Week 5’s highest-rated GHSA game features 25 senior college prospects
Douglas County coach Johnny White understands why there is buzz about his team’s trip to Buford this week.
“As big as this game is being hyped up, it is still just a nonregion game,” White said of Friday’s game, which the Maxwell projections say is the best matchup in the state for Week 5. “It doesn’t have any true playoff implications. It just shows both teams where they are at, and I think we’ll both get better after this game.”
It is far more intriguing to view the game as a matchup of two teams with perhaps the biggest collection of college commits ever in Georgia, which is easier to do now because almost every elite Power 4 prospect commits before the start of their senior season.
According to AJC Varsity’s Todd Holcomb, the game brings together more major Football Bowl Subdivision talent than any other in Georgia this fall. There are 14 seniors on Buford with a prospect profile on 247Sports.
“It is a special, talented group,” White said of Buford(3-0). “Coach (Bryant) Appling does an unbelievable job with his players. So a lot of that is not just talent, but being coached well and rising to the occasion.”
Douglas County (3-1) has 11 senior college recruits. The two teams feature seven players who hold at least a four-star ranking.
As noted by AJC Varsity, if a college team had commitments from all 25 players in Friday’s game, that class would rank No. 20 on the 247Sports Composite. It would be one spot ahead of Oklahoma.
The 2026 rankings by 247Sports chart 206 seniors in Georgia. These two teams make up 8% of all those ranked seniors in the state this year.
Among the senior prospects from each team (per 247Sports) are commitments to a who’s-who list of college football programs:
- Buford: four-star DL Bryce Perry-Wright (committed to Texas A&M); AJC Super 11 selection four-star ATH Tyriq Green (Georgia); four-star IOL Graham Houston (Georgia); four-star EDGE Dre Quinn (Clemson); three-star S Nasir “Nascar” McCoy (Ole Miss); three-star OT Ben Mubenga (Arkansas); three-star ATH Dream Rashad (Purdue); three-star RB Dylan McCoy (North Carolina State); three-star QB Dayton Raiola (Nebraska) and three-star S Jax Pope (Mississippi State)
- Douglas County: AJC Super 11 selection four-star WR Aaron Gregory (Texas A&M); four-star EDGE Jordan Carter (Texas A&M); four-star WR Devin Carter (Florida State); three-star QB Michael Johnson (Utah); three-star S Jamar Owens (Indiana) and three-star IOL Eddie Alford (Memphis).
When taking into account underclassmen, the matchup gains more traction as one of the most talent-laden games in GHSA history.
Joshua Sam-Epelle, a 6-foot-9 OT at Douglas County, is the nation’s No. 141-ranked junior. Four-star Adryan Cole, a junior safety on the Tigers, ranks No. 157 overall for 2027. There are also three other juniors in this matchup who are already nationally rated, and Buford has a pair of sophomores showing up in the 2028 national rankings.
Has White ever seen a game with more prospects? The veteran coach had to think about that one.
It brought to mind watching Ronald Curry and Allen Iverson on Friday nights in Virginia, he said. White was also the defensive coordinator on a 2004 Creekside team that featured arguably the best DB in GHSA history, Eric Berry.
“Ronald Curry is the best player I’ve ever seen,” White said. “Ronald Curry is 1A and Eric Berry is 1B. For me.”
Several Buford players have caught his eye this week, but the one who inspires the most concern is senior Tyriq “Ty Boogie” Green. The do-everything dynamo committed to Georgia over the summer.
“Now, on film, ‘Ty Boogie’ is unbelievable over there at Buford,” White said. “I have no idea about his best position. No idea. He scares you all over the place. For us, the best position is him on the sideline, but that’s not going to happen.”
The four-star safety tried to hit every square on his touchdown bingo card last week — a rushing touchdown, a 66-yard punt return for a score and a 33-yard pick-six. He also broke free for a 46-yard kickoff return.
“If we kick it to him, it will be a mistake,” White said. “It won’t be intentional. That’s the honest-to-God truth.”
White said Carter will try to go against Buford. He hasn’t played this year and will be a game-time decision.
The level and depth of talent in Friday’s matchup is reminiscent of Grayson hosting IMG in the 2016 season opener.
The Rams had 12 seniors who were ranked on the 247Sports Composite. Those 2017 prospects eventually signed with Georgia, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Clemson, Duke, Colorado State, Ball State and Georgia State, among others.
IMG, the national boarding school power, is annually made up almost entirely of college prospects. It had 23 seniors ranked by 247Sports. Not surprisingly, the Ascenders beat the eventual GHSA 6A state champs by a 26-7 margin.
They did so with a pair of five-stars and a roster of future signees at Alabama (two), Colorado, FSU (two), LSU, Michigan (two), Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State (two), Penn State, Texas A&M (three) and UCF, among others.
About the Author
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and recruiting. He is a graduate of UGA's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and has been a staff writer at news outlets in Alabama, Georgia and Virginia. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was at The Birmingham News and AL.com. He was named the 2005 Georgia Press Association Sportswriter of the Year.
