Possible region supremacy and ultimately maybe more than that will on the line in Week Six of GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia as the two-time defending state champion and third-ranked Milton Eagles play host to the fourth-ranked Gainesville Red Elephants in a big Region 7-5A showdown at the Eagles Nest in Milton. Join us for all the fun starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. on GPB-TV Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The Eagles have won seven straight region championships and 42 consecutive region games dating back to 2017 including a 42-24 win at Gainesville last season. During that time Milton has won the first three state championships (2018, 2023, 2024) of their now 76-year history and played for another (2021). Last year Milton finished ranked No. 1 in the country among public school football programs. No wonder Gainesville Coach Josh Niblett called the Eagles “the class of the class.”

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Niblett knows a little something about that. He led Hoover High School to seven state championships in his native Alabama and his team was voted 2013 national champions while there before taking over the Red Elephants program in 2022. He promptly led Gainesville to the state finals where they went toe-to-toe with powerful Hughes before falling 35-28.

Niblett was brought in to restore Gainesville to its past glory as a state title contender and win state championships, something the Red Elephants have done only once in the program’s 112-year history. That was in 2012 when record-setting QB Deshawn Watson led them to the crown. Eight times Gainesville has been a state runner-up dating all the way back to 1947 and most recently in Niblett’s aforementioned first season 2022.

Niblett is an amazing 275-25 in his 26 seasons as a head coach including 39-7 in his fourth season with Gainesville winning region titles in 2022 and 2023 before being reclassified into the same region with Milton.

Coach Ben Reaves who is in his fourth season as head coach (44-7) and was the offensive coordinator for Coach Adam Clack the four years before that, assembled one of the most formidable teams in GHSA history last season finishing 15-0 for the first perfect season in program history. His team has worn the target of two-time defending state champion all season long but is playing without 22 starters that graduated from those two state championship teams and many of them high-level talent now playing college football. Players like receiver C.J. Wiley and tight end Ethan Barbour at Georgia, quarterback Luke Nickel at Miami and offensive tackle Brayden Jacobs at Clemson.

Despite all that the Eagles are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in Region 7-5A with their only loss coming to 6A No.2 Buford which is ranked No. 8 in the country in the USA Today National Top 25. Milton is 20th in those same rankings. All this made surprising by the fact, Milton lost their star QB Derrick Baker in that season-opening loss to the Wolves. The move-in from St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida is a big 6-2, 220-pound junior with a strong arm and great running game which has led to his consensus 3-Star status rated as high as the No. 18 QB in 2027. But he has not played since. I believe with playing time, Baker will eventually be a 4-Star QB.

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Milton had to turn to a freshman Trey Hasan to pilot the ship and then sophomore Ben Halevi, whose family had moved to Tennessee but then moved back. He took over the quarterback job in week four and has held it since. Coach Reeves says Halevi’s got “a little Johnny Football in him.”

Gainesville has rebounded from a disappointing 7-4 finish and first round playoff exit in 2024 and enter tonight’s game 6-1, 3-0 in the region. From a prospect standpoint it’s Coach Niblett’s team that has the star-studded roster here in 2025 including two Alabama commits on defense in 5-Star Xavier Griffin, rated as high as the No. 1 LB in the country and 4-Star Edge Jamarion Matthews.

Then you have Kharim Hughley at QB. His meteoric rise has been amazing. This time a year ago when we televised Gainesville on GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia, the then-sophomore Hughley had one college offer from Georgia Southern. Now he’s a 4-Star rated as high as the No. 4 dual-threat QB in the country in 2027 and committed to Clemson.

Now the winner of tonight’s game will not automatically be the region champion, at least not yet and really won’t even be the driver’s seat. That’s because seventh-ranked Roswell is still undefeated in the region as well and will play both of these teams over the next three weeks. So the round robin region championship race will be far from over after tonight. In fact it will just be getting started.

That’s the game preview. Now here’s the Top Prospects to Watch.

Gainesville Prospects

Xavier Griffin, Gainesville

Xavier Griffin, Gainesville

Credit: 247 Sports

#8 Xavier Griffin – 6-4, 215, Senior – 5-Star rated as high as No. 1 LB, No. 1 Prospect in Georgia and No. 8 overall prospect in the country 2026 – Committed to Alabama over 37 other offers including Georgia and USC to whom he was originally committed

#11 Jamarion Matthews – 6-3, 240, Senior – Consensus 4-Star rated as high as No. 8 Edge 2026 – Committed to Alabama over 22 other offers including Georgia Tech

#9 Kharim Hughley – 6-0, 190, Junior – 4-Star rated as high as No. 4 Dual-Threat Quarterback 2027 – Committed to Clemson over 16 other offers including Georgia and Auburn

#99 Ayden Cain – 6-2, 275, Senior – Consensus 3-Star DL 2026 – Committed to Duke over 14 other offers including Georgia Tech

