A petition for an injunction and declaratory judgment was filed against the Georgia High School Association in Cobb County Superior Court this week on behalf of three ineligible Marietta football players. Dawson Ellington, Rashad Torrence and Jalen Hardy lost appeals with the GHSA on Aug. 7 to have their eligibility restored. The GHSA ruled that the players had not made the bona-fide moves in residence required to waive the one-year sit-out rule that applies to transfers. The players argue that neither they nor their families were complicit in violations committed by Marietta, which admittedly filed incorrect transfer documents with the GHSA. They also assert that they believed themselves to be enrolled legally and that the GHSA did not provide adequate due process for them to defend themselves. All three are major Division I college recruits. Ellington and Torrence played for Marietta as sophomores. Hardy played last season at Whitewater and is a senior, and his high school career is ended unless he wins a second appeal or gets relief from the courts. "This has been devastating to them all, but especially my son who is a senior," LeAnthony Hardy told GHSF Daily. The three players attended Thursday night's season opener at Rome. They are not allowed to practice with the team. The GHSA in July forced Marietta to forfeit its eight victories from the 2017 season because of the transfer violations.
Blessed Trinity ranked in national Catholic poll
Blessed Trinity, the reigning Georgia Class AAAA champion, is No. 18 in the Catholic Athletes for Christ Top 25 released Thursday. The poll includes several nationally known programs, such as St. John Bosco and Mater Dei of California and St. Thomas Aquinas of Florida. In addition to Blessed Trinity, five of the top 25 teams are playing Georgia opponents this season. Cardinal Gibbons (Fla.) is playing Milton; Bergen Catholic (N.J.) is playing Buford; Good Counsel (Md.) is playing Marietta; St. John's College (D.C.) is playing Johns Creek and Marietta; and Trinity Catholic (Mo.) is playing Colquitt County. Two others - Chaminade-Madonna of Florida and St. Joseph of New Jersey - are playing in the Freedom Classic at Milton in two weeks against out-of-state opponents. Tonight, Blessed Trinity opens against a Georgia Catholic school rival, St. Pius.
Maxwell likes 1-AAAAAA
According to the computer Maxwell Ratings, the fourth-best team in Region 1-AAAAAA - Northside of Warner Robins, just fractions of a point below Valdosta - would win six of the other seven regions in its classification, even the one with Glynn Academy in it. Only Tucker from Region 4 is rated higher than Region 1's projected No. 4 seed. Region 1 is 21-6 in the playoffs the past two seasons. Region members Lee County and Coffee played for the state title last season.
Maxwell likes 4-AAAAA
Seven of the top 21 teams in Class AAAAA play in Region 4, according to Maxwell. This is based on the teams' recent histories. If things play out as projected, No. 16 Woodland (Stockbridge), No. 18 Ola and No. 21 Locust Grove would not make the playoffs, and Ola and Locust Grove would have losing records because of schedule strength.
2013 Super 11: Where are they now?
It has been a GHSF Daily tradition to look back at the AJC's Super 11 from five years prior. The class of 2013 has done well, with four players now in the NFL. Here's a quick look at them:
*Lorenzo Carter (Norcross): All-SEC linebacker at Georgia, third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to the Giants.
*Adam Choice (Thomas County Central): Running back playing final season at Clemson as a graduate student; got psychology degree in December.
*Nick Chubb (Cedartown): SEC's second all-time leading rusher, taken in second round of the 2018 NFL Draft to the Dolphins.
*Donquell Green (Burke County): Former high school quarterback is a reserve senior wide receiver at Marshall.
*Demarre Kitt (Sandy Creek): Wide receiver is playing senior season at reigning Division II national champ Texas A&M-Commerce. Previously played at Clemson, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Highland Community College.
*Cortez McDowell (Locust Grove): Longtime backup linebacker became Tennessee starter as senior last year but suffered season-ending wrist injury in third game.
*Raekwon McMillan (Liberty County): Ohio State All-America linebacker, second-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft to the Dolphins.
*Malkom Parrish (Brooks County): Former high school quarterback started 30 games at cornerback at Georgia.
*Korie Rogers (Buford): In second season as starting linebacker at West Georgia. Previously played at Clemson and Kennesaw State.
*Deshaun Watson (Gainesville): Quarterback won national title at Clemson, taken in first round of the 2017 NFL Draft to the Texans.
*Kendarius Webster (Stockbridge): Cornerback started as sophomore at Ole Miss, suffered season-ending knee injury as junior, returned in 2017; now slated to start as redshirt senior.
Bowers: Competent, and not a wimp
Fred Bowers, one of the coaches on GHSF Daily’s Thursday List of head coaches at five or more schools, passed away this year. Bowers was a head coach at Jackson, Forest Park, Jordan, Thomson, Newton and West Point in the 1960s and 1970s and had a record of 70-51-3. Bowers also was a head coach in Alabama and South Carolina, and those stops weren't counted in the list. One of his former Thomson players, John Barnett, described Bowers as a "really competent coach ... who made any coach today look like a wimp." That means he was assertive in expressing his displeasure. Bowers, who lived his final years in Greenville, died May 30 at age 89.
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