As Week 7 of the high school football season approaches in Georgia, there are several teams in the Greater Savannah area who looked primed to make postseason runs.
Savannah Christian (5-0) is ranked No. 1 among Class 3A-A Private Schools in the state, while Calvary Day (4-1) is at No. 7.
Richmond Hill (5-0) is ready to start Region 1-6A play. Benedictine (2-2) has won two in a row as the Cadets get ready for a road trip to Ware County this week.
Jenkins (3-2) showed its mettle in an overtime setback at Calvary Day Friday, and the Warriors look ready to make another strong playoff run.
Here’s a look at some of the top individual players in the Greater Savannah area at the halfway point of the year.
On the public school side, Jenkins senior Trenton Rhodes earned this accolade. Rhodes missed nearly all of his junior season with an ankle injury, but has come back to make a big impact with the Warriors.
He leads the team with 11 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown and has rushed for 228 yards and a score. Rhodes also leads the team with 297 yards in kick and punt returns.
Thomas Blackshear of Calvary Day is a well known talent as one of the top receivers in the state. But Blackshear was limited to eight games last season for the Cavs in a season plagued by injuries.
He’s back playing at a high level as the senior is averaging 158 yards per game receiving. He has 19 catches for 475 yards and six touchdowns in three game for the Cavs (4-1).
The highly-recruited senior was limited by injuries last year. This season he is having a big impact once again with 17 catches for 311 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 66 yards and two more scores, including the game winner in overtime against Jenkins on Friday. He’s expected to announce his commitment soon.
The junior had never thrown a varsity pass until this season, when he took over as the Rebel quarterback after the graduation of Nate Hayes. But Perkins has been excellent for an Effingham squad (2-3) that is averaging 37 points per game. Perkins has completed 69.5% of his passes for 1,234 yards with 12 touchdowns and just one interception.
The sophomore is in his first year as the Cavs starting quarterback after the graduation of Jake Merkinger, now at Tennessee. Mobley has been on target all season as he has completed 75% of his throws for 1,160 yards with 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions for Calvary (4-1).
The junior was already on the radar of college recruiters with offers from USF and Miami of Ohio before he took over as BC’s starting quarterback with the graduation of Luke Kromenhoek, now at Florida State.
Playing against a slate of top notch opponents, Cannon has completed 59% of his throws for 937 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions, while running for 115 yards and two scores. He has picked up an offer from Virginia.
The sophomore had a strong freshman campaign and earned an offer from Kentucky over the summer. He didn’t have any interceptions last season, and already has four on the year to go along with 22 tackles.
The senior receiver had 18 receptions for 318 yards and two scores last season. He already has 17 catches for 412 yards and five touchdowns this year.
Zo Smalls of Savannah Christian has been the man for three years now leading the SCPS offense. He entered Week 6 as the second leading rusher in the state across all classifications.
Smalls, who has committed to play at Charleston Southern, has rushed for 847 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
The senior has rushed for 755 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 7.3 yards per carry for the Wildcats (5-0). He had a career-high 277 yards rushing and four touchdowns in a win over New Hampstead.
The junior is also one of the breakout players of the year. He has rushed for 723 yards and four touchdowns in five games for Bryan County (2-3). He has rushed for at least 100 yards in all five games and had a career-high 214 yards rushing in a loss to Portal.
The senior had a huge game in a 47-44 win at Effingham County as he completed 30 of 49 passes for 470 yards with three touchdowns, while running for a pair of scores.
The senior reeled in 16 catches for 284 yards and five scores in the win at Effingham County.
The junior had seven catches for 233 yards and a touchdown and ran for 74 yards and a score in a win over Westminster.
The senior didn’t have a 100-yard rushing game this season, and broke through for 320 yards and three touchdowns on Friday in a win over Groves.
The senior has done it all for the Wildcats this year, He has rushed for 400 yards and six scores and has six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. An excellent return man, he has 847 all-purpose yards with five pass break ups, and interception and 10 tackles.
The sophomore safety has 36 tackles, including 4.5 for losses and a sack and has rushed for 223 yards and a pair of scores for the Cavs. He has offers from Georgia Southern and Georgia State.
Miles leads SCPS with 42 tackles and has an interception. He has also run for 191 yards and three scores.
The senior has 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks on the defensive line and four catches for 73 yards. He has committed to Clemson.
The senior leads the Atom Smashers with 40 tackles and has rushed for 285 yards and a score.
The senior has 25 tackles and returned a fumble 100 yards for a score. He has rushed for 473 yards and six touchdowns.
The 5-star defensive lineman has 21 tackles with 10 for losses and four sacks. He is expected to announced his commitment to one of his top three schools in Georgia, Miami or USC soon.
The sophomore edge was recently named the top recruit across all positions among sophomores in the country. He has 29 tackles, including 7.5 for losses and three sacks.
The senior edge has 27 tackles and 8.5 sacks for the Cadets. He has committed to play at Miami.
The senior defensive lineman has 20 tackles, including four for losses and a sack. He recently committed to play at LSU.
The junior lineman has 25 tackles, with seven for losses and three sacks in four games. He has offers including Arkansas, Miami and USC.
The senior linebacker is a leader on a strong Wildcat defense, he has 35 tackles on the year.
The senior has 41 tackles and a pair of interceptions for the Warriors, returning one for a touchdown.
The senior linebacker leads the Cavs with 49 tackles and three sacks.
The senior linebacker leads Region 3A Division I with 63 tackles on the year.
The senior leads the team with 36 tackles and has seven for losses and two sacks.
The junior defensive back has 25 tackles and a pick six for the Cadets. He has offers including North Carolina and Georgia Tech.
The junior leads Region 3-3A with 51 tackles.
The Raider group of sophomore Jordan Dillon, junior JT Howell, freshman RJ Brown, center Luke Gunn, Davian Melton and tight end Logan Brooking leads a ground game averaging 313 yards per game.
Ho’O Naki, Brody Miller, Billy Meadows, Thomas Zimbalatti, Brooks Gilbert and Colton Sanchez leads a rushing attack averaging 342 yards per game.
The senior has made all four of his field goals, with a long of 50 yards and is 15 of 15 on extra point attempts, while averaging 44 yards per punt.
The junior is 12 of 12 on extra points and has connected on 2 of 3 field goal attempts with a long of 46 yards.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
