Welcome to the high school version of the SEC West, on steroids

In front so far/The challengers: Everybody. Region play won’t start for another week, but all five teams were ranked for the early part of the season, with No. 1 Houston County, No. 2 Northside and No. 5 Lee County still undefeated, a combined 16-0. Northside is the only one of the three that has won every game by double figures. No. 7 Valdosta’s lone loss is to Class 7A Colquitt County, and Coffee’s losses are to Ware County by three and Tift County by nine.

Five key players

Zakoby McClain, Valdosta: The junior linebacker is getting attention from SEC programs.

Jake Fromm, Houston County: You already know his resume.

Tobias Oliver, Northside: You already know his resume.

Aubrey Solomon, Lee County: The elite defensive lineman is a key reason the Trojans have given up 7 rushing yards in the first five games. That’s not even a first down’s worth of rushing yards.

Jameon Gaskin, Coffee: He’s a slightly undersized linebacker at 5-foot-11 but is strong at 231 pounds and averaging 11.2 tackles per game.

Five key games

Houston County at Lee County, Oct. 7: Wow. That offense against that defense? To open region play? With Power 5 prospects and hungry non-Power 5 prospects battling? Wow.

Northside at Valdosta, Oct. 7: It’s the Tradition Bowl, another region opener that starts the slugfest.

Lee County at Northside, Oct. 14: This game either muddies things up even more, or backs up a team against the wall.

Northside at Houston County, Oct. 28: May not be a high school stadium within three hours big enough to hold the crowd in Oliver’s regular-season finale and a game in which Fromm will probably be within sight of the state passing yards record.

Valdosta at Houston County: Could be for the region title. Could be for the final playoff spot. Could be Fromm’s final home game. Could be the game Fromm passes Deshaun Watson.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Welcome to the high school version of the SEC West, on steroids."