(Updated) Friday night's Central Georgia football roundup
1 p.m update, with something new on nearly every game. Thanks to Brentwood, Northside, John Milledge, and Dublin for sending game info Friday night, and Peach County Saturday.
Send any game details and good pictures to centralgasports@gmail.com.
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Class 6A
Northside 35, Bradwell Institute 0
Bradwell’s dreams remained very much alive through the first half, the Tigers down only 7-0. Before half of the third quarter was gone, Northside had taken control with two touchdown runs from Zikhyree Hill, from 3 yards out at 9:01 and from the 2 at 7:12. Northside got a 10-yard score from Jadin Daniels less than two minutes into the fourth, and he added a 17-yarder about three minutes later.
The Eagles were outgained by nine yards on four more plays, and both threw two interceptions. But Bradwell was only 8 of 21 passing to 8 of 13 for Northside. The Eagles had four sacks, and held the Tigers to 2-for-12 on third (although Northside was only 3 for 11). Hill ran 17 times for 73 yards and three scores, Daniels 18 for 78 and two.
Northside – after its first playoff shutout since hammering Grovetown 52-0 in the 2016 first round - is at Sequoyah, a 50-49 OT winner over Creekside. The Eagles are in a quarterfinal for the sixth time under ninth-year head coach Kevin Kinsler.
Class 5A
Warner Robins 35, Ware County 0
Marcayll Jones set the state record for single-season receiving yards, cruising by the mark of 1,655 yards (Demarco Robinson, M.L. King, 2010) in the second half. The Demons led 14-0 at halftime and added another score midway through the third as the defense kept denying the Gators. The Demons turned it over with an interception in the second quarter, and then held the Gators on a fourth and 1 at the Warner Robins six. Warner Robins forced plenty of three-and-outs in recording its fourth shutout of the season, all in the last six games.
The Demons’ last playoff shutout? Why, 40-0 over Ware County on Nov. 26, 2004 in a semifinal. It was Ware County’s worst loss since falling 48-7 to Northside at The Mac on Sept. 16, 2016, and first playoff shutout since 29-0 to Tucker on Nov. 29, 2013.
Warner Robins hosts the Clarke Central, a 24-7 winner over East Paulding.
Class 4A
Mary Persons 65, Woodward Academy 21
Woodward battled from the start, leading 7-0 early and trailing 20-14 after one, giving up a 37-yard Quen Wilson (now 16 yards from 1,500 for the season) run with three seconds left. But J.T. Hartage scored from 35 yards out less than three minutes into the second quarter for 27-14 lead, and the defense began the putting-it-away process with Kelvin Harden’s 86-yard pick-6. Mary Persons answered Woodward’s answer with a Hartage-to-Deadrek Alford touchdown and a 41-21 lead with 1:25 left in the half.
After he caught a TD pass at the 8:40 mark, Desmond Williams added another pick-6, from 78 yards, to his resume, and it was 55-21 with 6:55 to go in the third. Hartage was 9 for 13 for 167 yards, and Wilson ran 15 times for 169 yards and three scores as part of a 473-yard night of offense. Williams now has four interception returns for a touchdown and Harden two.
Mary Persons (12-0) hosts Marist, a 24-8 road winner over St. Pius X, reaching the quarterfinals for the fourth time in head coach Brian Nelson’s seven years.
Baldwin (7-5) 21, Columbus (7-5) 0
Noah Hill went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season as Baldwin got all the points it needed on a Hill score near the midway point of the second quarter. The Braves won their seventh straight and recorded their third shutout.
Baldwin hosts Cartersville, a 41-7 winner over Ridgeland in the Braves’ first quarterfinal since 2008, the next-to-last season of head coach Jesse Hicks’ first stint at Baldwin.
Class 3A
Peach County 47, Liberty County 8
Jaydon Gibson threw a 40-yard touchdown pass, then ran one in from 38 yards for a 14-0 lead with 6:38 left in the first, and the Trojans were off. They led 33-0 at the half, getting an 80-yard TD pass and 70-yard punt return among the second-quarter scores. Liberty managed only eight first downs and 134 yards total offense to 350 for the Trojans.
Tijah Woolfolk ran 12 times for 156 yards and three touchdowns, racking up 117 yards on the scores alone, adding two catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Daelan Smith added an interception return for a touchdown as five different Trojans scored.
Peach County hosts Westminster, a 44-34 winner over Greater Atlanta Christian, for the Trojans’ seventh quarterfinal trip on Chad Campbell’s 14 seasons.
Benedictine 43, Westside 36
The heartbreaker of the night goes to Westside in a rock ‘em, sock ‘em scorefest. The Seminoles tied it at 14 on a Tyshaun Freeman run and then a 56-yard pass from Victor Dixon to Jaylon Barden less than three minutes later. They took the lead on a 20-yard Dixon-to-Barden pass for a 21-14 halftime lead, Freeman with 50 yards rushing and Dixon 11 of 21 for 207 yards. Benedictine tied it, and Westside retook the lead on a Dixon-to-Landon Emery pass only for the Cadets to tie it early in the fourth and then take the lead less than two minutes later. Dixon to Barden for 55 yards tied it up again 20 seconds after the Cadet score.
