The state is preparing for the Georgia High School Football Championships at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Dec. 16 to 18, 2024.
GPB’s Pamela Kirkland spoke with Jon Nelson of GPB Sports about what to expect from the growing sport of flag football.
TRANSCRIPT
Pamela Kirkland: Joining me now is the man who’s been all over every game this season. GPB sports broadcaster Jon Nelson. Jon, thanks for joining me.
Jon Nelson: You know, I go from here to Mercedes-Benz for the next three days, so it’s going to be a fun ride, I’ll tell you that.
Pamela Kirkland: We know where your home is going to be. So, John, Southeast Bullock High School’s got a great story. McEachern High School has been ranked number one all season. But give us the lowdown. What are the matchups that you’re watching this week?
Jon Nelson: I love all of my children equally. Come on, now. I’m going to be watching all of them. Those four and the all the championship games that are tackle football. Hannah Goodin and the cast the thousands, the GPB Army, as Matt Stewart calls us, we’re going to be there the whole time. I’ve just been really enthused about how the sport has continued to grow. This is the fourth season, and it’s the first year that we have four separate divisions, four championship games. So you get to see just in championship games alone how the sport has grown here in the state of Georgia.
Pamela Kirkland: Yes. And I want to talk about the talent, too, because the level of skill on display in these games has just been so impressive. What do you think is behind this rise in competition and just the talent that we’ve seen across the board?
Jon Nelson: I you know, the the attention to detail and when you have all of these these coaching staffs and these programs where you have multi-sport athletes that are diving into flag football and you’re now to the point where you are getting college scholarships to play flag football, there have been championships in the past where we’ve broadcast a game and a student athlete literally will get a college scholarship offer to play flag immediately on the field after the game is over. So the dedication to craft the attention to detail and just making sure that it is treated as serious as all of the other sports that are on our respective campus. That’s what you’re seeing. And the athleticism has been on display.
Pamela Kirkland: And for those who have may not tuned in before, what makes girls flag football such an exciting sport to watch?
Jon Nelson: t literally is like, and I’m going to date myself with this reference, literally, it’s like when you have a record player and the record player could either play 33 1/3 R.P.M., 45 RPM or 78. [Flag] is like football at 78 RPMs and literally it’s action. Everybody’s eligible. You’ve got to pay attention to the rules and all these kinds of things. We’ve had exciting games that have gone to overtime in the past to decide champions. So all of these things that go into this, this stew that is the championships, we get to see it. I actually had folks on social media reach out to us at GPB Sports and let us know that this (meaning flag football) was the addiction they didn’t know they had when it came to watching sports until they started watching the championship games. And so it’s been it’s fun to see folks get addicted to watching flag football at something that they didn’t watch before. They watch it. They get hooked.
Pamela Kirkland: That’s amazing. And I know you said you love all your children equally, but I want to talk about the first matchups we’re going to see. What can people expect?
Jon Nelson: Southeast Bullock In Columbus, Southeast Bullock. They had not lost in program history. Brooklyn, Georgia was one of the the foci, I think, is the proper focuses, foci. One of the the central points of flag football in the state of Georgia. Southeast Bullock had never lost a game in program history until the playoffs this year. 77 wins in a row. They’re going to be playing Columbus and it’ll be good to see them. Greenbrier makes a return to the championships on day one. Pace Academy and Pulp. Pulp has a father and son coaching duo, and they’re nationally ranked and Pope is chasing after another title in back to back years. And then McEachern. They’ve been running roughshod over everybody, putting up a lot of points and they’re going to start day three of the championships with title game number four in Flag Division four. So you’ve got offenses, you’ve got history, you’ve got pedigrees, you’ve got a husband and wife at Southeast Bullock. You’ve got a father and son at Pope that are part of the coaching trees. And there’s a lot of great storylines.
Pamela Kirkland: I’m going to have to look up folks, because I may have just learned a new word. You can watch every game and catch Jon on GPB TV. You can also stream the games online at GPB.org or through the GPB Sports app. Jon Nelson, GPB sports broadcaster. We’ll be watching. Thank you so much for joining me.
Jon Nelson: Good to be the focus of everything going on for the championships.
For more information on the GHSA championships, visit GPB.org/sports.
