Five early surprises in high school football

Okpala played a major role in the win over Lowndes, registering six tackles and one sack, along with disrupting numerous other offensive plays. "He's dominating," Hockman said.

Here are some of metro Atlanta's other big surprises in high school football this season:

Davion Tookes Jr., Creekside: The junior cornerback got a pep talk last spring from a couple of former Creekside players, including Eric Berry, a first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs. "I allowed them to use my classroom to talk and left so they could have a 'heart to heart' conversation. Davion has had a different attitude since then," coach Johnny White said. After playing some wide receiver last season, Tookes moved to defense and leads the team in pass breakups. He returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown last Friday.

Gage Henry, Hillgrove: He played cornerback last season because Synjyn Days (now at Georgia Tech) was entrenched at quarterback. Now he's back on offense. "He has really taken ownership of being the starting QB," coach Phil Ironside said. "We met before school all spring to learn the new offense [spread formation] ... and he worked very hard all summer on throwing." Hillgrove is 2-0, and Henry has completed 23 of 31 passes for 323 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

Eric Yang, Brookwood: The soccer standout had never played football before this season. "His first football experience was when he opened the Walton game [at the Georgia Dome] with his first kickoff -- which went five yards into the end zone," coach Mark Crews said. Yang has kicked three field goals, including a 37-yarder, and put six of 12 kickoffs into the end zone. He is right-footed, but in practice has kicked off into the end zone and made field goals of 30 yards and longer with his left foot, Crews said.

Josh Tyler, Duluth: The 6-4, 210-pounder is a first-year starter at defensive end and tight end. "He was on the team last year, but never played," coach Corey Jarvis said. "He is so huge into ROTC, so he was really never pushed as a football player. But he committed himself to football this offseason ... gained about 15 pounds and has improved his ball skills."

Josh Swan, Pace Academy: The 6-2, 185-pounder has returned to football after sitting out last season to focus on basketball, where he earned Region 5-A player-of-the-year honors. Through two games, Swan has 11 catches for 250 yards and four touchdowns, as well as an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.