All-stars get a chance to shine at War of the Border

Published 3:54 pm Wednesday, January 16, 2019

THOMASVILLE — For dozens of high school seniors, it’s one more chance to catch the eyes of college coaches.

The annual Georgia-Florida War of the Border will take place Friday evening at Thomasville High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium. The game pits high school seniors from southwest Georgia against those from the Tallahassee, Fla. area. It’s more than just bragging rights at stake.

For many of these players, it’s their shot to have smaller colleges, such as Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA, see what they can do against top-notch competition.

“We try to do as much as we can to promote our kids and get them to the next level,” said game co-founder Mike Gammons. “They can use their football ability to get an education. That’s the number one goal.”

And for those schools who can’t make it to southwest Georgia to take in the game, the organization has a stream on hudl.com.

“A lot of the smaller schools have a lower budget,” he said. “So we put it on Hudl and shoot it out to them and they can sit on their office and see what kid they need.”

The nearly 60 players on the Georgia roster come from Thomasville, Thomas County Central, Cairo, Bainbridge and Colquitt County and as far away as Albany and Lee County.

“We call it ‘from (I)-75 west’” Gammons said.

Coaches are from all over as well, including Thomasville head coach Zach Grage and many of his staff. Practices for the all-star game aren’t any less intense than they would in the middle of the season.

“Anytime you have Coach Grage running stuff, they are going to be wide open,” Gammons said. “He doesn’t put up with walking.”

At halftime, the YMCA youth football champs and the 10-and-under champions of the Turkey Bowl will be honored. Likewise, the teams from Madison County and North Florida Christian that won state titles in the Sunshine State, along with the teams from Lee County and Bainbridge that won Georgia state championships will be honored. In addition, the Thomasville Red Hots are scheduled to perform.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and those ages 5 and under get in free. The game will be four 15-minute quarters, and each player on the roster will get ample time to play, Gammons said.

That gives each of them a chance to put something on video for colleges to see.

“I don’t care how good you are. At some point, football is going to be over,” Gammons said. “If they never play another football game, their last game, they were all-stars. They can take that and build on that.”