In coach Adam Carter’s first season as head coach, Grayson’s football team won a region title, beat the eventual state champion Marietta in the regular season, reached the quarterfinals and lost to eventual runner-up and No. 1-ranked (at the time) Lowndes.
It happened in non-Grayson fashion. That is, there were no first-team all-state players and only one major Division 1 signee, wide receiver Ryan King (Georgia Tech), who was injured most of the season.
It was an underrated job for one of the state’s rising young coaches, Carter, who had led Creekview of Cherokee County to a historic region title the season before.
It’s about to be different. A more traditional Grayson team is about to be unleashed, one with seven already-committed Division I players.
Two are senior imports. Carlos Del Rio has transferred from McEachern, where the dual-threat quarterback has been good but fallen short so far of his vast potential. Daejon Reynolds has come from Central Gwinnett, where he had 88 receptions for 1,534 yards and 14 touchdowns in only 11 games. The two are committed to Florida.
The other D-I-committed rising seniors are Jamal Haynes, Region 8’s athlete of the year in 2019 (to Georgia Tech), running back Phil Mafah (Clemson) and defensive linemen Noah Collins (Central Florida) and Victoine Brown (Louisville). None is a project. All were productive all-region players in 2019.
There’s also rising junior cornerback Andre Stewart, a transfer from Marietta who is committed to Auburn. Also watch linebacker Grady Bryant, whose size (played at 5-9, 180 last year) won’t win him SEC/ACC looks but might’ve been the team’s best defensive player in 2019.
Grayson enters as the favorite in newly constructed Region 4-AAAAAAA, but it won’t be a cake walk. Parkview, winner of Region 7 last season and a state semifinalist, returns eight players who were all-region last season.
Those include perhaps the state’s best running back, Cody Brown, who rushed for 1,676 yards and 20 touchdowns despite missing two games. Other all-region players who are back include offensive linemen Jackson Walls and Arbab Elsayed, defensive lineman David Patterson, defensive backs Quincy Bryant, Ronnie Hamrick and Terrian Williams and wide receiver Jared Brown.
Also, note Parkview’s seasonal progression beginning with the season before coach Eric Godfree arrived – 3-7, 4-6, 6-5, 8-4, 9-4, 11-1, 12-2. What’s next?
Brookwood, South Gwinnett and Newton are the remaining teams in this five-team region. (It would’ve been six except that Shiloh won an appeal to move down in to AAAAAA next season.)
Newton has the region’s highest-rated recruit, Nyland Green, a four-star cornerback. Safety Darius Green is a three-star recruit. Running back Quincy Cullins and rising sophomore Justin Benton are other returning all-region players. Newton was a playoff team out of Region 8 last season.
South Gwinnett, formerly of Region 8, has five returning all-region players back. They are wide receivers Corey Johnston and Lorenzo Britt, tight end Armond Anderson, offensive lineman Trey Butts and linebacker D.J. Johnston. The Comets must replace Willie Truitt, who passed for more than 1,500 yards and rushed for nearly 1,000.
Brookwood has four returning all-region players. They are offensive lineman Ryan Young, tight end/H-back Sam Kelly, defensive back Alex Diggs and punter Dan Le-Hernandez. Linebacker Trey Staley is a three-star recruit.
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