A couple of Class AAA quarterbacks from north Georgia had nights to remember on Friday.
In Gainesville, East Hall's Austin Parker passed for 457 yards and five touchdowns against Habersham Central. In Tunnel Hill, Ringgold's Cole Kibler passed for 452 and four against Northwest Whitfield.
Ironically, their teams lost to higher-classification schools - East Hall to Habersham Central 72-55 and Ringgold to Northwest Whitfield 48-29.
The quarterbacks have more in common. Both were good last season. Parker threw for 2,626 yards and 27 touchdowns. Kibler threw for 2,492 and 26.
Both are about 6 feet tall, and neither has a scholarship offer. Kibler, a junior, has had several schools contacting the Ringgold coaching staff, including Ivy League schools Harvard and Dartmouth.
It's later in the game Parker, who East Hall coach Bryan Gray says should be a "no-brainer" prospect.
"He is a tremendous leader and person; kids gravitate towards him," Gray said. "Sadly, he is highly under-looked. He is 5-10, and people seem to be shy about that. I am completely mystified. He is extremely athletic, very strong arm, very intelligent. Habersham is a very athletic AAAAAA team this year. It is not like he went against a lesser program."
The performances of Parker and Kibler are among the better ones featured this week. Here are more.
Top five
*East Hall QB Austin Parker was 21-of-33 passing for 457 yards and five touchdowns in a 72-55 loss to Habersham Central. Parker rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown on four carries.
*Harrison QB Justin Fields was 11-of-18 passing for 227 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries in a 44-14 victory over East Paulding. Steven Peterson had three receptions, all for touchdowns covering 157 yards.
*Lovejoy RB Zion Custis rushed for 278 yards and six touchdowns on 31 carries in a 41-21 victory over East Coweta.
*Northwest Whitfield RB Dominique Sistrunk rushed for 257 yards and five touchdowns (34, 1, 4, 44, 75 yards) in a 48-29 victory over Ringgold.
*Ringgold QB Cole Kibler was 26-of-43 passing for 452 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-29 loss to Northwest Whitfield.
Best of the rest
*Central Gwinnett QB Jarren Williams was 20-of-35 passing for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-24 victory over South Gwinnett. Williams rushed for 51 yards.
*Chestatee RB Nick Lyles rushed for 184 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries in a 42-12 victory over North Hall.
*Coffee DL Derick Newton was in on seven tackles for losses in a 35-20 victory over Effingham County.
*Dodge County QB Nic Cummings rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries and was 7-of-12 passing for 72 yards in a 14-13 victory over Vidalia.
*Duluth QB Jalil El-Amin was 18-of-28 passing for 315 yards with two touchdowns in a 37-22 loss to Alcovy. He also scored a touchdown. WR William Huzzie had nine catches for 190 yards and a touchdown.
*Eastside WR Brayden Harper had seven catches for 130 yards and a touchdown in a 50-6 win over Luella.
*Elbert County ATH Tay Huff rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, caught a 40-yard pass and returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown with a minute to go in a 37-29 victory over Hart County.
*Fellowship Christian DE Billy McCurry had 12 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for losses and a forced fumble in a 47-14 victory over Atkinson County.
*Fitzgerald QB James Graham rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 210 yards in a 25-22 loss to Hapeville Charter.
*Jefferson County RB Nikel Stone had 205 total yards in a 37-13 victory over Savannah Christian. He had five catches for 158 yards. Quarterbacks Chardell Hales and Jaden Jenkins were a combined 17-of-26 passing for 390 yards and five touchdowns.
*Jones County ATH Drake Bolus had 64 yards rushing and 79 receiving and returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in a 42-3 victory over Houston County. QB Teldrick Ross rushed for 161 yards and passed for 107.
*Harris County RB Cal'von Harris rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 46-45 victory over Carver of Columbus. Harris had 34 rushing attempts. He had 298 total yards.
*Hughes LB Dequavious Parker had 3.5 sacks in a 28-7 victory over Mundy's Mill.
*Kell DE Justin Talley had eight tackles - 3.5 behind the line for 21 yards in losses - in a 28-27 overtime loss to No. 1 Tucker of Class AAAAAA.
*Lassiter WR Chase Branch had five catches for 108 yards and a touchdown in a 45-21 victory over Johns Creek. He also drew a pass interference penalty on third-and-10.
*Lowndes LB/PK Tyson Shaw had a sack and two tackles for losses and returned a fumble 44 yards for a touchdown in a 45-0 victory over Valdosta. Shaw also put five kickoffs into the end zone and one punt inside the 20-yard line.
*Marietta QB Harrison Bailey was 22-of-31 passing for 332 yards and five touchdowns in a 52-0 victory over Wheeler. WR Ramel Keyton had six catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
*Mount Pisgah QB Jacob Cendoya was 15-of-22 passing for 346 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries in a 49-35 victory over Holy Innocents'.
*Murray County RB Tucker Gregg rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in a 36-14 victory over Gordon Central. Gregg had two receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown.
*Newton DE Dre Butler had three sacks in a 39-24 victory over Drew.
*North Murray QB Preston Poag Jr. rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on five carries and was 11-of-21 passing for 289 yards and four touchdowns in a 57-21 victory over Christian Heritage. The game's head coaches were Poag's father (Poag Sr. of North Murray) and uncle (Jay Poag of Christian Heritage).
*North Paulding LB Tyler Bird had 12 tackles, two tackles for losses, two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a 27-0 victory over South Paulding.
*Ola RB Chris Rodriguez rushed for 224 yards and five touchdowns on 32 carries in a 41-25 victory over Pike County.
*South Forsyth OLB/DE Ryan LaFlamme had 5.0 behind-the-line tackles for 21 yards in losses and four sacks in a 17-14 overtime victory over Roswell. LaFlamme's 10-yard sack in overtime was the game's pivotal play.
*Southwest DeKalb QB Justin Tomlin rushed for 163 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries and was 9-of-14 passing for 205 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-2 victory over Redan.
*Strong Rock Christian freshman Jaylen Blackwell rushed for 153 yards on 16 carries and had three catches for 31 yards in a 33-13 victory over Providence Christian.
*Troup QB Montez Crowe was 28-of-38 passing for 415 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-28 victory over Hardaway. WR Jamari Thrash had seven catches for 150 yards.
*Tucker WR Josh Vann had seven catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-27 victory over Kell. Vann had eight catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns last season against Kell, but his team lost that one 21-14, Tucker's only regular-season setback.
*Warner Robins RB/WR Jaeven West had nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown in a 28-17 victory over Northside of Warner Robins.
*Westside (Macon) sophomore QB Victor Dixon Jr. was 12-of-19 passing for 208 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-7 victory over Howard.
*Winder-Barrow WR/CB Jaidon Turner had five receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown, five tackles and an interception, which he returned 54 yards for a touchdown, in a 35-28 victory over Clarke Central. DE Logan Cash had two sacks and another tackle for a loss and forced two fumbles.
*Woodland (Stockbridge) RB Kareem Rogers rushed for 112 yards and scored three touchdowns on just 10 carries in a 42-0 victory over Union Grove.
Line of distinction
*The Carver (Atlanta) offensive line of Travis Dixon, DeAaron Montford, Kentavious smith, Jonathan Strickland and Gwendale Turner blocked for 100-yard rushers Jo'quavious Marks (146) and Tony Jones (162) in a 50-18 victory over Lithonia. QB Octavious Battle had 220 yards passing, and Quntavious Monday had 100 yards receiving.
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