The 2021 Georgia High school football will kick off its annual Corky Kell Classic today at West Forsyth High School. The Classic will last four days from Wednesday until Thursday and will feature two APS schools and one Fulton County School competing in the jamboree.
Mays and Carver High School are the two schools representing APS in the classic and both will play Wednesday at West Forsyth.
The Mays Raiders will kick off at 5:30 p.m. against Cherokee and will seek their first win in the classic. After being the first team in APS to be invited to the classic in 2018, the Raiders have come close to getting their first win in their first two appearances but struggled last year against West Forsyth losing 42-6.
This season, they will be returning their starting quarterback Quintavious Johnson who took over the reins last season. Johnson’s play in last year’s game against West Forsyth showed Raiders coaches and players a lot as he earned the starting quarterback position for the rest of the season.
Last season, the Raiders finished 3-7 last season and 1-5 in region 6 4A, one of the worst seasons under Raiders head coach Niketa Battle.
The Carver-Atlanta Panthers is the other APS team in the Corky Kell Classic. They will play West Forsyth at 8:30 p.m. following Mays and Cherokee.
The Panthers made their appearance in the Corky Kell last season against Cherokee and lost 38-12. That did not stop them from having a successful season as they managed to make it to the state quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champion Pierce County 51-18.
This season, they return a lot of players on defense including senior middle linebacker Dialo Mosely, Devonte Amasiani and Terrell Lightfoot, Jr.
Offensively, they add to their already highly talented backfield with Douglass transfer Quintavious Lockett who was Class AA all state a year before. Senior running back Jarveous Brown who led the Panthers last season in rushing will look to have a great senior season after getting injured in the first round last season against Hart County.
While injuries in last year’s playoffs and this offseason have affected the Panthers, they look forward to being ready to go Wednesday night. For the full Corky Kell schedule, click this link.
