*Best player: Christian Parrish. The ace wide receiver, defensive back and return man from Prince Avenue Christian has 3,339 all-purpose yards over the past two seasons, 1,388 of that receiving in 2017. He has scored 37 touchdowns - 26 receiving, seven rushing and four returning. He has chipped in 64 solo tackles and eight interceptions from the secondary. Parrish has committed to Army, ironically at another position - quarterback.
*Best position: Running back. Jalyn Leary of Calvary Day and Sean Paradise of St. Francis each rushed for more than 1,500 yards last season. Paradise did it in just 10 games.
*Highly recruited: Dylan McMahon. Recruited as a center but a starter on both lines of scrimmage, the Savannah Christian senior is committed to N.C. State. He's the consensus No. 76 player in Georgia. Strong Rock Christian quarterback Demetrius Knight (committed to Georgia Tech) and Eagle's Landing Christian wide receiver Justin Menard (Central Florida) are the only other Class A private-school players among Georgia's consensus top 100.
*That's interesting: Defensive end Duane Jones returned to Christian Heritage in Dalton last year after spending three years in Slovenia on a mission trip. He had 101 tackles, 10 for losses, five sacks and four forced fumbles in 10 games. Now he's had a year of weightlifting under his belt and is 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 220 pounds.
*Snubbed? "All he does is ... "Well, you know the cliché. Braydon Rush is 28-0 as the starting quarterback for Eagle's Landing Christian, and he was 69-of-114 passing for 1,317 yards, 21 touchdowns and only two interceptions last season. The 5-foot-9, 210-pound signal caller is also a hard-nosed runner who contributed 432 rushing yards last year. The best all-around players missing are Holy Innocents' Michael Cox (1,240 yards rushing, 39 tackles at defensive end) and Athens Academy's Payton Bowles (1,053 yards rushing, 303 yards receiving, 46 tackles at linebacker).
*What else is new? Several players that likely would've made preseason all-state transferred to bigger schools in the offseason. Those include Jalen Huff of Athens Academy to Buford, Taj Dodson and Jalen Moore of Our Lady of Mercy to Creekside, 1,500-yard rusher Caleb Pressley of Our Lady to Fayette County and Aaron Strozier of St. Francis to Cedar Grove.
OFFENSE
QB (pro) - Griffin Brewster, Darlington
QB (dual) - Demetrius Knight, Strong Rock Christian
RB - Austin Douglas, Mount Vernon Presbyterian
RB - Jalen Leary, Calvary Day
RB - Sean Paradise, St. Francis
TE - Christopher Pendleton, Savannah Country Day
WR - K.J. Millwood, Lakeview Academy
WR - Christian Parrish, Prince Avenue Christian
OL - Landin Jackson, Mount Paran Christian
OL - Dylan McMahon, Savannah Christian
OL - Tate Ratledge, Darlington
OL - Wesley Wilson, First Presbyterian
OL - Evan Zember, Eagle's Landing Christian
ATH - Justin Menard, Eagle's Landing Christian
PK - Joe Dixon, Christian Heritage
DEFENSE
DL - D'Quan Douse, Calvary Day
DL - Kyle Holt, Whitefield Academy
DL - Duane Jones, Christian Heritage
DL - Sayyid Stevens, Calvary Day
LB - William McLanahan, Athens Academy
LB - Michael Moyers, Hebron Christian Academy
LB - Connor Norwood, Mount Pisgah Christian
LB - Johnathan Youngblood, Eagle's Landing Christian
DB - Justin Douglas, Mount Vernon Presbyterian
DB - Elijah Hynes, Prince Avenue Christian
DB - J.D. Kavel, Wesleyan
DB - Kurt Knisely, Athens Academy
P - Noah Chumley, Savannah Christian
Coming Friday: Class A (Public)
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