Benedictine got a 2-yard run for a 43-36 lead with 6:05 left. Westside failed on a fourth and 12 on the Cadet side with less than three minutes left, and got it back, reaching first and 8 on the Benedictine 8 with 33 seconds left, but Westside (8-4) couldn’t finish it off, getting stuffed on a fourth-down reverse. Freeman ran for 105 yards to finish the season with more than 1,500 yards, and Dixon was 17 of 30 for 366 yards – cruising past 2,000 for the year - and four scores, 131 yards to Barden.
Class AA
Dublin 23, Thomasville 7
The Irish put the D in Dublin after giving up the lead two minutes into the gamegame to the team that ended their season a year ago. Their first points came on a safety and followed with a 22-yrd run by Jermaine Cooley for an 8-7 lead, which is where it stood at the half. Dublin head the Bulldogs to two rushing yards and 66 passing through two quarter.
Dublin then ate up more than 10 minutes in the third quarter, settling for a field goal but wearing out the Thomasville D. Romello Height caused a fumble on a QB hit that Jacquez Evans returned about 30 yards, and .Rodriquez Martin hit Cooley with a 10-yard score at the 8:54 mark of the fourth, and Corteveyas Mitchell sealed it with a short run three minutes later. Dublin held Thomasville to 180 yards total offense, only 22 on the ground. Cooley had 102 yards on 18 carries.
Dublin hosts Heard County, a 27-6 winner over Douglass-Atlanta, for the Irish’s first quarterfinal trip since 2011 and seventh since Roger Holmes took over in 2002.
Jefferson County 27, Dodge County 13
Jefferson County trailed 6-0, the Indians taking the lead on an 83-yard touchdown catch from R.J. Carr to Mikhail Carr, but scored on the last play of the half for a 7-6 halftime lead. The hosts went up 21-6 with nine minutes left. The Indians (11-2) quickly answered, inside a minute, to make it 21-13, but Jefferson County forced two punts and then scored late to seal it and end Dodge County’s season in the second round – or earlier – for the seventh straight year and 12th straight postseason trip overall.
Washington County 34, Brooks County 30
The Golden Hawks (10-2) gave up about a 50-yard run on second and 14 with around 90 seconds left, and Brooks County first down at the 5. Washington County’s Jay Sanders, stopped Brooks County at the 1 on fourth down to save the night. Dyquan Bloodsaw scored three times on the ground en route to 294 yards, adding a kickoff return for a touchdown. About 60 of those yards came on a first-and-30 for a 27-21 lead with 8:33 left in the game. A safety made it 27-23, and the Trojans took the lead with just less than five minutes left, the Golden Hawks taking it back two minutes later on Bloodsaw’s 59-yard run.
Washington County travels to Callaway, a 31-13 road winner over Hapeville-Charter, for the Golden Hawks’ fifth quarterfinal trip under head coach Joel Ingram, and first since reaching the 2014 title game.
Class A Public
Mt. Zion 21, Dooly County 0
The Bobcats couldn’t get the offense going on the road, Mount Zion coming up with the play or taking advantage of a mistake – like a hold nullifying a touchdown in the second quarter - every time the Bobcats threatened. Dooly County did the same for most of the game, which was scoreless entering the fourth quarter. The Eagles got all they needed early in the fourth on a 10-yard touchdown run, which came after a roughing the punter. Their defense bowed up late, and the hosts added a score in the final minute.
It was the Bobcats’ (7-5) first shutout since falling 42-0 to Irwin County in the first round of the 2016 playoffs, and brought an end to the career of standout Bo Lawson, who accounted for more than 7,000 yards passing and rushing the past two seasons.
GISA
Class AAA
Tiftarea (10-0) 49 , Trinity Christian (7-5) 7
John Milledge’s Amaad Folston
TCS’s season ends.
John Milledge (11-0) 45, Bulloch (9-3) 14
Amaad Foston scored four rushing touchdowns and had 379 of John Milledge’s 523 rushing yards in the rout. The Trojans led 28-14 at halftime, Foston scoring on runs of 6, 2, and 4, en route to setting the program mark for single-game rushing yards. John Milledge racked up a dominating 33 first downs, nearly double Bulloch’s 17. The win came a day after the death of former head coach and assistant Don Marchman.
The Trojans travel to Tiftarea.Class AA
Memorial Day (7-3) 36, Brentwood (8-5) 34
Chase Everett scored with 28 seconds left, but Memorial Day came up with the stop on the two-point conversion pass to preserve the win. Brentwood led 7-6 after one and at halftime, and 28-22 after three. Memorial Day scored with 11:18 and 5:53 left in the fourth to take the lead. Brentwood’s season ends.
Gatewood (8-2) 27, SW Ga. (8-3) 6
Gatewood hosts Memorial Day.