Lanier defensive tackle Derrick Brown is the MaxPreps national player of the year, the first defensive player to win the award.

Brown, also the AJC all-classification state player of the year, made 106 tackles, 42 for losses, and had 13 sacks for a team that went 11-1. Brown is the consensus No. 8 recruit nationally, No. 1 in Georgia.

Brown is uncommitted.

Other Georgia players who made MaxPreps' All-America team were Stephens County offensive lineman Ben Cleveland and Colquitt County wide receiver Kiel Pollard.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres