Five weeks into the 2023 high school football season, several Savannah teams have emerged as playoff and championship contenders. The race for area Player of the Year is beginning to take shape as well. For most of the teams around Savannah competing in the Georgia High School Association (GHSA), the region schedule began last week (September 15) or this Friday, September 22.

In non-GHSA news, the Blazers of Bethesda Academy have started their South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) season with a perfect 5-0 record behind a trio of star seniors. Let’s take a look at the Blazers’ start and some other mid-season storylines.

THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE

The back-to-back reigning Class 4A state champion Benedictine Cadets have started their 2023 season with an unblemished 5-0 record, picking up right where they left off to end 2022. Danny Britt’s team began the year ranked No. 1 in Class 4A across all major polls and they remain atop the 4A polls at the midway mark. Wins at Julius Chambers (NC) and Westminster coupled with home victories over Class 5A No. 1 Ware County and Hebron Christian Academy of Class 3A give BC a nice strength of schedule entering Region 3-4A play next week against New Hampstead.

Calvary (4-0, 1-0) is ranked No. 2 in Class 3A and the Cavs will be shooting for the program’s 300th all-time win on September 15 at Class 3A No. 5 Savannah Christian (3-1, 1-0) in a De Facto Region 3-3A title tilt at Pooler Stadium. That game is being televised on WSAV-CW at 7:30 and the second half will be shown on WSAV (NBC) in the Savannah market.

In terms of best teams in the city, these three private school powers have separated themselves from the rest.

‘PLAYER OF THE YEAR’ WATCH

I put this subtitle in quotations because there is no actual “Player of the Year” for the specific teams covered here, per say. I’m only including players from the “Savannah area” teams and those teams are every Savannah school (GHSA, GIAA, SCISA) as well as Effingham County, South Effingham, Bryan County and Richmond Hill.

With that disclaimer, the players atop my mythical rankings through games played on September 15 are listed (in no specific order) below. Send criticisms to me on Twitter (X), @JaudonSports.

JAKE MERKLINGER – SENIOR – CALVARY DAY

Calvary’s 4-star quarterback is 44-of-67 (.657) passing for 858 yards and 12 touchdowns with no interceptions. The University of Tennessee commit has also added 156 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to lead a Calvary offense scoring more than 50 points per game.

LUKE KROMENHOEK – SENIOR – BENEDICTINE

Benedictine’s 4-star quarterback committed to Florida State has heated up of late. His stats don’t yet reflect his importance to the club, but those who watch the Cadets know that Kromenhoek is critical to their success. He is 57-of-95 (.600) passing for 812 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for three touchdowns and 262 yards.

BRYCE BAKER – SENIOR – BENEDICTINE

Baker has emerged in his senior season, racking up more than 30 tackles at linebacker as well as rushing for 268 yards and four touchdowns at running back for top-ranked BC. He has an offer from Georgia Southern University, among other interested schools. Baker has an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery through five games.

ZO SMALLS – JUNIOR – SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN

Smalls rushed for more than 175 yards against Savannah Country Day (win, 35-0) on September 15 at Saunders Field. He eclipsed the 2,000-yard career rushing milestone in the region 3-3A opener and has 424 yards and eight touchdowns on 47 carries through four games.

AUSTIN CLEMONS – SENIOR – BRYAN COUNTY

If one game could encapsulate what a player means to his team, Clemons’ such game came on September 15 in Week 5. The running back/linebacker rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns, scored two two-point conversions, had three TFL’s and scored all of his team’s points in a 22-14 victory at Portal.

He has eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in all four games and has 661 yards and six touchdowns on 88 carries. At linebacker, “Smush” has recorded 46 tackles (nine TFL’s) and four sacks to go along with two forced fumbles and an interception.

NICK BLISS – SENIOR – RICHMOND HILL

A Swiss Army Knife for head coach Matt LeZotte’s team, Bliss has been a touchdown machine through five games. He has more than 290 receiving yards and more than 190 rushing yards while adding eight rushing scores and four receiving touchdowns.

NOAH JENKINS – SENIOR – BETHESDA ACADEMY

Jenkins has led the Blazers (5-0) to an undefeated start with 619 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 52 carries.

‘AROUND’ THE CITY

Checking in on our teams “around” Savannah, the Bryan County Redskins (4-0) have been one of the best stories in all of South Georgia thus far. Ranked No. 10 in Class 1A-DI entering Week 6, Bryan County has the inside track to a region 3-A DI championship with tests against Screven County and Metter highlighting the region schedule after playing a non-region game at Telfair County (3-0) this week.

South Effingham (3-0) hosts Effingham County (1-3) this week (Sept. 15) in the Region 2-6A opener for both. It’s the 30th meeting of the two rivals. The Mustangs, who are off to their best start since 2019, have lost three in a row and six of the last seven against the Rebels.

Richmond Hill (4-1) closes out its non-region schedule with a September 22 home test against Class 5A No. 3 Coffee (4-0) before beginning a brutally tough region 1-7A four-game slate. The Wildcats have gotten good starts from Bliss and quarterback Kirk Scott (398 pass yards, 207 rush yards) on offense as well as a legitimate shutdown cornerback in junior Brandon McDonald (four passes defended in five games).

NON-GHSA NOTES

Bethesda, as noted above, has started 5-0 with four blowout victories and a win by forfeit (Week 2). In their four games, the Blazers have averaged 45.25 points scored and 1.75 points allowed. They have three straight shutout wins (44-0, 34-0, 53-0) and don’t seem to have any significant roadblocks on the schedule until playing at Beaufort Academy (5-0) in the regular season finale on October 27.

Seniors Triston Randall, Noah Jenkins, Kamerion Lanigan and Caleb Dillon have been superb for coach Antoine Turner’s club. Jenkins might be one of the most underrated running backs around, as he has 619 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 52 carries. Randall has completed 65% of his passes at quarterback with 709 passing yards. He also leads the team with 25 tackles. Dillon has 10 receptions for 248 yards and three touchdowns while Lanigan, a transfer from Calvary Day, has 23 tackles (five TFL’s), two sacks and two forced fumbles.

St. Andrew’s (3-1) and Memorial Day (3-1) are also off to good starts in GIAA play. The two will meet at Memorial Stadium on September 22 in a non-region rivalry that SAS has dominated in recent years. St. Andrew’s has won three of four over Memorial, including a 43-0 victory in 2022.

WEEK 5 (Sept. 15) SCORES

Benedictine 35, Hebron Christian 10

Savannah Christian 35, Savannah Country Day 00

Richmond Hill 28, New Hampstead 26

Carrollton 47, Jenkins 14

Calvary Day 57, Liberty County 07

Bryan County 22, Portal 14

Johnson 20, Beach 09

Brunswick 63, Islands 00

Cross Creek 28, Savannah High 00 (game called in 3Q)

Long County 76, Groves 26

Bethesda 53, Cross Episcopal 00

Colleton Prep 03, Memorial Day 00

WEEK 6 (Sept. 22) SCHEDULE

Calvary Day at Savannah Christian (Pooler Stadium)

Effingham County at South Effingham

Long County at Savannah Country Day

St. Andrew’s at Memorial Day (Memorial Stadium)

Jenkins at Wayne County

Coffee at Richmond Hill

Johnson at Liberty County

Beach at Groves (Islands)

Vidalia at Windsor Forest (Savannah High Stadium)

Bryan County at Telfair County

Bethesda at Palmetto Christian

Saturday (Sept. 23)

Bulloch Academy at Savannah High, noon

This article appears in Connect Savannah | September, 2023.