#1 Nigel Newkirk – 5-11, 185, Junior – 3-Star rated as high as No. 27 RB 2027 – 32 offers including Georgia, Florida, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech

#77 Tyler Ford – 6-6, 340, Junior – 3-Star OT 2027 – 15 Offers including Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida State

#71 Bryson Hurt – 6-3, 310, Junior – Consensus 3-Star IOL 2027 – 15 Offers including Ole Miss and Georgia Tech

#76 Krew Moledor – 6-3, 290, Senior – Consensus 3-Star IOL 2026 – Committed to Louisville over eight other offers (83.93)

Jamarion Matthews, Gainesville

Jamarion Matthews, Gainesville

Credit: 247 Sports

#7 Jeremiah Proctor – 6-3, 195, Junior – 3-Star Safety 2027 – 16 offers including Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Coastal Carolina

#57 Carter Mathis – 6-7, 303, Junior – 3-Star OL 2027 – 10 offers including Georgia, Kennesaw State and Georgia State

#3 Kadin Fossung – 6-3, 220, Senior – 3-Star Edge 2026 – Committed to Tulsa over 20 other offers including Georgia State, Georgia Tech, and Georgia Southern

#7 Colin Porterfield – 6-3, 200, Junior WR – Seven offers including Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Memphis

#6 Darryn Williams – 5-11, 190, Junior LB – Three offers including Georgia State and Miami (Ohio)

#40 Timothy Cole – 6-1, 180, Freshman LB – Offered by Memphis and Toledo

#5 Cameron James – 6-2, 215, Senior TE/LS – Committed to Furman over two other offers

#21 Zac Ingram – 6-0, 170, Junior CB – Offered by Gardner-Webb

#17 Tre Diggs – 5-7, 155, Junior WR – Offered by ETSU

#37 Jordan Blassingame – 5-9, 150, Sophomore DB – Offered by Wofford

#2 Phillip Williams – 5-8, 160, Senior WR – Offered by Murray State

#1 Marshall Leonard – 6-2, 225, Senior DE – Offered by Reinhardt

#16 Landon Williamson – 6-3, 225, Senior TE – Offered by Wingate and UVA-Wise

#88 Tydrick Turner – 5-10, 245, Senior DL – Offered by Maryville

 

Milton Prospects

Grant Haviland, Milton

Grant Haviland, Milton

Credit: 247 Sports

#88 Grant Haviland – 6-4, 230, Junior – 4-Star rated as high as No. 1 TE-Y WR in 2027 by ESPN – 30+ offers including Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Auburn

#2 Billy Weivoda – 6-2, 215, Senior – Consensus 3-Star LB 2026 – Committed to Iowa over 29 other offers including Georgia Tech

#1 Derrick Baker – 6-2, 220, Junior – Consensus 3-Star rated as high as No. 18 QB 2027 – 24 offers including Auburn, Wake Forest, and West Virginia

#12 Tristan Lester – 5-11, 196, Senior OLB – Consensus 3-Star SAF 2026 – Committed to Marshall over 10 other offers including Georgia Southern

#14 Jordan Carrasquillo – 6-2, 190, Junior – 3-Star WR 2027 – Four offers including Indiana

#9 Ayden Williams – 5-11, 180, Senior WR – 3-Star ATH – Six offers including South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Louisville

#66 Landon Ghea – 6-5, 265, Freshman OL (LT) – Nine offers including Alabama, Auburn, Colorado, and Georgia

#55 Josh Evans – 6-3, 260, Sophomore OL (RT) – Offered by Georgia, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State and Georgia State

#5 E.B. Bailey – 6-0, 170, Senior CB – Five offers including Georgia State and Kennesaw State

Billy Weivoda, Milton

Billy Weivoda, Milton

Credit: 247 Sports

#0 Keelan Wonsley – 6-0, 190, Sophomore CB – Just picked-up offer from Tennessee Wednesday to go along with offer from Georgia State

#99 Christian Hunter – 6-0, 280, Junior DL (NG) – Offered by Georgia State

#1 Quentavious Price – 6-2, 190, Junior OLB – Offered by Georgia State

#3 Lawson Estes – 6-1, 170, Senior DB (FS) – Committed to Samford

#33 Gage Lawrence – 6-4, 230, Senior DL (DE) – Committed to Colgate

#54 Madden Mones – 6-2, 285, Senior OL (RG) – Committed to Georgetown

#29 Graham Coady – 6-1, 185, Senior LS – Offered by Lafayette

So join Wayne Gandy, Jon Nelson and me for our Emmy Award-winning Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week as the Gainesville Red Elephants play at the Milton Eagles.

Remember, there are many ways you can watch Football Fridays in Georgia. Traditional TV (GPB), online at GPB.org, GPB Sports app, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.

Now if you miss the game live or just want to watch it again, don’t worry, we replay the entire Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week at 11:15 p.m. or you can watch it on demand anytime at GPB.org. 

Enjoy your Oct. 10, 2025, Football Friday in Georgia.