Deer Park® Fueled by Nature | Team of the Year - GHSA
Check Out the Deer Park Team of the Year Winners
This season, Deer Park® is teaming up with the GHSA as the “Official Natural Water Partner” of Georgia high school football. Together, we are proud to support athletes, coaches, fans, parents, booster clubs and more! This season, we honored one team from each classification with the Deer Park “Fueled by Nature Team of the Year” award. See all of our winners below.
Voting is open through 12.31.22 and winners will be announced in January 2023.
Bowdon won its final 13 games to finish 14-1 and win its third state title in school history, first since 1992. The Red Devils were the number 1 ranked team in the state all year and beat Schley County 39-31 in the Georgia 1A Division 1 championship.
The Bears finished with a strong 11-2 record losing only to Appling Co & powerhouse Fellowship Christian in the quarter finals. Pierce County has now won 11 or more games five years in a row, including their 2020 state championship.
Sandy Creek won its fourth football state championship after beating rival Cedar Grove 21-17 in a thriller. The victory not only secured the state championship but avenged a regular season loss to the defending champions Cedar Grove. The Patriots finished 13-2 in a very competitive region of GHSA football.
The Bulldogs undefeated season and pursuit of a state championship came to an end with a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to defending state champion Benedictine. Cedartown fell one yard shy on winning its first championship since 1963. The Bulldogs finished 14-1 after losing quite a few starters from last year’s semi-final team.
Ware County defeated two-time defending state champion Warner Robins 38-13 to hoist their first state title in school history and complete an undefeated season at 14-0. “We had an incredible group of seniors that had one heck of a chip on their shoulder. You want to talk about accountability; they held us coaches to a higher standard,” said Coach Jason Strickland.
The Panthers won their first ever state championship beating Gainesville 35-28 and finishing with a perfect 14-0 season. Langston Hughes was ranked as the number 1 team all season, and they were led by a high-powered offense featuring talented Printess “Air” Noland who threw for over 4,000 yards.
After moving up to 7A and into a tough region, the Lions finished with a strong 9-4 season after being eliminated from the playoffs by eventual state champion Mill Creek. Despite losing some key players on both offense and defense, the Lions almost finished with double digit wins to match their 2021 season. The future is bright for the Westlake Lions.