The Corky Kell Classic is an annual series of high school football games played in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

at the beginning of each

Georgia High School Association The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is an organization that governs athletics and activities for member high schools in Georgia, USA. GHSA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The association has 46 ...

football season, featuring many of the state's top teams. The 2025 Classic will consist of eleven games: four of which were played at

Mercedes Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it is the home of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) and Atlanta ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

; two at Rome's

Barron Stadium Barron Stadium is a 6,500-seat football field and track & field stadium in Rome, Georgia. It is home to the Shorter University Hawks and Rome High School Wolves football teams. The facility hosted the NAIA Football National Championship from ...

; two at Kell High School; two at West Forsyth High School; and one at William "Buck" Godfrey Stadium. The teams play to help raise money for the Corky Kell Scholarship Fund.

History

In 1992, former Wheeler head football coach Corky Kell helped create the High School Football Classic in the then-newly built

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a Stadium#Types, domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown Atlanta, downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of th ...

. From 1992 to 2016 (with a few years of alternating locations), games were played in Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The games were played in the Dome every year except in 1995, 1997, and 2014 when they were played at

McEachern High School John McEachern High School or McEachern High School is a public high school established in 1933 in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States. It was originally established as the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School. Due to its histo ...

. Prior to 2014 there were five games played on the first Saturday of the season starting at 9:00 am and closing with an 8:30 pm game. The 2014 season was the first to host seven games over two days. In 2017 with the closing of the Georgia Dome, the series was moved to the newly converted and opened Georgia State Stadium (formerly

Turner Field Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 Atlanta Braves season, 1997 to 2016 Atlanta Braves season, 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built ...

). The 2017 series was the first event held in the stadium after the conversion from the baseball Turner Field to the football Georgia State Stadium. The Classic moved to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2018, and has hosted the event's finale there ever since. In 2023, the Corky Kell Classic was renamed to the "Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic" to honor long-time Brookwood High School football coach and Corky Kell Executive Director Dave Hunter. The Classic has featured both

and Brookwood High School every year. It has included other teams such as

Southwest DeKalb High School Southwest DeKalb High School (SWD) is a high school located in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the DeKalb County School System. It houses one of the two High Achievers Magnet Programs in DeKalb County, the ...

, Kell High School,

Chattahoochee High School Chattahoochee High School (colloquially referred to as "Hooch") is a public high school in Johns Creek, Georgia, United States, within the Fulton County School System. It is located next to its only feeder school, Taylor Road Middle School. ...

, and many other of the state's top high school football programs.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.corkykell.com High school football games in the United States High school sports in the United States 1992 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Recurring sporting events established in 1992