The debate began in a small section of northwest Georgia, a 30-mile stretch that encompassed two suburbs of Atlanta: Cartersville and Kennesaw. It eventually spread to recruiting circles and will now define the College Football Playoff semifinal between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Clemson.

Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields?

Lawrence, the Clemson star who won a national championship in his freshman year, or Fields, the gifted Ohio State athlete who was a Heisman Trophy finalist after spending most of his freshman year on the bench at Georgia? The pure-passing 6-foot-6 Lawrence, who has been dubbed the no-doubt No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, or the fast-rising, dual-threat Fields, who produced 50 touchdowns this season in Columbus?

“It’s like walking into a Ferrari dealership,” said 247Sports.com’s Atlanta-based recruiting analyst Rusty Mansell, who covered both of their high school careers. “You either want a red one or you want a black one.”

Remarkably, on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz., the two elite quarterback prospects will share a football field for the first time — their high schools were in different classifications and never met. The long-awaited showdown will take place more than 1,800 miles from where they grew up and were measured against one another. It will be the first real chapter of what personal quarterback coach Ron Veal, who works with both athletes, calls a “rivalry from afar.”

“It’s kind of crazy how it all worked out,” Lawrence said.

Both players have taken similar paths in college as they did in high school. Lawrence was an immediate star, beating out experienced veterans halfway through his freshman years of high school and college. In college, Lawrence led Clemson to the national title. In high school, he guided Cartersville to the Georgia state semifinals as a freshman.

Even before entering high school, he was becoming a big name. Mansell had a policy against writing about eighth-graders, but at a camp he helped run, Lawrence was so impressive, earning MVP honors, that Mansell made an exception to include him in his write-up. At Cartersville, Lawrence was battling a junior, Miller Forristall, for the starting spot. Early on that year, Forristall suggested the team go with Lawrence.

“I can’t make the plays the freshman’s making,” he told coach Joey King.

It took Fields more time to develop. While Lawrence was winning a state title as a sophomore, throwing 43 touchdown passes, Fields was still an unknown at Harrison High School. That season his rise began. Aided by a growth spurt, the now 6-foot-3, 223-pound Fields showed such signs of promise that coach Matt Dickmann remade his offense for him, adding significant run-pass options (RPOs) to take advantage of his next-level athleticism and high football IQ. On the first RPO he ran in a game, Fields went 60 yards for a touchdown. As the full-time starter as a junior, Fields produced 38 touchdowns and 3,946 total yards.

He had a sensational spring and summer, wowing college coaches with his big arm and game-changing ability out of the pocket. Lawrence was still considered the superior prospect until Fields outperformed him the summer before their senior years in the Elite 11, a showcase for the nation’s premier quarterbacks on Nike’s campus in Beaverton, Ore. Fields was named MVP and led his team to the seven-on-seven championship.

“You have 150 of the best football prospects in the country, and there was no debate who the best player on the field was in that setting,” ESPN’s college football national recruiting coordinator Craig Haubert said.

Haubert marveled at Fields’ leadership abilities. Players gravitated towards him. 247Sports’ national recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong recalled Fields’ team scoring on 77 percent of its drives, with the ball rarely touching the turf. Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer, who runs the prestigious event, said at the time the performance was among the best he ever saw in the history of the camp, comparing his preparation and performance to an NFL quarterback getting ready for training camp, and then excelling.

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Dilfer said then.

Lawrence was in the spotlight as a freshman and received more than 20 scholarship offers by his sophomore year, but he would’ve preferred to be just another person when it came to fame. He is quiet by nature, preferring to avoid attention. His circle is small and he is known for being deeply religious. When he committed to Clemson, there wasn’t a big press conference. He merely called up Mansell, informed him of the news and sent out a tweet. He still dates his high school sweetheart.

“He’s there to work and do his job,” former Clemson offensive lineman Bryce Wilkins said.

Fields is more outgoing and active on social media, whereas Lawrence never tweets in-season. Fields’ college commitment included a press conference, packed with national media. Lawrence committed to Clemson in December of his junior year; Fields initially picked Penn State before flipping to Georgia in October of his senior year. A high-level high school baseball player as well, Fields’ recruiting didn’t take off until his junior year, and he basked in the spotlight, attempting to fulfill every interview request.

