Georgia high school football returns tonight with the first two of nearly 200 season openers. Games between top-10 teams include Hughes at Carrollton, Grayson vs. Walton, Kell at Parkview, Marist at Gainesville, Warner Robins at Lee County, Jones County at Northside-Warner Robins, ELCA at Bainbridge and Fitzgerald at Irwin County. Here are 10 storylines to follow this year as the 2023 season dawns.

This is the last in a series of 10 feature articles that recognize the state’s best players by position. They are chosen based primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with two-way players and others that might be considered athletes. They include a historic 2,000-yard rusher and 2,000-yard passer. The 100 are chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

The consensus No. 1 safety prospect has played in Georgia the past two seasons. In 2022, it was Mill Creek’s Caleb Downs. Now, it’s Buford’s K.J. Bolden. GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with defensive backs. The 100 are chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with linebackers. They include 247Sports’ and ESPN’s No. 1 LB prospect nationally, Jefferson’s Sammy Brown. The 100 are chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with defensive linemen. They include the No. 1 junior defensive line prospect in the country, Savannah Christian’s Elijah Griffin. The 100 are chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with offensive linemen. A tackle protecting the blind side is this group’s glamor position, but most of these 10 are projected to play guard or center at the next level, and many already do. GHSF Daily’s Georgia Power 100 are chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

GHSF Daily will be announcing a preseason all-state team for each classification, beginning today with Class 7A. Quarterbacks Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis of Carrollton and Dylan Raiola of Buford both have No. 1 national rankings at the position for their classes. Lewis is a sophomore and Raiola, a transfer from Arizona, is a senior.

GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with wide receivers. Smaller and faster describe most of them. Six stand no taller than 5 feet, 9 inches. GHSF Daily’s Georgia Power 100 are chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

GHSF Daily’s rollout of the Georgia Power 100 continues today with running backs. The Georgia Power 100 is chosen primarily on high school production, though college potential also is considered.

Georgia has never been so rich in elite quarterback prospects in one season. Of the 20 highest-rated players at the position this century, six will be returning Georgia starters in 2023. Two are five-star recruits. Buford’s Dylan Raiola and Hughes’ Prentiss “Air” Noland are the first five-star QB senior pair in Georgia since Cartersville’s Trevor Lawrence and Harrison’s Justin Fields.

Mill Creek beat Carrollton 70-35 in the final Georgia high school football game of the 2022 season. In the 234 days since, nearly a quarter of the GHSA’s 413 teams have hired new head coaches. The next championship games will be played on a Monday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium under the scrutiny of video replay for the first time. Here are the 10 most significant stories of the offseason.

More than 75 teams and one-third of the top 100 senior recruits in the state are expected Wednesday at the inaugural Georgia High School Football Media Day. The event starts at 10 a.m. at the IBEW Auditorium (153 Richardson Street SW, Atlanta) and is free to the public. Attending teams include defending state champions Hughes, Sandy Creek and Prince Avenue Christian.

Having heard the criticisms, the founder of a national high school football all-star league hoping to attract Georgia’s best players says his new Prep Super League will be safe and won’t interfere with their traditional high school teams. Brian Woods announced this month that Atlanta would have one of 12 teams playing a six-week season April 19-May 24.

Dylan Raiola, the consensus No. 1 recruit for 2024, plans to play his senior season at Buford to be closer to the University of Georgia, where he is committed to play. Raiola played his junior season in Arizona and led Chandler High to a 9-3 record and a state semifinal.

Twenty-two former Georgia players and eight from Georgia Tech made the 40-player 2023 induction class for the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame. The class, released Friday morning by Hall of Fame founder Score Atlanta, will be inducted Oct. 21 at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta.

The Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Dalton this weekend will induct five coaches who won state championships in eight sports in careers spanning parts of six decades. The coaches are David Boyd (basketball), Karl Bostick (cross country, soccer), Jim Glasser (wrestling, track, tennis), Greg James (baseball) and Tommy Perdue (football).

Pepper Rodgers, Dan Reeves, Billy Henderson and Mike Bobo are best known as prominent football coaches in the state, but their playing exploits have earned them places on this year’s 100-player ballot released this week for the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame.

New interstate games are the best new thing about Georgia’s 2023 football schedules, which the Georgia High School Association posted this week. Colquitt County, Buford and Creekside are playing consensus top-25 teams in the country from 2022, while Valdosta and Cedar Grove also are taking on powerful out-of-state opponents.

Five former Georgia high school players were first-round NFL Draft picks last week and 25 went overall, both exceeding state averages, but the most remarkable story came out of Gwinnett County, which claimed nine picks by itself. That’s more than the totals of 42 states that include Ohio (eight), Pennsylvania (six), Alabama (four), Oklahoma (four) and Tennessee (two).