It’s hard to believe we’re already in football season here in the great state of Georgia- on the great GPB- as my compadre Gil says…

As we go along this road from August to December, I try to tell everyone around me that the four seasons aren’t summer, fall, winter, and spring. They’re Football, Spring Football, ‘Crutin, and National Signing Day…

Now that we’re in full song, I’ll tell you what I see every week and you tell me the same… I’ll have a Top Five of stuff (I know that’s a really scientific term) every time out and we’ll share the season as we go…

This is, as always, in no particular order…

First thing…

Cobb County really flexed their muscles in the Corky Kell Classic- right here on GPB- all day Saturday… Lassiter’s upset of defending five-A champ Brookwood really put the day on its collective heels. The state got to see how the 7-on-7 successes of Eddie Printz had on the summer rubbed off on game one. Juwan Dickey at wideout and a stiff defense gave the Broncos running duo of Tompkins and Cole a lot of room in between the 30’s. But as Broncos head coach Mark Crews told our Niki Noto: “You don’t get any points for doing well between the thirties.”

Now, the Broncos have to figure out what ails them in the remainder of their non-region schedule. They’ll be fine…

Georgia State and head coach Bill Curry saw what they’re getting in McEachern QB Trent Thompson. Thompson will be playing in the Georgia Dome for his college of choice and he proved two things: that he can get up from taking a shot and he has the calm that can get a team downfield for a game-winning drive late in the contest over North Gwinnett. The Panthers are getting a talented lefty- and I’m not just saying it because I’m a lefty…

Walton kept everything in front of them in their game with Peachtree Ridge and got a key early-season victory. Tyren Jones, a move-in from the Lassiter district, is a kid you can’t catch from tailback and head coach Rocky Hidalgo has a solid, speedy 3-3-5 defense to trade haymakers in his region. Kell kept high-powered Grayson to 7 and it took Robert Nkemdiche scoring as a fullback to get the win there.

A long day, but a fun day for all of us at the Great GPB…

Second thing…

Buford, pretty much, made the early-season point that nothing has changed for them in double-A shutting out Blessed Trinity 42-0. Tim McFarlin is back in coaching over with the Titans. Buford led 35-0 at halftime and had 277 yards rushing. QB Sam Clay was 6-for-8 passing for 92 yards. Virginia-committed WR/DB C.J. Moore caught a 33-yard TD pass, and all-state DE Rick Legrant returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown.

And, so you know, Buford has not lost a season opener since 1998, to Lincoln County. The Red Devils beat Harlem in their season opener 69-6 and play Abbeville (SC) next Friday night.

Third thing…

Region 1-5A is already rolling…

Lowndes traveled all the way to South Gwinnett and took care of the home team 45-13. The Comets, already working with their back-up QB, got to see what all the talk is about Josh Harvey-Clemons. He rushed for 56 yards, caught a 36-yard pass, scored a touchdown and made three tackles for losses, two unassisted, and knocked a Comet player out of the game with a hit on defense. He also lined up at quarterback, halfback, wide receiver, cornerback and safety. The Vikes get Pebblebrook at the Concrete Jungle for their home opener...

And Rush Propst down at Colquitt took out Cook 31-0 in week one. Hornets head coach Ken Cofer knew there would be a little rebuilding to do after losing guys like Shannon Brown on defense. New DC Travis Pearson gets to keep a clean slate after his first game. The Packers get Madison County (FL) next week.

Fourth thing…

It’s been a rough few weeks down in Ben Hill County…

The Fitzgerald family lost lineman DJ Searcy while at camp in the early part of the month. Emotions have been really stretched and there’s still a lot of mourning going on in the Purple Hurricane family. They came out to play Tift County, another part of Region 1-5A’s juggernaut, last Friday and accounted themselves well losing in a back-and-forth at Brodie 29-22.

Kaleb Nobles is one of the top QB’s in double-A and having seeing him grow since he was around as a freshman, this year should be a real treat. Worth County is next for Robbie Pruitt’s bunch on Friday night and all of GPB’s thoughts, prayers, and good vibes are with everyone down there…

Fifth thing…

Admittedly, this is a bit of a plug…

On the TV side Friday, your GPB “Football Fridays In Georgia” crew will be at Ray Manus Stadium in Roswell for the Hornets hosting of Collins Hill. These two teams have developed a bit of a rivalry over the past few seasons since they seem to keep knocking up against each other in the playoff round. Brookwood kept a good Collins Hill team, QB’ed by Taylor Heinicke, from getting to the finals that the Broncos eventually won last season.

Pre-game starts on the web at 7PM, pre-game on the TV side goes a little before 8PM with kick-off around 8:05 or so…

Be there, watch on the telly, watch St. Pius and Westminster on the web (pre-game starts around 7:25 also on gpb.org), watch both games, and download the iPhone app and catch up with us most anywhere… check in as we take you from beginning to end of the football season…

Your question for the week to end it this time…

Who do you think is going to win the state titles this time around…? No need to keep it to one class. Give me all five winners and why… and the best of the Mailbag shows up in next week’s word…

Play it safe, everyone, I’ll talk to you soon…