Georgia has dominated college football the past couple of seasons, and high school quarterbacks from the state are doing the same. In the last eight CFP National Championship Games at least one starting quarterback has played high school football in Georgia. Whether it was Deshaun Watson, Jake Fromm, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, or Stetson Bennett, Georgia high schools have been well represented. In Monday night’s clash between Georgia and TCU in the College Football Playoff Final, Stetson Bennett will fly the flag for the Peach State.
Well, ain’t that a peach
Georgia high school quarterbacks are apparently the best in the country over the last decade or so. The last eight College Football Playoff National Championship Games have featured quarterbacks who have played their high school football in Georgia. Let us take a look at the big names that have come through the ranks over the last eight seasons.
2015 & 2016 – Deshaun Watson (Clemson)
The 2015 and 2016 versions of the CFP Finals featured massage fan, Deshaun Watson. Watson attended Gainesville High School in Georgia before going on to Clemson where he became a National Champion under coach Dabo Swinney.
Watson lost the 2015 championship game to Alabama, but returned the following season to claim Clemson’s first NCAA Football National Championship since 1981.
He is now the starter at the Cleveland Browns.
2017 – Jake Fromm (Georgia)
Jake Fromm appeared in QB1: Beyond the Lights in his senior high school year in Houston County High School, GA. So, the pressure was on him to succeed from a young age. In his freshman year, Fromm guided Georgia to the title game, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
He took over from Jacob Eason at the beginning of the year, but was ultimately stopped at the final hurdle by Alabama in the CFP Championship Game.
2018 & 2019 – Trevor Lawrence (Clemson)
Trevor Lawrence barely lost a game in his career before he went to the NFL. Lawrence went 54-2 with Cartersville High School in Georgia. At Clemson he went 34-2 in his career. Lawrence’s only defeats came in the postseason in both high school and college.
Lawrence managed to win a National Championship at Clemson in his freshman year in 2018, where he became the first true freshman to start for a national champion since 1985.
The next year, Lawrence’s Clemson were defeated by Joe Burrow’s LSU. Lawrence is now the starting QB with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
2020 – Justin Fields (Ohio State)
Justin Fields guided Ohio State to the CFP Final in 2020. It was the year of COVID-19, but the quarterback out of Harrison High School did not mind as he guided the Buckeyes to a 7-1 record in the shortened season.
Fields couldn’t quite get put away a strong Alabama team and eventually his Ohio State team were the runners-up that year.
Fields is currently the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears.
2021 & 2022 – Stetson Bennett (Georgia)
Stetson Bennett took an unusual route to the starting job of the nation’s best team. From Georgia’s Pierce County High School, Bennett went to Jones County Junior College. He was then a walk-on in his freshman season at Georgia. However, he is now a National Championship winning quarterback looking to go back-to-back.
Bennett eventually drew the starting gig in 2021 after his transfer in 2017. JT Daniels went down with an injury in the first game of the season, Bennett stepped in and has never looked back. In 2021, Georgia won the CFP National Championship with Stetson Bennett at the helm. In 2022, Bennett has guided Georgia back to the CFP National Championship Game at the age of 25.
It is a path unlike the others, but Bennett is proving that hard work and belief in yourself can make your dreams come true.
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