Reclassification shifts football balance of power in Georgia

Seven recent state champions drop in class for 2010 season.

By
Aug 9, 2010, 11:53am
Rarely if ever has a reclassification cycle resulted in so many powerful schools moving to a lower class in Georgia.

Every two years, the Georgia High School Association undergoes the task of reclassification, the process that puts schools in one of five classes and then one of eight regions within those classes. This year, five schools that have won state titles since 2004, Carver, Charlton County, Northside of Warner Robins, Sandy Creek and Warner Robins, are moving down.

Here is a look at 10 schools that will profit from reclassification and perhaps reshape the balance of power in Georgia football for 2010:
 
Carver (AA): Carver won a Class AAA championship in 2007 and has averaged 12 victories per year since 2006. Now, the Tigers are playing down in AA with a half-dozen Division I-A recruits that include Isaiah Crowell, the state’s best running back. Carver will play three-time defending AA champion Buford on Sept. 3 in Columbus. The two state powers have never met. Those teams figure to start the season ranked 1-2 in most polls.
 
Charlton County (A): Charlton County, a south Georgia school that can boast being the alma mater of NFL All-Pro Champ Bailey, just finished a decade during which it won 117 games and three state titles – all in AA. Now, Charlton is back in A, where it won a state title the last time it played in Georgia’s smallest class, 1999. Charlton plays at defending Class A champion Wilcox County on Oct. 8. Those teams figure to start the season ranked 1-2 in most polls.
 
Dalton (AAA): Dalton is a northwest Georgia school known for its current streak of 50 winning seasons, perhaps the longest in the country. But Dalton hasn’t won a state playoff game since 2005. Class AAA might not fix Dalton’s 43-year state championship drought, but the Catamounts are probably co-favorites with Ridgeland in Region 7-AAA.
 
Hart County, Hartwell (AA): Hart County, a northeast Georgia team on the South Carolina border, has reached the state playoffs every season since 1992, one of the longest streaks in Georgia. The Bulldogs made a state final in 2001, the last year that they won a region championship. Hart will be considered the team to beat in 8-AA this season.
 
Kell, Marietta (AAAA): Kell, the Marietta school that sent Jonathan Dwyer to Georgia Tech and the NFL, is one of 12 metro Atlanta schools that went to AAAA from the largest class. The Longhorns will probably be the one that benefits the most, although there are several others, including Eric Barry's alma mater Creekside of Fairburn, Union Grove of McDonough, Pope of Marietta and Chattahoochee of Alpharetta. Kell won six of its last seven games last season and features a major prospect in Brian Randolph, who has committed to Tennessee.
 
Monroe Area (AAA): Monroe Area finished 0-10 in 2009, but has moved from 8-AAAA, which put three teams in the quarterfinals last year. Now in 8-AAA, many believe Monroe Area has a shot at its first playoff berth in 25 years. The Hurricanes have a star player in Stephon Tuitt, who is ranked among the top 20 defensive end prospects in the country.
 
Northside (AAAA): The last time Northside played in AAAA, it won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. In AAAAA, Northside reached the state final in 2009. Expect Northside to be ranked No. 1 in AAAA to open the season.
 
Sandy Creek (AAA): Rarely does a state champion drop in classification, but that’s the case for Sandy Creek, which went 14-1 in AAAA last season. Sandy Creek returns its quarterback, Ronnie Bell, and figures to challenge defending champ Peach County of Fort Valley for the title. Those two figure to be ranked 1-2 in the preseason.
 
Warner Robins (AAAA): If Northside is the preseason No. 1 in AAAA, then crosstown rival Warner Robins must be close. The Demons defeated Northside last season, although they finished 6-4 and were the best team in Georgia not to make the playoffs in 2009. Warner Robins won a state title in AAAA as recently as 2004.
 
Westside, Macon (AAA): Westside has reached the quarterfinals in AAAA each of the past two seasons. Defending champion Peach County comes to Macon to play Westside on Sept. 24. Expect both of these middle Georgia schools to be ranked in the top five in the preseason rankings.
 
Schools dropping into AAAA:
Chapel Hill (Douglasville)
Chattahoochee
Creekside (Fairburn)
Douglass (Atlanta)
East Paulding (Dallas)
Greenbrier (Evans)
Houston County (Warner Robins)
Kell
Lovejoy
Morrow
Mundy’s Mill (Jonesboro)
Northside
Pope
Redan (Stone Mountain)
Riverdale
South Forsyth (Cumming)
Union Grove (McDonough)
Warner Robins
 
Schools dropping into AAA:
Allatoona (Acworth)
Americus-Sumter
Butler (Augusta)
Cross Creek (Augusta)
Dalton
Glenn Hills (Augusta)
Grovetown
Harlem
Hephzibah
Josey (Augusta)
Monroe Area
Murray County (Chatsworth)
North Springs (Atlanta)
Richmond Academy
Sandy Creek
Stockbridge
Stone Mountain
Westside (Augusta)
Westside  (Macon)
 
Schools dropping into AA:
Carver (Columbus)
Clarkston
East Hall (Gainesville)
Elbert County (Elberton)
Hart County
Jackson County (Jefferson)
Kendrick (Columbus)
Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe
Maynard Jackson
Morgan County
North Murray (Chatsworth)
South Atlanta
Therrell (Atlanta)
 
Schools dropping into A:
Charlton County (Folkston)
Macon County (Montezuma)
Mitchell County (Camilla)
Riverside Military (Gainesville)
 
Schools moving up to AAAAA:
Archer
Benedictine
Hillgrove
Langston Hughes
Mountain View
West Forsyth
 
Schools moving up to AAAA:
Carver (Atlanta)
Creekview (Canton)
Dunwoody
Flowery Branch
Johns Creek
Lambert (Suwanee)
Liberty County (Hinesville)
Northside (Columbus)
Richmond Hill
Woodland (Stockbridge)
 
Schools moving up to AAA:
Central (Macon)
Henry County (McDonough)
Howard
Walnut Grove
 
School moving up to AA:
River Ridge (Woodstock)

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