Powder Springs Alums Waiting for Turns on College Gridiron

Brandon Chubb

(LB, ): Chubb is redshirted this season for the Wake Forest Deacon Demons, who won their first game against Liberty 20-17. They’ll next face North Carolina at home on Saturday.

While at Hillgrove, Chubb was first team All-Region 5-5A, first team All-Cobb County, and played in the All-Star Senior Bowl, helping the Nationals win 41-19.

His dad, Aaron, played linebacker for Georgia from 1985-88 and was picked in the 12th round by the Patriots in 1989.

Kenyan Drake

(RB, Hillgrove): Retaining his high school No. 17, Drake is one of five running backs on this season’s Alabama Crimson Tide. The four others: junior Eddie Lacy, who as Trent Richardson’s backup last year rushed 674 yards; junior Jalston Fowler, who racked up 359 yards as 2011’s third string; freshman T.J. Yeldon; and freshman Dee Hart.

In the season-opening 41-14 win over Michigan, Drake rushed the least of the five, gaining two yards on a single play. The most—111 yards—came from Yeldon’s 11 rushes; he and Lacy picked up a touchdown each.

This weekend, Alabama will be taking on Western Kentucky at home.

Carrying the Hillgrove offense to and as a Hawk senior, Drake ran for 1,610 yards and 18 touchdowns on 173 carries. He also caught 24 passes for 315 yards and five touchdowns and ran back 10 kickoffs for 355 yards and two more touchdowns.

He chose Alabama over Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Purdue. You can see a video of him practicing for the Crimson Tide on the Birmingham News website.

Darius English

(DE, ): In signing with South Carolina, English joined McEachern teammates LB Marcquis Roberts and TE Rory Anderson—two of the four members of the team in the grade above English who signed with a college team, according to English's website.

English didn’t see any playtime in the Gamecocks 17-13 win over Vanderbilt. For their second regular season game, they’ll battle East Carolina at home on Saturday.

English’s 21-sack senior season made him the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 5A Defensive Player of the Year. Also a basketball player for the Indians, . The only other Indian to gain that title was 1992 graduate Adam Meadows, who played 12 years in the NFL.

Amba Etta-Tawo

(WR, McEachern): Etta-Tawo saw his Maryland Terps almost lose their first game to William and Mary, but they were saved by a fourth-quarter touchdown for the 7-6 victory. The Terps will next travel to Philadelphia Saturday to battle Temple. 

Etta-Tawo didn’t get any playtime in the William and Mary game, but judging by his high school career, he likely will in his upperclassman years at Maryland.

Last season as an Indian, he went for 907 yards and six touchdowns on 58 passes, and the year before, his 35 receptions gave the team 710 yards and eight touchdowns. Extremely speedy on his feet, Etta-Tawo was also on McEachern’s 5A state runner-up 400-meter relay team in 2011.

Nicholas St. Germain

(PK, McEachern): Rated the nation’s fourth-best high school kicker last season, St. Germain was courted by several colleges, .

He was the first Gamecock kicker to get a recruiting scholarship since current Kansas City Chief Ryan Succop in 2005.

South Carolina senior Adam Yates did all the kicking for points in the Gamecocks' 17-13 win over Vanderbilt. But since St. Germain is the only other place kicker on the Gamecocks roster, he could get plenty of playtime as a sophomore.

In his junior and senior years as an Indian, St. Germain nailed 20 field goals. He had a career-best 54-yard field goal, and as the team’s punter, averaged 68 yards and had 121 touchbacks.

Trent Thompson

(QB, McEachern): Originally going with Georgia State but signing with Tennessee Tech, Thompson was nowhere to be found on the Golden Eagles’ roster or box score from their 41-31 first-game win over Hampton. If you’ve heard what Thompson’s up to, let us know.

Coming into his senior year last season, he had already racked up 2,700 passing yards and 28 touchdowns, according to the AJC. During that senior year, he led the Indians to .

Who are you watching most from last year's signees? Tell us in the comments.

Don’t miss any of the local discussions you care about. Subscribe to West Cobb Patch’s free newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.