Georgia High School Football Recruiting Blog - Gainesville vs. Hughes and other notes

The Drive for the GHSA State Title takes us to Langston Hughes as the Panthers host the Gainesville Red Elephants in the Class 5A quarterfinals. Gainesville’s second-round matchup against Brunswick ended in a bench-clearing fight that caused several suspensions, appeals, and GHSA rulings that pushed this matchup back a week. Hughes and Gainesville will now face off on the last day of the early signing period. Both squads have elite talent in the 2026 class. This week, many of those players will officially sign with a college program.

Hughes: The biggest recruiting news out of this game is four-star RB Carsyn Baker reopening his recruitment. Baker decommitted from Florida on Monday night. He was committed to the Gators since June, but he has visited several other schools since Florida fired Billy Napier. Baker will sign on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period. South Carolina is the heavy favorite to land Baker’s signature. Bill Belichick and UNC are also in the hunt.

Baker’s backfield brother, Qwantavious Wiggins, recently committed to Wisconsin. Wiggins is one of two Georgia running backs in Wisconsin’s class, along with Sandy Creek star Amari Latimer. Wiggins is locked in with the Badgers and will likely sign with the team this week. Wisconsin is also trying the keep Latimer in the class, but Miami and Tennessee are after him. Miami and Wisconsin both have confidence that they will sign Latimer.

Hughes’ star TE, Xavier Tiller, has long been committed to FSU. The four-star has maintained his FSU commitment despite pushes from Georgia Tech and Alabama. While this recruitment is not a foregone conclusion, FSU is still the favorite to sign Tiller.

Gainesville: The Red Elephants have two star defenders in the 2026 class. The defense is led by five-star LB Xavier Griffin. Griffin is an Alabama commit and is ranked as the #1 player in the state of Georgia. Griffin will sign with the Tide during the early signing period. Griffin’s teammate, Jamarion Matthews, is also committed to Alabama. Like Griffin, he is an Alabama native, transferring to Gainesville from Sparkman High School. Matthews is a top ten EDGE in the nation. He will sign with the Tide this week.

Other news: Late on Monday night, 3-star S Kealan Jones flipped his commitment from Georgia to Georgia Tech. Sprayberry lost its first-round playoff matchup against Lee County, allowing Jones to attend Georgia Tech’s game against Georgia. That visit solidified the flip for Georgia Tech. The Sprayberry Yellow Jacket will remain a Yellow Jacket in college.

Woodward Academy's 3-star S Blake Stewart is down to two SEC programs. After decommitting from Clemson, Stewart made several trips to Georgia. Georgia feels good about where they stand, however, Vanderbilt is making a late push. The Commodores have pitched good academics and early playing time to Stewart. This recruitment will be a battle until pen hits paper.

Douglas County's 4-star EDGE Jordan Carter backed off his pledge to Texas A&M on Nov. 1. Tennessee had him on campus after the decommitment. He also visited Georgia Tech and Auburn. Tennessee has the momentum heading into the early signing period.

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