Lee County makes Corky Kell Classic official

Lee County High School made their participation in the Corky Kell Classic official Wednesday morning.

In a ceremony held at the Mercer University football complex, Lee County coach Dean Fabrizio along with the head coaches of the three other participating schools signed contracts announcing their teams will play in the season-opening event.

“This is one of the most prestigious events in Georgia,” Fabrizio said. “To be invited to this is a big honor for our teams, our school and our community. It is exciting to be a part of.”

The Corky Kell Classic, a nine-game, three-day, three-site event that kicks off the GHSA football season will begin Thursday, Aug. 18 at Five Star Stadium with a doubleheader featuring the four Middle Georgia teams.

The 25th anniversary of the event expanded the format into three days. The event will move to a venue outside of metro Atlanta for the first time.

The Trojans will face Jones County in the event while Houston County takes on Mary Persons.

According to the schedule on the Corky Kell website, Houston County will take on Mary Persons at 5:45 p.m. Houston County (11-2) was in a three-way tie for GHSA Region 2-AAAAA title this season and was the region’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs while Mary Persons (11-1) claimed the Region 2-AAAA crown.

Lee County and Houston County will be rivals in the new Region 1-6A this fall when the GHSA region alignments begin.

At 8:45 p.m., Lee County, will face Jones County, which finished in a tie with Houston County and Northside-Warner Robins for the Region 2-AAAAA title and was the region’s No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

“Jones County has a really good football team,” Fabrizio said. “This is going to give us a good measuring stick right off the bat on what type of team we have, what areas we need to improve on and what areas we are strong at. We will know right away what adjustments we need to make as we go forward after the opening game.”

The Trojans finished last season with a 6-4 record, but due to the new region alignment, will be facing mostly new competition.

Both games will be telecast by Fox Sports Southeast, as will the games played Friday, Aug. 19 at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga. and Saturday, Aug. 20 at the Georgia Dome.

“This is something I have watched every year,” Fabrizio said. “To be a part of this, especially for them to come get a team out of South Georgia to be a part of this, we feel like it is a really big honor for us.”