The 11th annual Georgia Elite Classic is hosting an additional Seventh Grade All-Star Game to kick off its five-game lineup on Dec. 29 at Rome’s Barron Stadium. In recent years, the Georgia Elite Classic introduced the first-ever middle school all-star games that were broadcasted on a major cable network and the growth of middle school participation has opened up an opportunity to showcase future prospects in the Class of 2029 (Seventh Grade) and Class of 2028 (Eighth Grade). The Seventh Grade game will kickoff at 9 a.m. and the Eighth Grade game will continue the action at 11:15 a.m. and all the games will be broadcasted on the newly launched Peachtree Sports Network (PSN). Additionally, the games will also be available on the Atlanta News First (formerly CBS46) app, the National Federation High School Network and will be archived for convenience on Score Atlanta’s YouTube page after the live broadcast.
In previous years of the Classic, nationally-ranked prospects like Steele Chambers (Blessed Trinity, Ohio State), Dominick Blaylock (Walton, Georgia, Georgia Tech) and Owen Pappoe (Grayson, Auburn, Arizona Cardinals) have participated in the middle school games. Last year’s Eighth Grade game was also filled with some of the biggest rising stars, including nationally-ranked defensive lineman CJ Hunter—who is now starting for Class 7A Milton as a freshman.
“This is not the first time we have done the seventh grade and we actually played the seventh grade against the eighth grade in one of the seasons,’’ said Score Atlanta President I.J. Rosenberg. “But what pushed us in this direction came in August when we opened our schedule with four seventh-grade games in The Sheriff’s Cup and had a strong audience. Those were really good teams but this is an All-Star Game and will be some of the top seventh-graders in the state. It will be good viewing.’’
In the third slot at 1:30 p.m., the Class of 2024 will face off in the Senior Game. This game will offer an exclusive look at the senior class when the recruiting cycle is in its critical home stretch. Following the seniors, the Class of 2025 will play in the Junior Game—which is historically the most star-powered matchup over the event’s proud 11-year history.
Friday’s final matchup will be all about bragging rights as the Freshmen (Class of 2027) and Sophomores (Class of 2026) kickoff in the Sophomore vs. Freshman Game at 7 p.m.
The Classic focuses on helping Georgia’s rich gridiron talent take the next step towards playing in college and the city of Rome has partnered with the Classic to offer an exceptional three-day experience across check-in, team practices, activities and game day.
“The No. 1 reason for doing this is exposure,” said Georgia Elite Classic Director of Player Personnel and On3 Recruiter Rusty Mansell. “We are going to have guys with Power 5 offers in this event and other guys that will still be unsigned after the early signing period. I expect college coaches from Division II down to come out once again. This is going to be a great opportunity for exposure and to play on television.”
More than 1,600 players that have participated in a Classic game have gone on and played college football since 2013. If you are interested in playing in the All-Star games, click here to nominate yourself.
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