A year after suffering a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to Buford in the 2021 Class 6A final, a game that was decided on the final play, the Hughes Panthers bounced back in a big way last season, winning the first state championship in the school’s 15-year history.
The Panthers set a GHSA record with 792 points (52.8 per game) in 2022 and finished as the only 15-0 team in the state after defeating Gainesville 35-28 in the championship game.
Although Hughes lost some of its star power from that team, notably OL Bo Hughley (signed with Georgia) and TE Jelani Thurman (Ohio State), the Panthers bring back a wealth of talent and are likely to be No. 1 in Class 6A when the rankings are released this weekend.
Leading the way is senior quarterback Prentiss “Air” Noland, who has passed for 8,024 yards and 104 touchdowns in his career. Noland is the highest-rated Class 6A player in the 247Sports Composite rankings of Georgia players. He is a four-star prospect ranked as the No. 5 quarterback nationally and the No. 39 player overall. Noland has committed to Ohio State.
Hughes has two other players in the top 50 of the 247Sports list. They are wide receiver Joseph Stone (ranked No. 31), a four-star prospect who has committed to LSU, and safety Jakob Gude (No. 47), a three-star prospect committed to Central Florida.
Head coach Daniel Williams went 2-8 in 2019 in his first season after taking over from program founder Willie Cannon. Since then, his teams are 39-4 and have reached the quarterfinals or better in three consecutive seasons.
“This is a team with a lot of experience playing at a high level,” Williams told the AJC’s Todd Holcomb. “My junior class has lost only two games in high school, so they played and won in a lot of games. So this team, if we put it all together, can be just what the last two teams were. They’re buying into what we’re asking them to do.”
Here are four things to watch in Class 6A this season:
*Teams to beat: Despite Hughes’ current 15-game winning streak and its loaded roster, the Panthers aren’t ranked No. 1 in Class 6A by the computer Maxwell Ratings. That spot goes to Region 1′s Lee County, which is seeking its first state championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018. The Trojans went 8-4 last season and lost to Woodward Academy 23-7 in the second round, their fewest victories and earliest playoff exit since 2016. Hughes is ranked No. 2 in the Maxwell poll, followed by Roswell, Rome, Marist, Woodward Academy, Gainesville, Northside-Warner Robins, Blessed Trinity and Houston County.
*Quick turnaround: One of the biggest stories of the 2022 season was Gainesville’s hiring of former Hoover, Ala., coach Josh Niblett, who was brought in to revive a program that won a state title in 2012 but had not advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2015. Niblett’s impact was immediate. The Red Elephants surprised Marist 34-23 in the opener to kick off a 14-game winning streak that ended with the loss to Hughes in the final. Gainesville also won its first region championship since 2013. With plenty of talent still on board, the Red Elephants will be the clear favorites to win Region 8 again and make another deep playoff run. Niblett was a seven-time Alabama champion who won six state tiles during his 14 seasons at Hoover.
*New era begins: Allatoona made a coaching change for the first time in school history when it hired Loganville coach Brad Smith to replace Gary Varner, who retired. Varner started the program when the Cobb County school opened in 2008 and posted a 129-49-1 record in 15 seasons with four region titles and the 2015 Class 5A championship. Allatoona was 6-6 and the Region 6 runner-up last season. Davis spent three years at Loganville, with an 18-14 record and two playoff appearances. The Red Devils were 9-2 last season, their most wins since going 9-3 in 2016. Smith had been Calhoun’s running backs coach for one season when Loganville hired him.
*New coaches: Allatoona’s Davis is one of 14 new head coaches in Class 6A this season. Two of them moved from one Region 5-6A school to another – Olten Downs went from Alexander to New Manchester, and Eric “Sumo” Robinson moved from South Paulding to Paulding County. The other 11 are Northside-Warner Robins’ Ben Bailey, South Effingham’s Loren Purvis, Rockdale County’s Kenderrick Bonner, Alexander’s Cody Neal, South Paulding’s Maurice Allen, Woodstock’s Dan Devine, Blessed Trinity’s Ed Dudley, Johns Creek’s Jim Rowell, Pope’s Sean O’Sullivan, Apalachee’s Mike Hancock, and Jackson County’s Korey Mobbs.
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