals for six straight seasons in the highest class, that alone is worthy of a top-25 national rankings. Colquitt had only three close games last season. Colquitt lost most of its starters to graduation, but a solid core is back, including the QB Chase Parrish. The only weaknesses are a lack of major Division I talent (but Colquitt didn't have an abundance of that last season) and a feature running back (Sihiem King, the AAAAAA offensive player of the year, is gone). But no program plays better as a team year in, year out than Colquitt. And probably no program is better coached.
-Archer: The Tigers are ranked in all six national polls with a high of No. 4 with MaxPreps. Can't remember many teams with this much major D-I talent. Let's look at it – LB Donta Evans (Ole Miss), OL E.J. Price (4-star), WR Kyle Davis (4-star), DB Dylan Singleton (turned down UGA for Duke), DT Kobe Smith (Kentucky), DB Isaiah Pryor (Ohio State) and RB/DB Jamyest Williams (4-star). Seven high D-I players. Price and Davis each are rated among the best 10 senior prospects in the state. Archer was the 2014 runner-up to Colquitt.
-McEachern: The only team that rivals Archer for college prospects is McEachern. They include DT Julian Rochester (Georgia), TE Christian Roberson (Mississippi State), DT Andrew Tarver (Florida International), WR C.J. Windham (Middle Tennessee), RB Sam Jackson (Georgia Southern, 161 yards rushing last week vs. Tucker), WR Tyler Simmons (3 star) and OL Tremayne Anchrum (3-star). Those are the seniors. Juniors include QB Bailey Hockman (Georgia), WR Tyler Smith (4-star) and DB Jaytlin Askew (3-star). And McEachern blasted Tucker 50-14 last week. Only one national poll has McEachern in the top 25, and barely. That's Scout. If not for the presence of Colquitt and Archer, I'd bet McEachern would be ranked in every top 25 and a couple of top 10s.
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