All-Central Georgia honorees, 2019

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Offensive player of the year

JaQues Evans, Dublin

          An all-star tight end last year in a running offense and standout defender, Evans switched positions on offense and turned in pretty much a consensus Class AA player of the year season. The 2,531 yards? Ranks 16th on the state's all-time single-season list. The 40 rushing touchdowns? Tied for 10th on the all-time single-season list, five behind Herschel Walker's best season.

          Evans was almost of an absurd impact. He averaged 9.7 yards a carry, and ran it 19 times game while also playing enough defense for 44 solos and 22 assists, plus six tackles for loss, two sacks, and a pick.

          His easiest job? Punter. Not like he was very busy. His more unique role? Long snapper for kicks during the playoffs.

          Dublin has turned out scores of quality high school players this century, which started just before Roger Holmes took over.

          "Nothing this young man can't do," Holmes said. "One of the best three players I have had the pleasure to coach."

Finalists

Hunter Costlow, Jones County

          Costlow finished eighth in the state in passing yardage, 14th in passing touchdowns, and his 65.7-percent completion mark is sixth among those eight in yards and tied for seventh among those on that touchdown list.

          The senior ran the offense that reached the 5A semifinals, a first in program history. Amid a transition in head coach and some assistants, Costlow's percentage increased a little, yards per game dropped some, completions per game rose, and he cut interceptions in half.

          He's not the runner of most upper-level quarterbacks, but he managed positive yardage on the ground (sacks count against rushing yardage). And he more than carried on the passing proficiency at the position started by Bradley Hunnicutt when Justin Rogers took over as head coach.

Enrico Harden, Mary Persons

          Another Bulldog who hardly came off hte field and was always making plays.

          His numbers in two years as a starter would have been astounding had he been able to stay healthy both seasons after transferring from Lamar County.

          As it is, he averaged 6.2 yards a carry in four varsity seasons - he played in 40 games - and showed as a senior, in 10 of 12 games, what he could do, with 729 yards on 135 carries with 11 touchdowns. In 2019, he caught 22 passes for 455 yards - respectable for a regular receivers - and five touchdowns.

          Throw in 10 kickoff returns for 28 yard a pop plus 31 tackles and four interceptions in the secondary, and Harden's impact is clear.

Notables: WR Jontavis Robertson, Jones County; RB Amaad Foston, John Milledge

Defensive player of the year

Wesley Steiner, Houston County

          To get an idea of how good Steiner is, stats aside, realize that he made first-team all-region in the absurdly powerful Region 1-6A as a sophomore running back on a very unsuccessful team, and despite not cracking 800 yards on the ground.

          Then he was a first-team all-region pick in 2018 in his first year at linebacker, a move forced by a hand injury. And Steiner became known to the big boys of college football.

          In 2019, he helped break the Bears' playoff drought, and was the region's top defensive player.

          Smart, athletic, versatile, Steiner is a posterchild for the high school student-athlete.

          He was in on 81 tackles, with six for loss. His game, as with many elite players, is better than the stats, and competition for this honor was remarkably tight.

          Auburn will find that out.

Finalists

Sergio Allen, Peach County

          Last year's honoree had another stellar season, as expected for a Clemson signee. His resume is full as part of one of the state's top programs of any class.

          Allen's numbers were also down a little bit, and he hasn't been completely healthy in awhile. Still, 14 tackles for loss are pretty good, and he's certainly going to be ready for the step up in the physicality of ACC football.

Spencer Dacus, West Laurens

          An elite wrestler for years, Dacus is a two-time first-teamer who epitomizes the anguish of the "man, if he was a little bit taller" discussion.

          Because if Dacus were two inches taller, he'd have had power 5s visiting Dexter on a regular basis.

          He can play end or linebacker, and uses some of those wrestling techniques to often be unblocked man on man and force double-teams, allowing others on the Raiders' bruising defense to swarm and make plays.

          No secret, he improved on last year's numbers, and is the overall player of the year in a region full of quality players. Those on the 2020 schedule are thrilled to see the end of his high school career.

