These Atlanta high schools will be first to play football at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Local high school football teams to take over new stadium Oct. 21
Atlanta Falcons fans cheer before an exhibition game against the Arizona Cardinals at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 26. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Atlanta Falcons fans cheer before an exhibition game against the Arizona Cardinals at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 26. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Forget the Falcons, the crowds who come to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Oct. 21 will be cheering on the Knights, Jaguars, Hornets, Bulldogs, Spartans, and Raiders.

Local high school football players will get a chance this fall to shine under some very bright lights.

Just months after the new stadium opened to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, a handful of Atlanta Public Schools’ football teams will get a chance to play in a professional stadium.

Three Oct. 21 football games are the first high school contests to take place in the new downtown digs, APS athletic director Jasper Jewell told school board members Tuesday.

“APS is poised to make history as the first set of high school teams to play in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” he said.

“Can you repeat that first part about making history?” asked school board member Byron Amos.

The Knights of Grady High School will take on the Jaguars of Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School in the first high school game at 1 p.m.

At 4 p.m., the South Atlanta High School Hornets will play the Washington High School Bulldogs.

The day’s last game, at 7 p.m., pits the South Paulding High School Spartans of Paulding County Schools against Atlanta’s Benjamin E. Mays High School Raiders.

The high school game day is billed as “Battle at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.”

Tickets will be $15 each if purchased in advance.

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