Seven area football players named preseason All-State by Recruit Georgia

The high school football website, RecruitGeorgia.com, is released its preseason All-State teams last week and a combined seven players from Catoosa and Walker Counties were named to their respective squads.

In Class AAAA, both Heritage and Ridgeland had two players named to the team.

Wide receiver Ryan Carter hauled in 1,010 yards and 16 TD’s a year ago and will be back in the Generals’ lineup this season as the leading returning receiver in all of Class AAAA in yards and touchdowns. Joining him on the offensive side is Ridgeland running back Jalyn Shelton, who averaged nearly 130 yards a game last year, finishing with 1,428 yards and 23 touchdowns. Shelton was the 2016 Region 6-AAAA Offensive Player of the Year and has committed to Navy.

On the defensive side of the ball, Luke Grant was named as a defensive back. He was tops in Class AAAA last year with six interceptions and finished the year with 1,544 total yards and 14 TD’s as he was named the region’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Ridgeland’s Markeith Montgomery was also named as a defensive back. The Kennesaw State commit was named the region’s Defensive Player of the Year and was named the Class AAAA Defensive Player of the Year by the Georgia Sports Writers Association.

In Class AAA, Ringgold had two players named to the offensive All-State squad.

Receiver Andre Tarver, who has committed to Mississippi State for

baseball, was named as a receiver after catching 12 touchdowns and finishing with 1,120 yards in the air. Along

the line, Bucky Williams was named to the offensive line and was called “one of the more fundamentally sound lineman in the state of Georgia” by the website. Williams already has an offer from The Citadel.

And in Class A

public, Gordon Lee kicker Jarrett Lassetter was named as an AllState kicker. Lassetter was 36-of-38 on extra point tries last fall, which was the top percentage in the classification.