Every Georgia high school football player begins the season with the same goal. Every Southeastern Conference football player also has the same goal.
Make it to the Georgia Dome.
At the college level, the Georgia Dome represents a division championship, a chance at a conference title and the path to the College Football Playoff.
For high schoolers, the Dome represents a chance at a state championship, whether you play for the smallest of South Georgia schools or for a Gwinnett powerhouse.
A lucky few on the Georgia football team playing for a championship in the Georgia Dome.
Only a handful of players remain from the 2012 Georgia team that lost 32-28 to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. There are quite a few more who have gotten to play in the downtown Atlanta stadium with their high school teams.
Sophomore outside Linebacker Lorenzo Carter won two consecutive state championships during his time at Norcross High School.
“There is nothing like it with it being right there in downtown Atlanta,” Carter said. “Pulling up to it is an experience in itself and then getting to play it is the best.”
Carter hopes that both his current team and his high school team make it to the Georgia Dome this year, mostly for bragging purposes.
Offensive lineman Kolton Houston spent plenty of time in the Dome, too. Buford players always do. Houston, a sixth-year senior, jokes it has been about 15 years since he suited up for the Wolves, but he still treasures his time playing in the Dome, especially given his circumstances in 2012.
Houston was suspended by the NCAA for testing positive for a banned substance and had to watch the SEC Championship game as an unofficial assistant coach. As he watched from the sidelines, he gained a new appreciation for playing in that building.
"It’s a lot different when you aren’t playing in the game. It certainly isn't as fun," Houston said. "I’d love to get back."
The player who has the most visits to the Georgia Dome is junior center Brandon Kublanow. Kublanow’s high school team played in the Dome five times during his four years at Walton High School. The Raiders made four appearances in the Corky Kell Classic, an event that pits some of the top high school teams in the state against each other, which takes place at the Georgia Dome this weekend.
With many of the top teams, the event will also include many of the top players in the state. Georgia commits Bailey Hockman and Julian Rochester, both from McEachern High, will play in the event along with plenty of Georgia targets.
The Corky Kell Classic and the college Chick Fil A Kickoff Classic, which Georgia will play in next year against North Carolina, begin the season.
The real prize is returning at the end of the season.
Kublanow, like his teammates past and present, has had the same goal since he was a 14-year old freshman: Finish the season with a victory in the Georgia Dome.
“You just need to want to go out there everyday and want to win, whether it be high school or college,” Kublanow said.
