I'm not bashful, so I'll start with the game nearest & dearest to me.
It's "week zero" but Athens Academy travels to Glascock County to open the 2012 regular season tonight. My son & his two cohorts will have all the action as one of the longest-running student produced webcasts in the nation heads into its 12th season of coverage. Pregame starts at 715p, kickoff at 730p
Spartans Webcast
First trip there for all of us (teams have met twice in the late 90s) so not sure what we're going to find in the 4th smallest county in Georgia (pop just over 3,000). We're hoping for sufficient bandwidth to do our usual full video production but are prepared to go old-school & do audio-only if necessary. The kids love seeing web traffic from all over the country so a click during the coverage would be appreciated.
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How about this matchup: 2-time defending GISA Class AA champ Piedmont Academy at 2-time defending GISA Class A champ Westwood Academy, both teams riding 26 game winning streaks. Believed to be the most consecutive wins to face each other in state history but one of those streaks has to end tonight in Camilla.
This is the small (or even tiny) private school league instead of the dominant association but how often does a matchup like this happen? And how many coaches would be willing to put their streak on the line in a non-region season opener? Piedmont is where my son started school many years ago, I know players, coaches and parents who are involved in this one. Pre-season reports seem to make Westwood a pretty heavy favorite at home, graduation hit Piedmont hard after last season.
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The #1 HS team in the nation - Grayson - opens the season against McEachern in the Georgia Dome as part of the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic. If you wonder why they're so highly regarded, look no further than the defense
Grayson could have seven FBS signees on its defense this season. What's the record? We don't know. But Grayson's seven will line up something like this - DE Robert Nkemdiche (Clemson), DE Jack Banda (Arizona), DT Zach Barnes (Tennessee), OLB Wayne Gallman (Clemson), DB David Kamara (Clemson), DB Ryan Carter (Ole Miss offer, and others) and DB Kasey Gaines (offer from Penn State). "And that doesn't include one of our best players, Jordan Germany," said Grayson coach Mickey Conn, who expresses amazement that Germany doesn't have similar offers. "He's unbelievable." Germany is the outside linebacker opposite Gallman and also plays running back.