Central football will be Atlanta bound for premier showcase

The Central Red Devils have landed a spot in a premier series of football games this fall.

Central will be one of six football teams from Georgia and Alabama to play in the 2018 Cam Newton High School Showcase on Aug. 25. The three-game showcase will be held at Lakewood Stadium in Atlanta.

The Red Devils will play in the third and final game of the evening, facing Mays High School at 8 p.m. EST. Central’s game will be preceded by West Lake (Ga.) vs Sidney Lanier (Ala.) at 2 p.m. and Griffin (Ga.) vs Clay-Chalkville (Ala.) at 5 p.m.

“It is a great opportunity for our program,” Central head coach Jamey DuBose said. “Anytime you can play in events like this, you can get exposure for your players and the program. We also have an opportunity to compete against a talented team from another state.”

There have been talks to have the games televised on ESPN, though nothing has been finalized at this point.

In December, DuBose spoke about his hopes to give the Red Devils a tougher non-region schedule in the upcoming season.

“We do want to put our guys in a little bit tougher games as the year comes on,” DuBose said. “We’re going to travel a little bit more than what we have done to prepare for ourselves for down the road. We want to upgrade our competition level, even in our non-region schedule.”

Central’s opponent, Mays, went 11-2 in 2017. The Raiders reached the Class 6A quarterfinals before losing to Lee County.

This story was originally published February 16, 2018 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Central football will be Atlanta bound for premier showcase."