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Recruiting Roundup: Lowndes vs. North Gwinnett
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We have another fantastic North/South Class 6A showdown on GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia as tonight the GHSA Playoffs move into the second round with the seventh-ranked Lowndes Vikings (10-1) traveling north from Valdosta to take on the fourth-ranked North Gwinnett Bulldogs (10-1).
Join us for our GPB Sports coverage from Tom Robinson Memorial Stadium in Suwanee starting at 7:30 p.m. on GPB-TV Georgia Public Broadcasting.
This will be just the third all-time meeting with the Vikings leading the series two-wins-to-none. All of the meetings have been big games with Lowndes defeating the Bulldogs 34-6 to win the 2007 state championship and then a 49-28 victory in the 2019 state semifinals. This will be the first time these two have played in Suwanee.
North Gwinnett has won 10 straight games since a season-opening 21-7 loss vs Douglas County in the Corky Kell/Dave Hunter Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Coach Eric Godfree’s team won their fourth straight region championship by finishing 7-0 in Region 7-6A and then defeated South Gwinnett 49-16 in the first round of the playoffs.
Lowndes won their first nine games of the season before being derailed by rival Valdosta 23-14 in the “Winnersville Classic.” While Coach Adam Carter’s team claimed a share of the region championship they lost out on tiebreakers and finished as the No. 2 seed coming out of Region 1-6A. That proved to be very costly as Lowndes now faces the prospects of playing on the road the rest of the playoffs and every week having to travel back to Atlanta after rebounding from that tough, emotional rivalry loss to defeat Collins Hill 37-16 in the first round the playoffs.
In my weekly, “here’s what the playoffs would have looked like if the PSR format was in place this year,” you couldn’t have faulted the Vikings had they wanted to go ahead and moved up the calendar. Lowndes finished No. 2 in the GHSA’s 6A PSR which means they would have hosted the playoffs in all four rounds (provided they kept winning) leading up to the state finals. That’s a far cry from the road the Vikings now face.
Lowndes is led by one of the top junior quarterbacks in the country. Jayce Johnson is rated as high as the No. 2 QB in the Class of 2027 and already committed to Texas A&M over 31 total offers. His passing stats won’t “wow” you as he’s only thrown for 1,059 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. But at 6-4, 210 pounds. defenses have to account for Johnson in the run game. He is their second leading rusher with 580 yards and 13 touchdowns. In short-yardage and goal line situations, Johnson is the Vikings big power back.
Lowndes leading runner is senior Mason Woods (offered by NAIA Warner), who waited his turn and is getting his chance to shine here in 2025. He’s gained 1,250 yards with 15 touchdowns on the ground and has a chance to finish the season as the top rusher in all of 6A. The Vikings have two big prospects on the offensive line, senior Benjamin Corhei a consensus 3-Star rated as high as the No. 5 center in the country and committed to USF, plus left tackles Abram Eisenhower, a 3-Star junior with 26 offers including Florida State and South Carolina. Super Sophomore Bubba Brown leads the receiving corps with 26 catches for 496 yards and five touchdowns. Brown already has 12 offers including one from Georgia just last weekend when he was in Athens for the Texas game.
Defensively the Vikings are led by free safety Anthony Martin (68 total tackles, three interceptions) who has an NAIA offer from Point University. Nose tackle Malik Reddick (five offers including Presbyterian) anchors the defensive line with his 46 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss, six sacks and defensive end Garrick Harris (offered by Point and Warner) has 34 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Cornerback Tim Jennings (also offered by Warner) has three interceptions as well with seven passes defended to go along with 31 total tackles.
North Gwinnett has played with a two-QB system all season long sometimes swapping out junior Elam Rahman and sophomore Banks Halcomb (Georgia State offer) between plays. But Rahman has solidified his standing as the No.1 late in the season throwing for 1,154 yards with 16 touchdowns and just one interception. The Bulldogs have a three-man running back committee with Khalil Mazone (714 yards rushing, nine touchdowns), Wilson Taylor (520 yards, five touchdowns) and Stephen Brown (373 yards, four touchdowns). Mazone has seven offers including Toledo, Army, and Bowling Green.
The Bulldogs have a deep pass catching corps led by the under-recruited Braylon Jackson (37 receptions for 606 yards and seven touchdowns) who has one offer from UT-Martin, 5-foot-5 junior lightning bug Evan Hawkins (38 receptions, 554 yards, five touchdowns) and monster TE Max Patterson (31 receptions, 328 yards, seven touchdowns). The 6-5, 245-pound junior already has 15 offers including Georgia State, App State and Wake Forest. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has double the offers by his senior season.
The offensive line is where you will find North Gwinnett’s highest rated prospect, Consensus 3-Star Zach Lewis who plays right tackle and is committed to the Georgia Bulldogs. He is joined by junior left tackle Josh Jones who’s been offered by Liberty, Charlotte and Georgia State and was my Offensive Lineman of the Game in the Bulldogs 44-6 win over Norcross four weeks ago on GPB. Both Lewis and Jones are great defensive lineman and expect to see them playing both sides of the ball.
Defensively the Bulldogs are led by the coach’s son, 3-Star junior Jake Godfree who already has 41 offers including Florida State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee. A starter since his freshman season, Godfree has a team-leading 101 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss and five sacks. DE Connor Coxwell is a force with 55 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, four sacks and 18 offers including Middle Tennessee and Austin Peay. Junior defensive tackle Ewan Glass leads the team with six sacks to go along with 35 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.
