JONESBORO, Ga. - Despite Mark Richt's success at Georgia, Tennessee can still lure prospects from the Peach State to Knoxville. The Vols just have to pick the right spots.

"People in our area, (metro Atlanta), are influenced by people who come in (from out of state)," said Lovejoy head coach Al Hughes. "They have ties across the nation. A lot of them work at the airport or are in the military. We don't have a lot of homegrown boys."

Hughes said prospects from the Atlanta metro area don't feel the same obligations as other areas in the state.

The Vols have shown interest in three Lovejoy players - defensive back Keith Fitzhugh (5-foot-11, 195 pounds), tailback Mark Pettaway (5-11, 185) and offensive lineman Chris Scott. The Vols are most interest in Scott.

"He's a man-mountain," Hughes said of the 6-5, 300-pounder. "He's a very quiet and unassuming young man but he's a great leader for us. He's like E.F. Hutton. When he talks people listen. As far as lineman, Chris is probably the best we've ever had."

Scott said he plans to visit Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi State, LSU, and Nebraska. Scott said he had no leader at this point but Georgia would be tough to turn down.

Scott's strongest tie to UT is Vol freshman offensive lineman Anthony Parker. The two played together at Lovejoy for three years.

"I compare him and Anthony a lot," Hughes said. "If you took a basketball and threw it to them, they'd both know what to do with it.

"It's not like they're two big lineman that just block ahead. They've got lateral agility, flexibility, mobility, and sometimes hostility."

Scott said he would enjoy playing with Parker again. But reuniting 'the dynamic duo' as Lovejoy fans called them, would not be a major factor in his decision.

Fitzhugh is committed to Mississippi State but Hughes said that could change. Pettaway has shown interest in several SEC schools including Georgia and Tennessee.

Hughes said he has five or six prospects that he expects to sign Division-I football scholarships. That's a little low by Lovejoy's standards. According to Hughes, 22 prospects from Lovejoy have signed Division-I football scholarships the last three years.

Hughes said one, Jeremy Lomax last season, signed with Georgia. Hughes said that is typical of other high schools in the area, which is only a 30-minute drive from Atlanta.

Hughes said many of his students have family members that work at the Atlanta airport, which makes travel easier. Others have military backgrounds and previous ties to other parts of the country. For college football recruiters, metro Atlanta and rural Georgia can seem like worlds apart.

"I definitely think south Georgia is a tougher area for schools to come in," Hughes said. "Maybe a Florida or Florida State comes in but Georgia pretty much dominates down there. When you get into smaller town areas, they tend to not be exposed to different things. Those are the homegrown kids.

Hughes said he believes the SEC Championship game in Atlanta is also a factor in that it exposes metro-area kids to more SEC schools.

Georgia's recent success, an SEC championship and four straight wins over the Vols, haven't gone unnoticed in Atlanta, especially among high school prospects.

"There's more reason to go there," Scott said. "Richt has turned that thing around. The elite players in Georgia want to play for a top-caliber SEC team. Georgia is right at the top."

Said Fitzhugh, "A lot of people are with UGA right now. They're the thing. You see a lot of license plates with that 'G' around town. There is some pressure (to sign with them)."

For UT, one way to stem the Bulldog momentum would be to beat the Georgia on Oct. 9 at Athens.

"I think everybody's head would turn," Fitzhugh said. "People would think, 'Maybe (Tennessee) has a better program than Georgia.' "

Scott and Fitzhugh both agreed that the streak weighs on the minds of prospects being recruited by the SEC rivals.

"You don't want to go to a school that is losing to their big rival," Fitzhugh said.