Dexter Copeland has been waiting for this week for awhile.

            Not just a quarterfinal playoff game, but having pretty much everybody in uniform and on the field who should be in uniform and on the field.

            “We’re well; we haven’t been well all year,” the Macon County head coach said. “Our offensive line, three of those guys that start for us now didn’t play the first time we played Irwin.”

            And the timing for good health is perfect as Macon County travels to Irwin County for a GHSA Class A public quarterfinal game.

            The Bulldogs (8-3) are without defensive lineman T.J. McDonald, who was carried off on a stretcher in the early-season game with Irwin County, a 36-28 Indians win in Montezuma.

            “That was one of the turning points of the game,” Copeland said. “Him getting carried off on the stretcher, it was a big deal. Spinal injury.”

            Copeland said McDonald had some temporary paralysis, but has pretty much recovered.

            “That was very, very traumatic,” Copeland said. “We’ve never been around that, or ever witnessed that. Our team kind of fell apart. That was a very emotional part of the game.

            “He wants to play. Believe it or not, the doctors have cleared him to play, but I’m not going to let him play. One spinal injury’s enough. He’s an academic guy. It’s more important for him to go to school and get his degree than play football here.”

            Other than that, the Bulldogs will be in full force when they make the 80-mile ride south to Ocilla for the second time in two seasons. Macon County won 57-15 last year in Ocilla, a game Irwin County (10-1) head coach Buddy Nobles has called the “Labor Day Massacre”.

            Copeland figures to have a fairly confident team on the field, considering how familiar they are with the Indians and how many chances they had to win the first meeting, when they watched a 14-0 lead turn into a 20-14 halftime deficit.

            “We dropped two touchdown passes that we were wide open, we fumbled again, they fake a punt we didn’t get, they had an onside kick they got back,” Copeland said. ‘Should’ve been 21-0. They scored, got the ball back, tied itup. Fake a punt and tied it up. Then got an onside kick and scored.

            “Fourth quarter, we needed a stop. The injury (to McDonald) hurt us. We had to do some things, and we just couldn’t stop ‘em.”

            Irwin County extended a one-point lead to eight late and held on. That game came a week after Fitzgerald pulled off a mild upset of the Indians, 31-6. Irwin County has mostly rolled since then, winning by an average of 35 points in a five-game stretch before last week’s 28-14 playoff win over Lincoln County.

            The Indians are unlikely to be much different than in the first meeting, with a physical defense and steady wing-T offense.

            “D.J. Lundy, 6-1, 245,” Copeland said in succinctly summarizing the Indians’ attack. “They’re gonna give it to him. Nothing fancy about what they’re gonna do. They’re going to give it to D.J. Lundy and let him lean on you, lean on you, lean on you and hope you’re gonna fold.”

            Lundy has 18 rushing touchdowns this season. Four of them and 190 yards came in the earlier win.

            Copeland said quarterback Tim Fletcher only throws about nine times a game, but completes five or six and usually for big plays. Linemen Kevon Carver and Marlon Jackson, the latter a transfer from Fitzgerald who goes about 6-4, 235 pounds.

            Quarterback Jadarrius Hicks is playing well, passing for nearly 1,500 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s rushed for 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns.

            “He had a great game Friday night,” Copeland said of Hicks, who ran for 172 yards but passed for only 59. “We go where Hicks goes. When he playes well, we play well. Last week, we took what they gave us. They double-cover Trey Brown, Tra Mathis and Keldric Thomas, that frees up Hicks to do some of the things he likes to do.”

            He still has quality targets, and Aukeeveous McLendon has 1,456 yards rushing, 188 coming last week.

            LaKeviyon Walker, Mathis and Leon Dantes lead a defense that has two shutouts but has given up at least 21 points in all but three games. Still, Copeland things the Bulldogs are in pretty good shape.

            “We’re pretty good,” he said. “We have to cut down on mistakes. We cut down the number of mistakes, we’re a good football team.”