*Best player: Will Anderson had 22 sacks and 15 other tackles for losses last season for Dutchtown, a Henry County school that quietly went 12-1 while allowing only 7.7 points per game. The secret has gotten out. Anderson blew up in the offseason as a top-100 national recruit. He's committed to Alabama.
*Best position: Running back. Jo'Quavious Marks of Carver (Atlanta), Mecose Todd of Carrollton and Elijah Turner of Buford are major-college prospects. More lightly recruited Kalen Sims, who rushed for 1,482 yards in 10 games for Starr's Mill last season, beat out all but Marks for a spot on this team. Brandon Marenco of Carrollton and Rocko Griffin of South Effingham are other elite backs in this class.
*Highly recruited: Broderick Jones of Lithonia is the state's consensus No. 3 prospect and the No. 2 tackle recruit nationally. He's committed to Georgia.
*That's interesting: Marcayll Jones of Warner Robins set a state record for receiving yards in a season last year with his 115 catches for 2,046 yards. That might be difficult to replicate without quarterback Dylan Fromm, now at Mercer, but it deserves another bow. Jones, not the biggest receiver at 5 feet, 9 inches, 170 pounds, is committed to Memphis.
*Snubbed? WR Nate McCollum and DL Dezmond Tell of Dutchtown, Jones County OL Connor Griffin and Bainbridge RB McDowell were probably the hardest to leave out.
*What else is new? Rocko Griffin, a running back committed to Vanderbilt, has joined South Effingham. He got the slot for athlete that might’ve gone to Caleb McDowell, a 1,000-yard rusher as a sophomore for Bainbridge. McDowell has transferred to Lee County.
OFFENSE
QB - Jevon McDonald, Stockbridge, Sr.
RB - Jo'Quavious Marks, Carver (Atlanta), Sr.
RB - Kalen Sims, Starr's Mill, Sr.
WR - Marcayll Jones, Warner Robins, Sr.
WR - Jontavis Robertson, Jones County, Sr.
TE - Billy Ward, Locust Grove, Sr.
OL - Austin Blaske, South Effingham, Sr.
OL - Aiden Gaines, Rome, Sr.
OL - Broderick Jones, Lithonia, Sr.
OL - Quantavious Leslie, Rome, Sr.
OL - Seth McLaughlin, Buford, Sr.
ATH - Rocko Griffin, South Effingham, Sr.
PK - Hayden Olsen, Buford, Sr.
DEFENSE
DL - Will Anderson, Dutchtown, Sr.
DL - Rayquon Jones, Rome, Sr.
DL - Damarjhe Lewis, Griffin, Sr.
DL - Nazir Stackhouse, Columbia, Sr.
LB - Chaz Chambliss, Carrollton, Jr.
LB - Chandler Martin, Arabia Mountain, Sr.
LB - Smael Mondon, Paulding County Jr.
LB - Kevin Swint, Carrollton, Sr.
DB - Deyon Bouie, Bainbridge, So.
DB - Jalen Huff, Buford, Sr.
DB - T. Lee, Buford, Sr.
DB - Tykeem Wallace, Thomas County Central, Jr.
P - Kriston Esnard, Decatur, Jr.
Coming Tuesday: Class AAAA
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