South Forsyth's Alex Barbir had one of the best games in state history for a place-kicker last season when he made field goals of 56, 52 and 44 yards in the same game, a 33-8 victory over Northview. Barbir also made a 19-yarder in the game.
Barbir, who has committed to Rutgers, heads this list of 10 outstanding special-teams players in Georgia high school football.
*PK Justin Alonso, Northside (Warner Robins) - Alonso had a great run in the 2014 playoffs for the Class AAAAA champions as he was 8-for-8 on field goals. He was 15-for-17 on the season.
*PK Alex Barbir, South Forsyth- At No. 12 nationally in 247Sports' composite rankings, Barbir is the state's highest-rated place-kicker. He made field goals of 52 and 56 yards and put 83 percent of kickoffs in the end zone last season.
*P Blake Gillikin, Westminster - Gillikin's 39.7-yard average in 2014 is deceiving. He put 19 of 43 punts inside the 20-yard line with only three touchbacks. Rated the No. 3 punter nationally, he is committed to Penn State. Twin brother Tyler Gillikin is a first-rate snapper, as well.
*RET/LB Jeremy Hawkins, Screven County - Hawkins, the reigning Region 3-AA player of the year, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2014, both in Screven County victories of seven points or less. He also blocked three punts.
*P Anthony Lotti, West Hall - Lotti averaged 45.2 yards per punt and allowed only 56 yards in returns on 28 punts in 2014. The No. 5 punter recruit nationally, he is committed to Wisconsin.
*LS Anthony Ratliff, Lambert - More than 100 players move on to college football each year because of their long-snapping abilities alone. The best in Georgia are Scott Meyer of Blessed Trinity, Jake Munoz of Mount Vernon Presbyterian and Ratliff, who has an offer from Penn State.
*PK Nathan Robertson, Northside (Columbus) - Robertson made field goals of 52 yards (Westover) and 54 yards (Harris County) as a sophomore, and 80 percent of his kickoffs went for touchbacks.
*PK/P Ethan Suda, Milton - Suda made 13 of 19 field-goal attempts, all misses from 40-plus yards, and a long of 49. He averaged 38.1 yards per punt.
*PK Jordan Strevig, Houston County - Strevig made 11 of 12 field goals with a long of 49 and had 38 touchbacks in 2014.
*PK/P Mitchell Wasson, Lassiter - Wasson averaged 42 yards per punt last season. He didn't stand out that much as a kicker, making two of four attempts and putting 10 of 39 kickoffs in the end zone. But he's had a great offseason and is ranked in the top 50 nationally by both Kohl's Kicking and Chris Sailer Kicking.
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