LAWNWOOD MEMORIAL PARK

Covington-area athletes on par with the rest of Georgia

By PHILLIP B. HUBBARD

phubbard@covnews.com

It’s arguable that no city or county in Georgia puts out more major collegiate and professional athletic talent per capita than Covington and Newton County.

Over the years, Covington produced NFL football players such as Jake Reed (Minnesota Vikings) and Dale Carter (Kansas City Chiefs), Sheldon Rankins (New Orleans Saints and New York Jets) and Eric Stokes, Jr. (Green Bay Packers) Akeem Hunt Tay Gowan, D’Anthony Bell and Eric Stokes Jr., have made it to the National Football League. Nyland Green, Jalen Farmer, Koby Perry and Audavion Collins are currently making noise at the Power 5 college football level.

Even this past football season, Newton’s 3-star defensive lineman Justin Benton — who is committed to West Virginia — and the 3-star Tulane linebacker commit Jean Claude Joseph III made considerable contributions to the local football scene.

It’s not just about football, though. Within the last five years, basketball standouts like Ashton Hagans, Isaiah Miller and J.D. Notae have starred at Power 5 and Division I schools, Kentucky, UNC-Greensboro and Arkansas respectively. All three are currently pushing for NBA roster spots.

Major League Baseball hitting coach Tim Hyers, now with the Texas Rangers, is a Newton High graduate who was drafted in the second round during the 1990 MLB Draft.

Countless others have made enough splashes in high school ball to where they were able to use sports to continue their education. This makes the Covington/Newton County area’s high school sports scene one of Georgia’s robust.

Publisher Gabriel Stovall contributed to this article.