Romello Height, Dublin

          He was headed to Miami for awhile, and switched to Auburn. That says plenty right there.

          Height is a superb athlete who no doubt inspires salivating in Auburn when the Tiger coaches consider what his potential is when he puts on some weight. A senior season with 31 tackles for loss and 17 sacks ended with a state title, and Height led an underrated defense that was filled with athletic but fundamental football players.

D'Eryk Jackson, West Laurens

          Jackson's numbers have astounded for a few years, and his career ended with a senior year of 129 tackles, a dozen behind the line and nine sacks.

          He led one of Class 4A's top defenses in tackles for three years, which is good news for Kentucky, recipient of a steal in recruiting.

Notable: Ahmad Walker, Warner Robins 

Coach of the Year

Marquis Westbrook, Warner Robins

          Few coaches take over a program that was in the position of Warner Robins: the momentum of two straight trips to the GHSA Class 5A title game, and returning the vast majority of the regulars from the last visit to the big game.

          But the hire of Westbrook was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser for a variety of reasons, experience being the biggest key. He had shared defensive coordinator duties at Warner Robins, not a bad gig on a team racking up yards and points.

          The Demon defense during that run, however, was extremely underrated and in reality was as good and game-controlling as the offense.

          And Westbrook did what predecessor Mike Chastain did: beat teams that had substantially more power-5 and upper-level group-of-5 college prospects, and did so with a brand-new quarterback.

          Warner Robins is currently a program that's a blue-collar collection of "just" quality and fundamentally sound high school football players. The transition to a new head coach - and yes, there was more to the transition than just experience - was substantially better than most anybody expected.

          The Demons weren't going to fall to a .500 team, clearly, but going back to the championship game in a transition year is impressive.

Finalists

Mike Chastain, Jones County

          There's a reason the official job transition took almost no time. Chastain's offensive philosophy fit what Jones County had become on offense. The fit was natural, and it was just then about chemistry and terminology.

          Sure, Chastain took over a team that had most everything in place, and players that fit the schemes that had the Greyhounds among 5A's top programs in recent years. But coaches often take over similar situations and the end result in that first year aren't all that hot.

          Chastain and Justin Rogers are as different personality-wise as their offensive beliefs are similar, and Jones County didn't lose a step.

Keith Hatcher, Mount de Sales

          The Cavs rocking with a Hatcher running things? Ah, a trip down Memory Lane.

          Mount de Sales has not been overly competitive or playoff-bound very often this century, and is still several games below .500 even with the recent resurgence. Clearly, the early playoff exits put a damper on the regular season as is the case with any program.

          But the Cavs' regular seasons in 2018 and 2019 have been fairly rare bright spots, and account for MdS' best two-year record since going 22-4 in 1997-98. That, however, was back in the GISA days. And Mount de Sales is on a run of college-bound players like Dexter Williams and Josiah Cotton.

Roger Holmes, Dublin

          One of the nation's wing-T gurus - why, he's a wing-T businessman and regular clinic host or featured speaker - had it rolling in 2019. Shoot, he doesn't need to speak much, just let the videotape roll.

          Holmes had a pair of major playmakers in JaQues Evans and Romello Height, but the Irish really were propelled by scores of players who made the plays that didn't make the headlines.

          Dublin was heading toward a season like this, and Holmes - one of the best coaches in the state as well as one of the more underrated coaches in the state - kept it on point.

J.T. Wall, John Milledge

          There are reasons why including Wall on this list will inspire a smirk or two.

          It's a GISA program. And GISA is a skeleton of what it once was, to the point of just kind of changing things in the middle of the season. With the absence of the Macon schools as well as other top programs leaving, how tough can it be?

          All true, and all are legitimate points. But sports are about many things, from living up to expectations and being consistent and not overlooking anybody and taking care of business.

          JMA did that in 2019, and has done it under Wall, whose teams rarely stumble below the standard. There's no overconfidence.

          It's only a matter of time before John Milledge joins the parade to the GHSA, and people will see that this program has been on that GHSA Class A competitive level for awhile.

Notable: Jeff Ratliff, Gatewood