Flag Football Player of the Week: Seckinger’s Nalani Gainey
Nalani Gainey, a senior quarterback and middle linebacker at Seckinger, is GHSF Daily’s flag football player of the week. Gainey has passed for 590 yards and nine touchdowns, rushed for 366 yards and seven touchdowns and intercepted six passes, returning four for touchdowns, while leading her team in flag pulls with 33 through seven games.
Week 8 Student-Athlete of the Week: Lowndes’ Ben Corhei
Ben Corhei, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior offensive lineman at Lowndes, has been named the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Corhei carries a 99.15 GPA. Lowndes is 7-0 overall, 2-0 in Region 1-6A and ranked No. 4 in Class 6A going into Friday night’s game against Camden County.
Week 8 Team of the Week: Worth County
Worth County beat Thomasville by one point last season as a 21-point underdog. This season, Worth County was something worse – actually trailing by 20 points late in the third quarter, down 34-14. “Players were saying that we’ve just got to go play football, and coaches were just saying to trust our stuff and everything was going to play out in the end,” quarterback Lyndon Worthy said.
Week 8 Player of the Week: North Murray’s Hudson Hulett
Hudson Hulett is 5 feet, 10 inches and 185 pounds. He's an exceptional athlete who is a 1,000-yard rusher and starting quarterback and safety. Players with those qualities who attend North Murray High School will get the obvious comparison. “Reminds me a lot of Ladd,” North Murray coach Preston Poag said, referencing Ladd McConkey, the former Mountaineers quarterback who starred at Georgia and now plays wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Flag Football Player of the Week: Milton’s Alana Calhoun
Alana Calhoun, a senior wide receiver and safety at Milton, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week, an award sponsored by Sports Turf. In six games, all Milton victories, Calhoun had 25 receptions for 356 yards and eight touchdowns, nine flag pulls, 15 passes defended and one interception.
Week 7 Student-Athlete of the Week: Cambridge’s Drew Hardwick
Drew Hardwick, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior tight end at Cambridge, has been named the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Hardwick holds a 4.0 GPA and is committed to Cornell University. A three-year starter, he played a key role in Cambridge’s 10-3 season last year.
Week 7 Team of the Week: North Clayton
North Clayton is chasing its first region title since 2008 and got a historic victory last week by beating Stephenson 42-41. The game ended with a tackle on a Stephenson back at the North Clayton 1-yard line.
Week 7 Player of the Week: West Laurens’ Ty Cummings
West Laurens senior running back Ty Cummings rushed for a state-record 615 yards and eight touchdowns on 19 carries in a 70-55 victory over Baldwin on Friday. He set another record this week – the first player to win GHSF Daily’s Player of the Week award twice in the same season. Cummings, a senior who committed to Georgia Southern, scored on runs of 59, 91, 75, 53, 59, 59, 86 and 78 yards.
Week 6 Student-Athlete of the Week: Coffee’s Dickson Petifrere
Dickson Petifrere, a senior defensive back and linebacker at Coffee, has been named the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Petifrere carries a 3.95 GPA and, through five games, has recorded 39 total tackles (28 solo, 11 assists) along with five tackles for loss.
Week 6 Team of the Week: Jenkins
Jenkins and Calvary Day might’ve become Savannah’s best football rivalry. The 2024 game went to overtime, with Calvary Day winning 34-31 and claiming the Region 3-3A title as a result. Last week, it was Jenkins’ turn. The Warriors won 41-33 and now stand alone atop the Region 3 standings.
Week 6 Player of the Week: West Laurens’ Ty Cummings
It wasn’t necessarily the best game he’s ever played. As a sophomore last season, Ty Cummings rushed for 280 yards against Aquinas in a region victory and 318 against Baldwin in a playoff loss. He had 222 yards rushing earlier this season against North Clayton. But this was just a game that West Laurens really needed if it fancies a Region 4-3A championship, and Cummings showed the way.
Week 5 Student-Athlete of the Week: Landmark Christian’s Brady Robinson
Brady Robinson, a senior linebacker and tight end at Landmark Christian, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Robinson leads the team in tackles and added his third and fourth touchdowns of the season last week – one on offense and one on defense – in a 35-0 victory over South Atlanta.
Week 5 Team of the Week: Northgate
Coweta County Schools has three football teams, and Northgate has been third for most of its history, with no victories over Newnan or East Coweta. In a game between unbeaten county rivals last week, Northgate broke through. beating Newnan 35-21, likely the most satisfying regular-season triumph in the Vikings' 28 seasons of varsity football.
Week 5 Player of the Week: Sequoyah’s Will Rajecki
Sequoyah running back Will Rajecki scored at least one touchdown in every game last season except one. That was against Sprayberry, a 31-17 loss during an 11-2 season. “Last year, I didn’t play my best, and I don’t think the team did either,” he told GHSF Daily before Friday’s rematch. “But this year, we’re stronger, more experienced and more prepared for the moment.”
Week 4 Student-Athlete of the Week: Peachtree Ridge’s Tyson Sanford
Tyson Sanford, a senior cornerback at Peachtree Ridge is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Sanford, a three-year starter, Tyson anchors the Lions’ secondary with consistency and leadership. Off the field, he maintains a 3.62 GPA while taking AP courses. Sanford recently committed to Duke.
Week 4 Team of the Week: Lithonia
A season after going 1-9, two years removed from 0-10, Lithonia perked up with a 6-4 finish last year, but first-year coach Kevin Barnes wasn’t satisfied. The Bulldogs didn’t make the playoffs. They could’ve tolerated three region losses, but not four. This week, Barnes is feeling better, for now. Lithonia last week avenged one of those region losses – against Tucker, winning 27-20 after losing 41-7.
Week 4 Player of the Week: Rabun County’s Reid Giles
Having a career night is a tough ask for a player with more than 4,000 all-purpose yards and 200 tackles in his four seasons to date. When his team couldn’t do without it, Reid Giles delivered. The Rabun County senior running back and free safety topped 100 yards rushing and 200 receiving, returned a kickoff 99 yards and scored four touchdowns in his team’s 49-42 victory over Dalton.
Week 3 Student-Athlete of the Week: Lowndes’ Eli Moore
Eli Moore, a senior offensive lineman at Lowndes, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. A key contributor to the Vikings’ 3-0 start, Moore anchors a dominant front line at 6 feet, 2 inches and 270 pounds. Off the field, he’s just as impressive – carrying a 99.07 GPA
Week 3 Team of the Week: Creekside
It wasn’t about revenge, Creekside coach Maurice Dixon said. Just respect. Creekside beat DeSoto, Texas – ranked in the top 25 of four national polls – 70-28 after losing 70-0 to the same team last year in Texas. It was the biggest one-year points turnaround for a GHSA team since the 1940s.
Week 3 Player of the Week: North Hall’s Ty Kemp
North Hall senior Ty Kemp isn’t the best known wide receiver on his own team, but he proved last week that opponents had better know who and where he is at all times. Kemp had eight receptions for 177 yards and three touchdowns in a 43-31 victory over Cherokee Bluff in a game between top-10 Class 3A teams.