By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Week 1 of the Georgia high school football season is in the books.

We’re going to take a look at the Corky Kell Classic, which matches up some of the best teams in the state.

Calhoun vs Ridgeland: The Yellow Jackets won big, 38-8 over Ridgeland. Calhoun has won 19 consecutive region titles (2001-18) and they will have another deep playoff run in AAA.

This was the coaching debut for Calhoun’s Clay Stephenson. Jerrian Hames rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Marietta vs Rome: This is a 7A against 5A matchup with both teams ranked in the top five.

The Blue Devils won 48-14. Marietta is the most talented team in the state with 9 seniors ranked in the top 100 prospects in the state. Quarterback Harrison Bailey, a Tennessee commitment, threw 5 touchdown passes.

Five-star tight end Arik Gilbert had 9 receptions for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Archer @ Tucker: This game was supposed to be played at Coolray Field, home of the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers (formerly Braves). There were thunderstorms Friday that caused this game and the Milton/Buford games to get postponed.

This game was moved to Saturday and Archer, No. 4 in 7A traveled to 6A Tucker. The away Tigers beat the home Tigers, 41-7. Schmari Campbell rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown on 7 carries. Carter Peevy threw for 163 yards.

The Buford vs Milton game is rescheduled for September 6.

Mays vs Kell: This game kicked off the Saturday action at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Mays is led by three-star defensive end JaQuari Wiggles, who is committed to Georgia Tech. The Longhorns from Kell beat the Raiders 17-12 in a hard-fought game.

Walton vs Norcross: Walton is looking to improve on a great 2018 season where they finished 10-2.

Norcross won back-to-back state titles in 2012-13, but they have not had that kind of success in recent years. Walton won 21-20 making this the closest game. Norcross played three quarterbacks, which made the offense struggle at times. The Blue Devils missed two costly field goals.

Colquitt County vs North Gwinnett: This was a rematch of the 2017 7A state title game. The No.2 Packers won 17-6. The Bulldogs held Colquitt Co. to 160 yards of total offense but lost the turnover battle 2-0.

McEachern vs Brookwood: This 7A matchup featured two great programs. The Broncos won seven games last season so I expected them to be a good team in 2019.

The No. 8 McEachern Indians won big, 48-10. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson was 15-of-18 passing for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns. Javon Baker had 5 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown.

East Coweta vs Mill Creek: The Mill Creek Hawks won eight games in 2018 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. They lost to the 7A state champs, Milton.

The Indians only won three regular season games but they were all region games. They also advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year.

Mill Creek steamrolled East Coweta, 38-6.