Week 12 Student-Athlete of the Week: Woodward Academy’s Landon Walker
Landon Walker, a senior quarterback at Woodward Academy, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Walker, who has a 4.37 GPA, has passed for 1,898 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 369 yards and eight touchdowns this season for the War Eagles, who won their fourth consecutive region championship.
Week 12 Team of the Week: Callaway
Callaway’s strategy was to keep the state’s leading receiver from deciding the game. The plan worked as Callaway conceded 245 rushing yards but held Morgan County's Jaylen Elder to four catches for 28 yards. Callaway scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 33-26 come-from-behind victory over a previously undefeated and second-ranked team.
Week 12 Player of the Week: Savannah Christian’s Elijah Griffin
There aren’t many high school goals left unchecked for Savannah Christian defensive tackle Elijah Griffin, the state’s consensus No. 1 prospect who committed to Georgia last month. A region title was one of them. Savannah Christian’s game last week against Toombs County would decide the Region 3-A Division I champion.
Week 12 Offensive Line of the Week: Westover
GHSF Daily’s Offensive Line of the Week is Westover’s unit of left tackle Vincent Tumblin, left guard Torian Chester, center Emory Clark, right guard Tanner Turner and right tackle Kyson Mallard with Corey Gardner and Jshawn Jinks assisting on heavy sets. They paved the way for Dominique Ball’s 302-yard rushing game in a 29-10 victory over eighth-ranked Cairo in a Class 3A game.
Flag Football Player of the Week: McEachern’s Chelsea Njoku
Chelsea Njoku, a quarterback at McEachern, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Njoku was 67-of-103 passing for 884 yards and 15 touchdowns last week as McEachern beat Osborne 34-0, South Cobb 13-0, Hughes 25-0 and Walton 46-7 to improve to 11-0 on the season.
Week 11 Student-Athlete of the Week: Lambert’s Branson Brooks
Branson Brooks, a senior linebacker at Lambert, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Brooks, who has a 4.1 GPA, has 91 tackles (56 solo, 35 assisted), two tackles for losses and three sacks through nine games. He also plays lacrosse and is a member of the Young Life Christian Group.
Week 11 Team of the Week: Athens Academy
Athens Academy completed its first 10-win season and won its first region championship in five years Friday with a 34-28 victory over Rabun County. It's been a season of fourth-quarter heroics. Against Rabun County, Hampton Johnson threw a 68-yard TD pass to Keyon Standifer to break a 28-28 tie with 4:45 left.
Week 11 Player of the Week: Chattooga’s Zayden Cook
Zayden Cook became this season’s first 2,000-yard rusher Friday. That’s usually enough to get the game ball. But Cook did a little extra to make sure. The Chattooga senior rushed for 464 yards and six touchdowns, made nine tackles, intercepted two passes and punted twice for a 42.0-yard average in a 56-36 victory over Dade County.
Week 11 Offensive Line of the Week: Kell
GHSF Daily’s Offensive Line of the Week is Kell’s unit of left tackle David Torres, left guard Chase Lewandowski, center David Ornelas, right guard Vincent Consolino, right tackle Brodey Bedwell, guard/tackle Kayden Jacobo, guard Keenan Thompson and center/guard Jared Miller with tight ends Brayden Rouse, Kason Fox and Bryce Shelton.
Flag Football Player of the Week: Locust Grove’s Katie Smith
Katie Smith, a senior quarterback at Locust Grove, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Smith was 63-of-87 passing for 850 yards and 18 touchdowns in comfortable victories over Whitewater, Morrow, Luella and Union Grove.
Week 10 Student-Athlete of the Week: Wheeler’s Marcus Romain
Marcus Romain, a senior quarterback at Wheeler, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Romain, who has a 4.18 GPA, has passed for 519 yards and rushed for 412 yards this season despite being limited to six games because of an injury. Romain also is a member of the school’s track team.
Week 10 Team of the Week: Cartersville
Call it reloading. Say that tradition doesn’t graduate. The old clichés apply to Cartersville, a team that graduated all eight of its first-team all-region players and returned only five starters from last year’s state semifinal team. The Purple Hurricanes are 9-0, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, and a victory from their ninth region championship in 11 years.
Week 10 Player of the Week: Hillgrove’s Jaiden Moore
Sophomore RB Jaiden Moore, described by Hillgrove coach Justin DeShon as a second- or third-teamer getting extra playing time because of an injury, made the most of his moment in a rivalry game Friday night. Moore rushed for 255 yards and scored on runs of 97, 51 and 67 yards in a 30-23 victory over crosstown rival McEachern.
Week 10 Offensive Line of the Week: Brunswick
GHSF Daily’s Offensive Line of the Week is Brunswick’s unit of left tackle Chase Richardson, left guard Aiden Watford, center Garrett Wiggins, right guards Chris Wingster and Desmon Smith and right tackle Kasi’yah Charlton. They paved the way for 707 total yards, 425 rushing, in a 61-34 victory against Lakeside of Evans.
Flag Football Player of the Week: Greenbrier’s Kenzie Horton
Kenzie Horton, a senior quarterback at Greenbrier, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Horton passed for 255 yards and four touchdowns and caught a TD pass in victories last week over Trinity Christian and St. Anne-Pacelli.
Week 9 Student-Athlete of the Week: Stephens County’s Javin Gordon
Javin Gordon, a senior running back at Stephens County, is the scoutSMART Student-Athlete of the Week. Gordon has rushed for 502 yards and nine touchdowns on 109 carries through the Indians’ first seven games. He has a 4.0 GPA and is committed to play football at Duke.
Week 9 Team of the Week: North Oconee
North Oconee had all manner of winning streaks on the line Friday night against Eastside. That’s 28 consecutive wins in region games, 34 in regular-season games, and 25 in home games. The latest game. between top-10 Class 4A teams, came down to one drive.
Week 9 Player of the Week: Rockmart’s Nate Davis
In a 24-21 victory over North Cobb Christian, Rockmart's Nate Davis rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns, made eight tackles, intercepted a pass, set up the winning drive with a forced fumble, scored the winning touchdown on a 22-yard run and made the decisive tackle on fourth-and-1 at midfield that clinched the victory.
Week 9 Offensive Line of the Week: Irwin County
GHSF Daily’s Offensive Line of the Week is Irwin County’s unit of Jakob Brown, Hudson Royal, Kellen Wynn, Gabe McTear and Owen Griffin and tight ends Brodie Suggs and Tripp Poole. They paved the way for 531 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in a 64-34 victory over Charlton County.
Flag Football Player of the Week: Southeast Bulloch’s Jaci Kitchings
Jaci Kitchings, a senior up back and cornerback at Southeast Bulloch, is GHSF Daily’s Flag Football Player of the Week. Kitchings scored all five touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets’ opening victories over South Effingham and McDonough that extended Southeast Bulloch’s winning streak to 64 games.