Cavaliers ranked first in poll

Published 11:14 am Thursday, July 30, 2020

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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The first of many preseason high-school football polls was released this week by Matt Stewart of Georgia Public Broadcasting, and the Callaway Cavaliers are at the top of the heap in Class AA.

The official GPB poll has Callaway in first place coming off another exceptional season under head coach Pete Wiggins.

Callaway went 12-2 and reached the state semifinals for the fourth time since 2013 before losing a 39-35 heart-breaker to Brooks County.

While the Cavaliers lost some gifted players to graduation, including all-state running back Cartavious “Tank” Bigsby, they are expected to be a state-championship contender once again.

The Cavaliers reached the state semifinals in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019, and they made it to the quarterfinals in 2017.

Since the start of the 2008 season, the Cavaliers have won at least one playoff game every year but once.

In the GBP poll, Swainsboro is ranked second, and Rabun County, Union County, Bleckley County, Thomasville, Jefferson County, Pepperell, Bremen and Fitzgerald complete the top 10.

The two teams that played for the Class AA state championship last season, Brooks County and Dublin, have both dropped down to Class A.