By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Spring Football is upon us for high school football in Southeast Georgia. So here we go with my GHSA Spring Top 10 Power Poll for this area:

1.Ware County: The Gators are loaded for 2021. Thomas Castellanos may be the best QB in all of South Georgia. The UCF commit can do it all.

Jason Strickland has done a fantastic job at Ware. You have to think if Ware doesn’t win a State Title in 2021, the question is ‘will they ever’ because Castellanos is the best QB the school has ever had. This team is loaded folks.

2.Camden County: The Wildcats have brought back Jeff Herron and the physical run the football and whip people along the line of scrimmage style of play will not be far behind.

The home schedule sets up nice this fall with Lowndes and Colquitt coming to Kingsland. Camden will be a pretty good football team in 2021.

3.Coffee County: The Trojans are consistently good every single season. They play in the best 5-A region in the state with Ware, Warner Robins, and Wayne County. Big, fast, and physical that is what you get with Coffee.

4.Pierce County: The Bears won a State Championship in 2020 and have a lot of pieces coming back. The only real question is who will step into the QB position. This team is good. The season opener at Brunswick should be a classic.

5.Richmond Hill: The Wildcats could take a step back in 2021. They lost some quality players on both sides of the ball.

Richmond Hill is well coached and they have 7-A numbers but play in a 6-A region due to the GHSA isolation waiver. The numbers alone make them one of the top teams in the area. Richmond Hill, Brunswick and Glynn are the preseason favorites to win Region 2-AAAAAA.

Glynn travels to the Wildcats and Richmond Hill travels to Brunswick. That will determine how the region shakes out.

6.Brunswick: Sean Pender is very excited about his football team and he should be. The Pirates have quality experience at RB, WR, OL, DL, and DB. QB and LB are the positions to watch on this team.

8-4 in 2020, and don’t be surprised if this team makes a run in 2021. Richmond Hill and Glynn Academy face the Pirates in Glynn County Stadium. Could Ree Simmons and Kobe Hill both rush for 1,000 yards this fall? Don’t bet against it.

7.Glynn Academy: We know this about Glynn Academy and this is they will be good along the line of scrimmage and will play above average defense.

Rocky Hidalgo has established that blueprint in his tenure at GA. This will be a good Glynn Academy football team. Tyler Devlin takes over at QB and Glynn looks to be much improved in the passing game. Will Glynn air it out more in 2021?

8.Appling County: Jordan Mullis was named new head coach in Baxley in February.

Appling went 9-2 with an elite 8 appearance in 2020. Expectations are high at Appling going into 2021.

How the team evolves under Mullis will be a key. He served as the DC under Rick Tomberlin in 2020.

Resources and athletes are in place at Appling to be a serious contender at the AAA level. Appling and Pierce County will battle for the region championship in 2021.

9.Vidalia: The Indians are pretty good most years. They will be good again in 2021. Consistent AA program in South East Georgia.

10.MCA: The McIntosh County Buccaneers will be a force in 1-A football.

Coach Bradley Warren is building something special in Darien. This is a football team on the rise and could make a postseason run this fall.

Will Metter be as good as they were in 2020? I don’t think so, and I’m calling a region championship for the Bucs in May.  Yes, Trenton Johnson graduated, but MCA always has a RB coming through the pipeline.

Just missing out: Jeff Davis and Wayne County. I did not include Savannah schools in my rankings. Why you ask? Here is your answer, because I didn’t want to.