Send boxes and game information to centralgasports@gmail.com by 11 a.m. for expanded coverage. Pictures/short videos can be sent there as well (each Friday night, too).

Scores are in alphabetical for the first few weeks.

 

Bleckley County 42, Hawkinsville 6

          The Royals had lost four straight openers. The last win? In 2013, 21-6 over the Red Devils, who equaled last year’s deficit but weren’t shut out.

 

Brentwood 63, Notre Dame 9

          Brentwood rushed 30 times for 451 yards and completed one pass in the romp, kicking off nine times. ND suffered from three turnovers and not forcing one punt.

          Brentwood led 42-3 at halftime, scoring on runs, a field goal and interception return for a touchdown in the first two quarters. The War Eagles got a 90-yard kickoff return from Chase Everett, who also had a 68-yard scoring run. Thomas Denton had two scores.

          Seven War Eagles scored. Everett led the rushing attack with 85 yards on three tries.

 

Dodge County 23, Bradwell Institute 15

          The game was delayed a good bit by weather, but the No. 7/AA Indians overcame a 6-3 first-half deficit to win a game that ended after midnight. RJ Carr scored twice and Erin Pitts once for the Indians, who didn't complete a pass. Elisha Williams and Mikhail Carr had interceptions, two of Bradwell's six turnovers.. Standout kicker Peyton Bush hit a field goal and had four touchbacks. 

 

Dublin 42, ECI 7

          Greg Jones went 43 yards on the fourth play, but the Shamrock Bowl shellacking wasn’t yet underway. Drique Martin’s 65-yarder a few minutes later made it 14-7. ECI hung tough, and then Martin hung a 90-yard scoring run, and the second-half avalanche was underway.

GMC 35, Glascock County 7

          The Bulldogs are re-entering region play while Glascock County is not, but this

Manchester 34, Taylor County 20

          Manchester spent much of last year around the top of the polls, suffering its only loss in the second round. The Vikings are in a rebuilding mode, but challenged.

Mary Persons 42, Gainesville 0

          The last time Mary Persons played a 6A team, the Bulldogs hammered Forest Park 52-0, last year.

Mount Zion 34, Lamar County 0

          It’s the first time since Oct. 21, 2016 that the Trojans have been shut out, but the top-10 Class A team had four shutouts last year, including two against larger-class teams.

 

Mount de Sales 16, Monticello 14

          Monticello pulled within two with less than three minutes left in the game, but the Cavs offense kept the visitors from getting another chance.

          As it turned out, a safety at the 8:40 mark of the third quarter was a whole lot bigger than people would have expected.

          MdS had to hold on despite outgaining the Hurricanes 342-119 in total offense, the Cavs’ defense bowing up and hold Monticello to less than a yard a carry (10 on 23).

          QB Dexter Williams did the damage, with 189 yards on 26 carries with a score, and an 8-for-17 night passing for 66 yards and a touchdown.

 

Northside 38, Centennial 14

          The No. 4/6A Eagles led from the start, beginning with CJ Munson’s 42-yard field goal. A 5-yard run from Donovan Delgado and 1-yarder from Jadin Daniels made it 17-0 midway through the second quarter.

          Northside ran one more play for 15 more yards than Centennial, which passed for 330 yards but was picked off twice and lost another fumble.

          Eric Smith went for 185 yards and two scores on 20 carries for the Eagles, while Daniels added 51 on 16, going 8 for 15 for 76 yards passing.

         

North Oconee 58, Putnam County 21

          Not the way new Putnam County head coach Shaun Pope wanted to debut. North Oconee, though, is a 4A team, albeit one that was 1-9 last year and 0-10 the year before.

Pelham 35, Macon County 0

          The last time Macon County was shutout was in 2017, but that was to perennial 6A contender Northside. The last time the Bulldogs were blanked by a same-class team? A 7-0 loss to Taylor County to end the 2013 regular season, a week after losing 48-0 to Lamar County, when all three were in 4-AA.

Perry 23, Houston County 17

          The Panthers have won three straight games now against higher-class teams, beating 5A Harris County and Veterans last year. Perry hasn’t beaten a team two classes higher since beating 6A Alcovy 29-17 in game two in 2012.

Tattnall 59, Our Lady of Mercy 15

          It was the fifth-most points in Trojans history, matching a 59-0 win over Monroe Academy in 1996. Tattnall beat GMC 61-30 in 2014.

Toombs County 35, Twiggs County 0

          New head coach Kelvin Blackshear saw his team get blanked for the sixth time in its last seven games. The Cobras went five straight games last year without a point.

Treutlen 35, ACE 21

          The Gryphons turned in a respectable performance in the program’s first game, leading 7-0 before the hosts moved ahead. Treutlen was 1-9 last year, but 6-4 in 2016.

Trinity Christian 20, Northeast 19

          Northeast led early and late in the weather-affected game with the program from Sharpsburg moving up from GISA to GHSA. The Raiders took a 19-14 lead on Nolan Ussery’s sneak with 4:54 left in the game, but TC scored inside the final minute. A field goal was blocked, sealing the Raiders’ fate in head coach Jeremy Wiggins’ first game

Veterans 31, Upson-Lee 0

          Milan Turner’s first game in charge was quite memorable. It was Veterans’ first shutout since 1-0 over Mary Persons late in 2013, and the largest margin of victory since 42-7 over Howard midway through the same season. That was Veterans’ region title season. . Conversely, the Knights haven’t been skunked at home since 2016, 24-0 to Mary Persons. It was the biggest loss since 42-0 in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.

Warner Robins 40, Tift County 29

          The Demons made a statement with a stellar defensive second half, and a win over a ranked 7A team that last gave up so many points to a lower-classification team in 2016, losing 42-13 to 6A Valdosta. Tift County’s last loss to such a program was 28-21 to 1-5A Thomas County Central – a Demons’ region foe – in 2013.

Washington County 19, Baldwin 7

          The Golden Hawks survived some conversion issues, going 0 for 3. Baldwin’s lone score came on a pick-6, which gave the Braves a 7-0 lead at the half. WACO held Baldwin to one first-quarter snap. The Golden Hawks have won three of the last four in the series, and it was the first time head coach Joel Ingram has beaten Baldwin with Jesse Hicks as head coach.

Westside 21, Southwest 0

          The Seminoles broke the two-game losing streak to the Patriots with the first shutout in the series since Robert Davis-led Westside won 55-0 in 2005. Westside has shutout four of its last five opponents (Liberty County won 21-0 in last year’s second round).

West Laurens 56, East Laurens 0

          It wasn’t terribly unexpected, since the Class AA Falcons were on a 1-19 stretch the last two seasons and only scored 50 points in 2017. This was the first meeting since 2011, and the biggest margin in series history, by 24 points, and the most points scored by the winner by by 11 points