August 12, 2026 — The 35th edition of Georgia high school football’s season-opening event, now known as the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic, is ready to kick off the season, and once again, Cobb Schools teams are in the limelight.
The first four games will be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the Walton Raiders will make a return appearance at the retractable-roof facility. The five-day, 11-game lineup then shifts to other venues, including Kell High School, which has hosted some games of the event that shares their namesake since 2023. The Stockyard games will feature three district teams, with the Pebblebrook Falcons making their first appearance in the Classic. Their game will be followed by a Cobb versus Cobb matchup between the McEachern Indians, one of only two schools to play in every edition of the event, and the host Kell Longhorns.
The Walton Raiders get the honor of being the first Cobb team to play an official game in 2026. Making their 21st appearance in the Classic, Walton boasts a 12-8 overall record in the event. True football fans know, though, that each season is a new team that doesn’t rely on past success, and the Raiders go into their matchup against Roswell ready to start the new season right.
“People always ask me, ‘How are you guys going to be this year?’” Walton Head Coach Daniel Brunner shared. “The truth is that I don’t really feel like I know until we get through Game One. That’s one of the things that makes the opener so exciting. It gives you the first true measurement of where your team and program stand. You begin to find out what you do well, what you need to improve, and what your identity is going to be. Every team is different, and that first game starts to reveal the things we’ll be able to hang our hat on throughout the season.”
In the second week of the Classic matchups, the Pebblebrook Falcons look to make their mark as first-time competitors in the event. Head Coach Rodney Hackney is excited for his team to get the season underway against Clarke Central.
“It's a tremendous honor for our program,” the second-year Falcons leader said. “The Corky Kell Classic has become one of the premier kickoff events in high school football, not just in Georgia but nationally. I'm looking forward to seeing how our team responds when the lights come on. You can learn a lot about a group during summer practice, but you don't really know who you are until you line up against someone else. Our coaching staff has been emphasizing mental toughness and discipline all off-season. It’s time to see if that has paid off."
Mental toughness will be a necessity in the McEachern versus Kell matchup, which feels like a showdown between Corky Kell Classic blue bloods. While the Indians program has participated in all 34 years of the event, and, in fact, played a role in its creation, the Longhorns football team has appeared in the past 16 Classics, the third most among Cobb Schools.
McEachern is coming off a one-loss season and hopes to keep the momentum going for a deeper postseason run in 2026.
“The first game is important,” McEachern Head Coach Kareem Reid pointed out. “However, it doesn't define how your season will go. We are breaking in a new offense, so I'm excited to see how it comes together.”
Coach Reid noted, though, that the key to winning games will be stopping their opponent’s run game.
A stout running game is what carried Kell to the semifinals in last year’s playoffs, led largely by star running back Moonie Gipson. The senior Georgia Tech commit is coming off a significant injury, but has worked hard to get himself ready for his final high school season. Longhorns Head Coach Bobby May is hopeful that Gipson will remain the “dynamic player who can impact a game in multiple ways,” but the coach knows his team’s success will require more than Moonie alone.
“McEachern is a talented and well-coached football team,” Coach May acknowledged. “So, the key to winning starts with playing disciplined football. We have to win the turnover battle, control the line of scrimmage, and limit explosive plays. In games between quality opponents, execution in critical moments usually makes the difference. We need to play fast, physical, and smart for four quarters.”
With the GHSA instituting a new playoff format this season, a points-based rating system called the Post Season Rankings (PSR), winning percentages and quality wins that factor in opponents’ winning percentages are valued over region finishes. In the past, the McEachern versus Kell matchup, a 7A classification team facing a 6A classification team, would have been viewed as an early-season, non-region barometer to measure expectations. Now, however, every game is taken into consideration for the PSR, even if the game crosses classifications. This places additional importance on these early-season Classic games.
“Every game matters,” emphasized Coach May, before noting a caveat, “but there is no question that this one carries added significance. The new system puts a premium on quality wins and strength of schedule. Playing a program like McEachern provides a tremendous opportunity. At the same time, our focus remains on playing our best football and improving each week. If we do that, the points and rankings will take care of themselves.”
That approach is unsurprising from a team that has made the playoffs each of the four years under Coach May and has an overall streak of 18 straight postseason appearances. Walton’s Coach Brunner, who has led his team to the playoffs in each of his nine years at the helm, feels similarly about focusing on one game at a time.
“Every game means a little more,” the Raiders’ leader reiterated. “That being said, it really doesn’t change our approach. Goal number one for us every year is to win the opener. We want to start the season 1-0, and everything we do leading up to that first game is focused on accomplishing that goal.”
The early-season postseason implications aside, there is always significant attention on the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic. The 35th edition of the event is the latest spotlight in an ever-growing list of attention-grabbing moments. For Walton, Pebblebrook, McEachern, and Kell, this year’s appearances in those games solidify, yet again, that Cobb Schools football is among the best in the nation.
h/t Pebblebrook photos provided by Flicks By Bo, Kell photos provided by Dominic Consolino