“Justin was more of a normal teenager,” Mansell said.

The two share similarities: They are both hard workers and leaders who let their performances do the talking. They have strong support systems and are determined young men, fierce competitors on the field and strong students in the classroom.

“It’s like they were cut from the same cloth,” Veal, who has trained the two since middle school, said.

The buzz for the 2017 high school season in northwest Georgia was intense, inciting debate about who the better player was. When 247Sports.com flipped the two, pushing Fields ahead of Lawrence, it stunned Cartersville, Wilkins recalled.

“We were blown away,” Wilkins said of Lawrence dropping. “Students, fans, everybody was talking about it. ‘Wow, he’s not No. 1.’ ”

Everyone wanted the two to meet on the field, though it never materialized. Wherever Mansell went, the question — Lawrence or Fields? — was argued. It only intensified in their respective senior-season openers. Fields amassed 380 yards and six touchdowns. Lawrence threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Haubert called the game and described some of his passes as “NFL-type throws.” Their games became events.

“They were like rock stars,” Mansell said. “They couldn’t go anywhere without somebody asking for an autograph or a picture.”

While Fields suffered a broken right index finger that limited him to seven games as a senior, Lawrence set Georgia state records for most passing yards (13,902) and passing touchdowns (161). He fell short of a third state title, but wound up taking home the top ranking from two of the three big recruiting outlets. Rivals and 247Sports put him one and Fields two; ESPN had Fields one and Lawrence two. 247Sports’ Wiltfong said Lawrence’s overall body of work — two state titles, a 52-2 record — and his large projectable frame won out in the end. ESPN gave the edge to Fields because of his world-class athleticism.

“We debated about it quite a bit,” Haubert said. “Technically, one has to be No. 1 and one has to be No. 2, but I’ve always said, ‘They were 1A and 1B.’ ”

The two had become friends by then. If there was a rivalry, a desire to one-up the other, they didn’t speak of it much to those close to them. Veal said they would rarely bring up the other. Their focus was on themselves.

Fields said they haven’t talked as much this year as they had in recent years, but a bond remains. On Tuesday, the two praised one another like friends would, not rivals. Fields talked about Lawrence’s running ability — his 407 yards and seven touchdowns often went unnoticed this year — while Lawrence highlighted Fields’ passing ability from the pocket.

“For us, it’s not surprising,” Fields said. “We’ve grown up together a lot. We know how good we both are.”

Three times in the spring of 2018, Lawrence and Fields worked out together with Veal. He described it as “very professional.” There wasn’t a lot of talking between the two during the workouts.

“It was, ‘I’m not going to be the first one to miss,’ ” Veal recalled.

“It’s competitive in nature, like, ‘I want to beat you, and you want to beat me.’ It’s like [boxers Marvin] Hagler and [Thomas] Hearns. They’re going to battle each other and hug each other at the end.”

For a year, Lawrence was the clear winner, the national champion and preseason Heisman favorite. Fields had a new school and a new coach, leading to questions whether all that potential would lead to results. But Dickmann, his high school coach, had so much confidence in his former pupil he offered a reminder that the debate wasn’t over yet back in August.

“He hasn’t had an opportunity [in college yet],” Dickmann said.

Fields took the opening he was given at Ohio State and ran with it, leading the Buckeyes to an undefeated season and into the College Football Playoff. After a slow start, Lawrence finished with better numbers than he had his freshman year — more touchdown passes (34 compared to 30), a higher completion percentage (68.8 to 65.2) and improved passer rating (176.4 to 157.6) — and extended Clemson’s winning streak to 28 games.

Although one quarterback will prevail Saturday, the debate won’t end. Fields and Lawrence will remain connected. They are the early favorites for the Heisman Trophy next year. Their programs could meet in the playoff again. Then, there is the 2021 NFL Draft and likely long professional careers.

“They are going to be compared to each other,” Mansell said, “for the rest of their lives.”