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Game Overview

While growing up in Shelby County in the early 2000’s, Montgomery Catholic coach Kirk Johnson and Moody coach Jake Ganus never would have guessed they’d still be competing against one another almost two decades later.

Johnson played ball at Shelby County High and Cornerstone Christian before attending Huntington College. Ganus starred at Chelsea High before signing with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he started for three years before transferring to Georgia State when the UAB program was shut down in 2014.

Team Preview: Montgomery Catholic Knights

Since taking over as the head coach at Montgomery Catholic, Kirk Johnson has been on a mission. His overall record with this senior class is 54-2. His team’s latest loss was in the 2022 Championship Game. The team’s last regular season loss was in September of 2020.

The offense churns out over 43 points per game and the defense gives up six points per game. The Knights defense recorded six shutouts this season, and they only had one game with a point differential of less than 14 points. This is a dominant team.

The offensive leadership is primarily underclassmen led by freshman quarterback Kingston Preyer and a trio of junior receivers: JJ Williams, BJ Bedgood and Michael Sheffield. Combined, the three have over 2,100 yards receiving and 25 touchdowns. Junior running back Josh Harriell ran for over 1,000 yards, and senior Giavonni Hayner ran for more than 900 yards with a combined 25 scores. To finish it off, Aaron Dees and KJ Washington anchored a solid offensive line.

The defense is led by Tulane commit Jo Pierce, a defensive back, and Rickie Williams joins him on the backside of the defense. Miles Khatri, Charles Chappelle and Kam Miller are set at linebacker, and KJ Washington and Dylan Rogers are stalwarts on the defensive line. All but Khatri are seniors.

The Knights have rushed for over 3,000 yards and passed for another 2,500 yards. Their offense is as explosive as their defense is nasty.

Team Preview: Moody Blue Devils

Moody got off to a rough start with two losses. But the Blue Devils were almost unstoppable once they hit their stride, winning 11 back-to-back games.

Moody surrendered less than 11 points per game. The defense is led by senior Sidney Walton, a Tennessee commit. Joining Walton on defense are: linebackers Jagger Ludolph, Kaleb Goff and Ba’Roc Willis and defensive lineman Cam Mallory.

Senior quarterback Charlie Johnson leads the Blue Devil offense. He aired it out for over 2,700 yards and 32 touchdowns. His favorite receivers were junior Josiah Dozier (1,046 receiving yards) and Jalijah Rutledge, a sophomore. Junior Kam Meadows (976 yards) and senior Bravis Cave, Jr. (932 yards) lead the running attack. They combined for 17 touchdowns.

“We played a tough schedule,” Ganus said. “These guys bought into the culture and our seniors provided real leadership.”

Final Thoughts

Thursday night’s question will be can Moody stop the Montgomery Catholic juggernaut? The answer will be discovered on APT.

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APT's high school football previews give an overview of the Super 7 Championship teams. They include coach interviews, player stats and more. See all previews and view the full schedule here.