BLITZ Preseason Predictions: Statistical Leaders (How Close Were We?)

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We released our annual Preseason Statistical Leader Predictions back in late July. You can see that story here. So now, with the 2023 season behind us, we check back to see if we were wrong or right. Our predicted leaders are listed for reference, with the actual leader next to that. NOTE – these numbers are after the regular season but before the playoffs.

OFFENSIVE PREDICTED LEADERS

Passing Yards – Caiden Tanner (Union County) – CORRECT!
Tanner’s 2,637 was far and away the best in our area

Passing TD – Ty Truelove (Rabun County) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Caiden Tanner (Union) led with 25; Truelove was 2nd with 19

QB Total Yards Pass+Rush – Tripp Nix (White County) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Caiden Tanner (Union) led with 3,174 total yds; Nix was 2nd with 2,193

QB Total TD – Ty Truelove (Rabun County) – INCORRECT!
Caiden Tanner (Union) led with 32 total TD and Tripp Nix (White) had 31 TD; Truelove was 4th with 23

QB TD:INT Ratio – Ty Truelove (Rabun County) – INCORRECT!
Cal Faulkner (Lumpkin) had the best ratio of 12:1. Truelove was 2nd at 7:1.

Rushing Yards – Jaiden Daniels (Commerce) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Mason Sullens (Lumpkin) led with 1,849, but Daniels was 2nd with 1,509

Rushing TD – Sammy Brown (Jefferson) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Mason Sullens (Lumpkin) led with 29; Brown was 2nd with 24

RB Total Yards Rush+Receiving – Javin Gordon (Stephens County) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Mason Sullens (Lumpkin) led with 1,867 (mostly all rushing), but Gordon was 3rd with 1,578

RB Total TD – Sammy Brown (Jefferson) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Mason Sullens (Lumpkin) led with 29 (all rushing), but Brown was 2nd with 27

Yards Per Carry – Sammy Brown (Jefferson) – CORRECT!
Brown led at 8.6 YPC, almost a yard better than any other local player

Receiving Yards – Jensen Goble (Union County) – CORRECT!
Goble led all players with 905 yds, 100 better than anyone else….and he missed an entire game

Receiving TD – Willie Goodwyn (Rabun County) – CORRECT!
Goodwyn had 12 TD to lead the area, 4 better than the next-best

Receptions – Zeke Whittington (Habersham Central) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Jensen Goble (Union) led with 69 receptions, but Whittington was 2nd with 56

Yards Per Reception (min 30 receptions) – Jasec Smith (Stephens County) – INCORRECT!
Willie Goodwyn (Rabun) averaged 20.5 YPC; Smith averaged 13.9 to rank among the top 10.

DEFENSIVE PREDICTED LEADERS

Tackles – Braden Henslee (Habersham Central) – INCORRECT!
Jon Scott (White County) led with 158 TKL. Henslee had 83.

Sacks – Aidan Butts (Stephens County) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Teammate Dawson Childs led with 9 and another teammate Solomon Dupree had 8. Butts had 7.

Interceptions – Willie Goodwyn (Rabun County) & Cal Faulkner (Lumpkin County) – INCORRECT BUT CLOSE!
Jasec Smith (Stephens) led with 6, while teammate Davon Swinton and Banks’ Caden Watson and Goodwyn had 5. Faulkner in limited reps on defense had 4.

KICKING PREDICTED LEADERS

Longest FG – Marcus Remillard (Rabun County) – INCORRECT!
Dom LeBlanc (Dawson County) nailed TWO 45-yd FGs this season. Remillard’s furthest was 32 yds.

Most PATS – Marcus Remillard (Rabun County) & Ethan McBride (Union County) & Will Staples (Lumpkin) – CORRECT MOSTLY!
Technically, the leader was Taylor McCall (Jefferson) with 53 XP. But Staples was 2nd with 45 and McBride 3rd with 43.
White County’s Hayden Vandegriff had 42 and Remillard was at 28.

Most FGs – Michael Hill (Habersham Central) – INCORRECT!
Dom LeBlanc (Dawson) was first with 10 made field goals. Hill had 3.

Best FG % (min 10 attempts) – Dom LeBlanc (Dawson County) – CORRECT!
LeBlanc was good on 10/13 (77%)

Most Points (FG+PAT) – Marcus Remillard (Rabun County) – INCORRECT!
Hayden Vandegriff (White) had 42 XP and 6 FG, giving him 60 PTS. Remillard had 37 PTS.

TEAM PREDICTED LEADERS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Offensive Points Scored (Most) – Rabun County & Lumpkin County & Union County – CORRECT MOSTLY!
Rabun only had 318, but Lumpkin led with 428, Jefferson next with 390, and Union was 3rd with 384.

Defensive Points Allowed (Fewest) – Jefferson – CORRECT!
Jefferson led with only 92 points allowed. It was the best by far.

Turnovers Created – Jefferson – INCORRECT!
Jefferson did have 16 turnovers created, which was tied for 3rd in our area. But Stephens County’s 25 was first by a long shot.

Shutouts – Jefferson – CORRECT!
Jefferson had 4 shutouts. Stephens County had 3 right behind them.

Biggest Turnaround – Habersham Central (3 wins last year to 6-7 wins) – CORRECT!
Habersham went from 3 wins to 5, the best improvement by a sub-.500 team the year prior.

Team Wins (Most) – Tie: Jefferson, Rabun County – CORRECT MOSTLY!
Jefferson went 10-0 in the regular season; so did Lumpkin County. Rabun was 5th with 7 wins, as Commerce and Stephens County each had 9.

Region Champions – Jefferson, Lumpkin County, Rabun County – CORRECT MOSTLY!
Switch out Rabun for Commerce, and add in Stephens County. But pretty good on the guess here.

State Second Round or Deeper – Jefferson, Lumpkin County, Stephens County, Rabun County, Union County – CORRECT!
The only addition here is Commerce, but all 5 of our preseason picks to make it this far are still in it.

State Playoffs – Habersham Central, Jefferson, Stephens County, Dawson County, Lumpkin County, White County, Rabun County, Union County, Commerce – CORRECT MOSTLY!
This was almost spot on. We had 8 of these correct, with Dawson missing out.

Best Games: Lumpkin County vs Union County (WK 2), Rabun County vs Elbert County (WK 9), Jefferson vs Oconee County (WK 6) & Dawson County vs Lumpkin County (WK 11) – N/A
This is always debatable, but Lumpkin/Union didn’t disappoint, and Rabun vs Elbert was not as good as it should have been (though Rabun/Commerce was). Jefferson and Oconee was okay, and Dawson/Lumpkin was for a bit. But the game of the year really was Lumpkin/White, which went 4 OT!