The corners have been phenomenal led by consensus 3-Star senior C.J. Davis, who’s dad Chauncey starred at FSU and played seven seasons in the NFL, all but one with the Atlanta Falcons. C.J. has not allowed a TD catch in his entire career and is committed to Southern Miss. The other cornerback Bryson Ford has an incredible four interceptions with 16 pass breakups and has offers from Georgia State, Miami-Ohio and Gardner-Webb.
So should be a lot of fun! That’s the game preview. Now here’s a rundown of the Top Prospects to Watch.
Lowndes Prospects
#7 Jayce Johnson – 6-4, 210, Junior – Consensus 4-Star rated as high as No. 2 QB in the country 2027 – Committed to Texas A&M over 31 total offers including Florida State and Auburn
#73 Ben Corhei – 6-5, 300, Senior – Consensus 3-Star rated as high as No. 5 Center in the country 2026 – Committed to USF over 27 total offers including Louisville to who he originally committed
#74 Abram Eisenhower – 6-5, 275, Junior – 3-Star rated as high as No. 30 IOL in the country 2027 – 26 offers including Florida State and South Carolina
#5 Camen Upshaw – 6-1, 195, Senior – Consensus 3-Star Safety – Committed to South Alabama over 15 total offers including Georgia Southern and Louisville (transfer from Tallahassee John Paul II)
#8 Ar’tavian “Bubba” Brown – 6-2, 183, Sophomore WR – 12 offers including Troy, Auburn, Georgia, and Georgia Tech
#15 Kaevone Thomas – 6-2, 185, Sophomore WR – 6 offers including Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and Pitt
#2 Knyon Simmons – 5-10, 160, Senior Safety – 8 offers including Arkansas State and Georgia Southern
#14 Zion Walker – 6-1, 194, Junior WR – Five offers including Wake Forest
#12 Gavin Yates-Lyons – 6-2, 172, Senior Safety – Committed to Ball State over 5 total offers including Georgia State
#4 J.J. Rowe – 6-0, 180, Sophomore WR – Offered by USF
#22 Waylon Weidinger – 6-2, 200, Sophomore TE – Offered by USF
#15 Malik Reddick – 6-0, 250, Senior DL – Five offers including Presbyterian
#11 Khalil Williams – 5-9, 165, Senior WR – Offered by Point and Warner
#26 Garrick Harris – 6-0, 217, Senior LB – Offered by Point and Warner
#1 Ty Jennings – 5-8, 145, Senior CB – Offered by Warner (NAIA program in Lake Wales, FL)
#6 MaKameron Harris – 5-10, 150, Senior WR – Offered by Warner
#66 Eli Moore – 6-2, 262, Senior OL – Offered by Warner
#3 Mason Woods – 5-9, 165, Junior RB – Offered by Warner
#10 Anthony Martin – 5-8, 160, Senior Safety – Offered by Point (NAIA program in West Point, GA)
#29 Aidan Andrews – 5-10, 205, Senior Kicker – Offered by Warner
North Gwinnett Prospects
#75 Zachary Lewis – 6-4, 280, Senior – Consensus 3-Star rated as high as No. 29 IOL (Interior Offensive Lineman) 2026 – Committed to Georgia over 20 total offers including Georgia Tech
#27 Chauncey Davis – 6-1, 190, Senior – Consensus 3-Star CB 2026 – Committed to Southern Miss over 22 total offers including Florida State and Georgia Tech
#10 Jake Godfree - 6-0, 214, Junior – 3-Star LB rated as high as No. 30 LB 2027 – 41 offers including Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee
#8 Connor Coxwell – 6-5, 240, Senior Edge – 18 offers including MTSU and Austin Peay
#7 Max Patterson – 6-5, 245, Junior TE – 15 offers including Georgia State, App State and Wake Forest
#2 Kalil Mazone – 6-0, 202, Senior RB/LB – Seven offers including Toledo, Army, and Bowling Green
#55 Josh Jones – 6-1, 270, Junior OL – Offered by Liberty, Charlotte, and Georgia State
#3 Bryson Ford – 6-1, 180, Junior CB – Offered by Georgia State, Miami of Ohio, and Gardner Webb
#5 Andruw Gist – 6-1, 188, Senior SAF – Committed to Yale over 7 total offers
#13 Christian Williams – 6-2, 185, Sophomore WR – Offered by Wake Forest
#16 Banks Halcomb – 6-3, 180, Sophomore QB – Offered by Georgia State
#1 Braylon Jackson – 6-1, 192, Senior WR – Offered by UT-Martin
#77 Jacob Bayer – 6-4, 300, Senior OL – Offered by Berry and receiving interest from ETSU
#44 Ethan Robinson – 5-10, 188, Senior LB – Offered by Reinhardt
So, join South Gwinnett Coach Bryan Lamar (filling in for Wayne Gandy), Cody Chafins, and me in Suwanee for our Emmy Award-winning Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week as the Lowndes Vikings play at the North Gwinnett Bulldogs. Jon Nelson and Niki Noto Palmer will be in our GPB Studios during the game and afterwards will bring you the Playoff Post-Game Show with scores and coaches’ interviews from all across the state.
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 Nov. 21, 2025, Playoff Football Friday in Georgia.
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