MACON, Ga. — Ranging from talented players to changes among coaches to even some bigger conference changes, there are some important storylines to keep an eye on for the first week of Football Friday Night!
13WMAZ's sports anchor, Sami Kostas, shares what she has her eyes on.
Coach changes create a new playing field
We kick off the new season with some familiar faces in new places.
Jesse Hicks takes over as the new head coach at East Laurens. Hicks comes over from Baldwin High School, and he's won over a hundred games in his prep coaching career.
Kevin Patterson leaves an assistant coaches position at Jones County to replace Hicks at Baldwin.
Paul Carroll is the new man in charge at Stratford Academy. It comes after he spent the past six seasons at Howard High School.
Carroll succeeds Chance Jones who's now running the show at Southland Academy.
Trey Porter replaces Carroll as the head Huskie. Porter most recently worked as a college coach in Alabama and Missouri.
A talented crop of players
There is a ton of talent around the state again this season. That includes Houston County quarterback Antwann "A.J." Hill.
He's tossed 79 touchdown passes and thrown for over seven thousand yards during his Bear career. He verbally committed to Memphis last month.
Warner Robins's Demon Isaiah Gibson stands tall on the defensive front. He led the Demons in sacks and quarterback pressures last season. He recently flipped his verbal commitment from Southern Cal to Georgia.
Dodge County's Duke Johnson can play just about anywhere. He's an explosive offensive player who also had over 100 tackles last season on the defensive side of the ball. He committed to Alabama last spring.
Big changes this season
The GHSA's most recent re-classification created a few super regions.
That includes region 1-4A which features four state powerhouses including Perry and Warner Robins along with Benedictine and Ware County.
As is the case every season, 13WMAZ is your go-to spot for everything you need to know about Football Friday Night in Central Georgia.
You can watch as we kick off Tailgate13 at 5:30 p.m. tonight, and the first episode of FFN at 11:35 p.m. as well.