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Corky Kell Classic preview: Kell vs. East Coweta

The 27th annual Corky Kell Classic will conclude with five big-time matchups on Saturday, all taking place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

KELL vs. EAST COWETA

WHERE: Mercedes-Benz Stadium

WHEN: Saturday at 9 a.m. EST

TV: The ATL

WEB: 11Alive.com | Facebook Live | YouTube

KELL LONGHORNS

Head Coach: Brett Sloan

Status: Lost to Flowery Branch in the 5A playoffs last year

Preseason State Ranking: No. 7 in 5A (Georgia High School Football Daily)

2017 Record: 5-6

2017 Legacy: The Longhorns surrendered 35-plus points to the opposition six times last season.

SCORE ATLANTA PREVIEW

The Longhorns will rely heavily on eight returning starters on the defensive side of the ball and tremendous confidence has been placed on the experienced starters to help guide the others.

“Defensively, we are returning eight starters,” Sloan said. “So we are going to lean on that side of the ball for a little while, I think. We have a good returning corps at the linebacker spot that I think will be led by Branson Hall. He was a sophomore who, I feel, was one of our most consistent linebackers last year. He’s coming off an injury, but he will be back. [We will] plug in a couple of young guys like Cameron Ball, who played a lot for us at safety. But he is going to play a lot on defense. There’s a young guy who got hurt against Rome last year, Nate Woghiren, who is going to be a really good player for us at linebacker.”

“There’s Andrew Parlato on the defensive line, he was second-team all-region as a sophomore,” Sloan continued. “We have a couple of other sophomores who played a lot in Marcus Anderson and Vincent Dinkins. We have another returning defensive end who will be a senior in Justin Holt. He’s a bit undersized but he is very quick and causes some problems for people.”

Focus will be key as the Longhorns enter the 2018 season. Last season, Kell's lapses of focus, Sloan feels, let several close games slip away, including the 28-27 loss to Tucker in overtime at Georgia State Stadium in the Corky Kell Classic. The Longhorns had two other closely contested losses as they fell to Lassiter 38-35 and Carrollton 45-42. Turn those three games — decided by a total of seven points — around, and a 5-6 season turns into an 8-3 showing. This year, Sloan hopes to keep his team zoned in.

“They know what inconsistency can do to us,” Sloan said. "I feel like last year, there were spurts where we played really good defense but then sometimes we would lose our focus, our eyes wouldn’t be in the right place, we wouldn’t play our technique and we wouldn’t do some of the small things that you have to do every down on defense. I think they understand the implications now and I think that will help us on the defensive side of the ball."

On the offensive side of the ball, Kell, which is only returning three starters, will draw on quarterback Evan Conley’s talents to lead the charge. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior was 179-of-285 passing for 2,240 yards and 22 touchdowns last year, adding four rushing touchdowns.

"It's just his experience," Sloan said of his quarterback. "He has started every game of his high school career except one. He started every game as a freshman but there was one game last year that he didn’t start, because of injury. He actually came in the game in the second half and brought us back to a victory against East Paulding. There's just no situation that Evan hasn’t seen and no situation that he hasn’t been in. Just that calming presence and that experience is going to be big for us as we grow some of our younger players up on that side of the ball."

One of Conley’s targets will be senior Sammy Blancato. The 5-10, 170-pound receiver caught 19 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns last season. Sloan is excited to see Blancato’s numbers swell in his senior season.

"We are excited about Sammy," Sloan said. "He just comes to work, does the right things every day, knows what to do. He is a competitor. No one on the football field out-competes Sammy. He will fight for the ball, he is a really, really good high school football player and we are excited about what he is going to do this year. He is just a great competitor and will do whatever it takes to win."

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EAST COWETA INDIANS

Head Coach: John Small

Status: No playoff appearance in 2017

Preseason State Ranking: Unranked (Georgia High School Football Daily)

2017 Record: 5-5

2017 Legacy: East Coweta scored 28 or more points nine times last season ... but only wound up with a .500 mark

SCORE ATLANTA PREVIEW

The Indians are returning a solid batch of offensive players and their experience will aid in the transition at the quarterback position.

Gerald Green, a 5-10, 190-pound senior running back, rushed for over 900 yards as a junior and scored more than 20 touchdowns, including three kickoff returns for touchdowns. Senior Riley Jewett, a 6-3, 270-pound offensive linesman, started as a tackle last year and will also be showing at the guard position this year.

"Gerald is a special player," Small said. "He is 5-10, 190 pounds and built like a rock. He's an explosive kid, one of the most explosive kids I’ve been around. He’s fast but a very powerful kid. He packs a punch. He can run between the tackles, but he can also get outside the tackles. He’s a guy that you look at, as a coach, and think that every time he touches it, he has a chance. He has elite speed and power. It's just a matter of getting him to the second level and if he gets there, it’s just a matter of time before he outruns somebody."

Senior Ron Pettaway, a 6-2, 275-pound offensive lineman, started 10 games as a junior, giving him critical experience up front.

An experienced receiver corps will also return for the Indians. Senior Brayden Carey (6-1, 185) and juniors J.J. Freed (6-3, 175) and Rakiyan Moss (5-8, 140) will be the main targets and each has game experience.

Defensively, the Indians return around 20 players who have substantial playing time from last year. The defensive front was young last year, and this season, look for the extra experience to pay off. Several all-county and all-region players litter the roster. Seniors Taylor McCawley (6-1, 220-pound LB), Dantarius "Snook" Chunn (5-9, 175-pound DB/ATH), Jalen Whisby (6-0, 180-pound S) and Devin Holmes (6-0, 215-pound LB) are defensive players who earned postseason recognition last year.

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