AJC Super 11 selection Brian Randolph is a legend at Kell for his hard hits. Two years ago, Randolph hit a Lassiter wide receiver just has he was catching the ball.
"The kid's earpads flew out of his helmet," Kell coach Derek Cook recalled. "He tried to get up, but couldn't … he looked like he was trying to find his eyeballs in the grass."
Here are some of metro Atlanta's other big-time hitters:
TK Thomas, Blessed Trinity: The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder has 108 tackles, including seven for losses, along with two sacks. Thomas had 19 total tackles against South Atlanta. "His hardest hit was when he de-cleated the running back from Jackson for a loss on the play," Blessed Trinity coach Ricky Turner said.
Fred Fluker, Miller Grove: The 6-foot, 225-pounder is called "an old school middle linebacker" by his coach. He is the team's strongest player. Fluker hit a player so hard in one game that the player didn't realize it at first. After the play, he walked about 10 yards and fell.
Travis Parker, Collins Hill: The 6-1, 220-pounder is averaging double digits in tackles. "Travis made about five tackles against Roswell this season where he was completely horizontal to the ground," Collins Hill assistant Todd Welborn said. "I couldn't figure out why he was leaving his feet until I watched film and saw he was diving over the fullback's cut block to make a play. It was incredible."
William Smalls, South Cobb: The 6-3, 200-pounder has 107 tackles in nine games. "William is an intense defender," South Cobb assistant Alan Gordon said. "He seeks contact. He enjoys attacking blockers on his way to the ballcarrier."
Against Campbell, Smalls had 15 tackles, four assists, two tackles for losses. On one play, Smalls burst in to the offensive backfield, made a tackle for loss, caused a fumble and recovered it. Against McEachern, Smalls caused a fumble while tackling a wide receiver. The McEachern player jumped up to recover the fumble and run down the field. Smalls got back to his feet and sprinted to make the tackle.
Antwione Williams, Lovejoy: The 6-3, 205-pounder runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. He has played safety, cornerback, linebacker and defensive end -- and had a major impact at every one of the positions. He has 86 tackles, including six for losses, six quarterback hurries, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, two sacks and two caused fumbles. In last week's game against Creekside for the region championship, Williams played safety because of an injury to another player. In the game's deciding moments, he was moved to defensive end and had a signature hit that provided game-changing momentum.
"This summer we won the Southside Shootout and competed well at Lassiter in a passing-league tournament," Lovejoy assistant David Hughes said. "Of course, even without pads, [Williams'] natural instinct to hit still came up. I can’t tell you the number of times this summer we got flagged for him destroying a receiver. He didn’t mean to do it, but for some reason his body is just naturally attracted to contact ... and as the defensive coordinator, this makes me happy."
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