By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Game of the week

Last 10 (starting with 2017)

Warner Robins 28-17

Northside 55-3

Northside 58-14

Northside 24-21

Warner Robins 28-18

Northside 35-28

Northside 32-24

Northside 28-7

Warner Robins 21-20

Northside 14-0

Warner Robins (3-1) at Northside (3-2), McConnell-Talbert

Ready?

Warner Robins has played one of the top teams in the nation. Northside has played two teams ranked in their respective classifications.

Both have lost, both have quality regions to get going in soon. And the big picture is a region championship and a run toward a state title.

Buuuut …

“This is the game,” said Warner Robins head coach Mike Chastain, 1-1 in The Game as the Demons head coach, and owner of the rare experience of having played in it on the other side, as a Northside student. “We’ll talk about Colquitt, we’ll talk about Rome some, we’ll talk about some things.

“Our guys will never stop talking about the Northside-Warner Robins game. They will never, ever, ever stop talk about that.

“This is the deal.”

Warner Robins leads the series 35-25, but amazingly, the Demons haven’t won two straight since the mid-1990s when they were on a seven-game winning streak that ended in 1996.

From 1996 to now, though, Northside leads 16-6.

The Eagles are an underdog, thanks to a pair of losses to lower-classification teams, albeit top-5 teams in their classifications.

Northside is a little younger than usual.

“You don’t hear me talk much about inexperience and stuff like that, but we’re pretty riddled with it this year,” Northside head coach Kevin Kinsler said. “We’re still a long way away, but the kids are getting better every week.”

The Eagles showed the youth in a 27-24 week 2 loss to Peach County at Mercer, and then a 35-27 home loss to Jones County a week later.

“We knew with the amount of inexperienced players we had – not really younger, but inexperienced players – it was going to have to be a process as the season went along,” Kinsler said. “We did some things early in the season. We were very inconsistent on both sides, had some costly turnovers.

“Hopefully we can just keep getting better.”

The past two scores have been more Northside-like, 41-3 over Whitewater and 45-0 over Baldwin. But that doesn’t mean the Eagles are playing Northside-like.

“We’re not a good enough football team to make … mistakes,” Kinsler said. “We’re not as good right now as I hope we’re gonna be. I think the kids understand that.”

The contrasting styles make for an interesting back-and-forth, and pressure on defenses.

Northside quarterback Jadin Daniels leads Region 1-6A in rushing with 522 yards, 7.7 per carry and six touchdowns. He is 60 for 88 passing for 619 yards and seven touchdowns.

Warner Robins quarterback Dylan Fromm tops Region 1-5A with 1,233 yards passing – among the state leaders, in all classes - and 10 touchdowns, completing 58.1 percent of his passes.

The Demons are expected to again by without Auburn commit Tyler Fromm at wideout as he recovers from an August shoulder injury. But his brother continues to spread the passes, boosted by the running of Jahlen Rutherford and Deondre Duhart.

Mistakes in the opening minutes last week put Warner Robins into a three-touchdown hole against Class 7A No. 1 Colquitt County en route to a 41-14 loss that was closer than that. The Demons held their own physically against a nationally ranked team.

“We did not play good,” Chastain said. “You can’t do the things we did … Matchup-wise, there were some things we had our chances to do and be successful at, but the game is more than just offense and defense. You’ve got to do a really good job in the special teams area.”

And Chastain knew his team realized what it didn’t do and did do in “a learning experience”.

Warner Robins is balanced, with 19 more pass attempts than rushes. Northside runs it 65 percent of the time.

Both teams are preparing for pretty brutal regions.

The other four teams in 1-6A are a cumulative 14-7, with four teams ranked in both polls, and with Lee County No. 1 and Coffee No. 2 in both.

The other four teams in 1-5A are 13-8, with only Warner Robins ranked but with Veterans undefeated and Thomas County Central improved. The Demons won’t sneak up on anybody, and close games will be tougher to win with the graduation of kicker Eli Mashburn, good for three wins last year in the final seconds.

While both coaches talk about their teams paying attention to themselves to get better, well, this is the week of multiple focus: the opponent and the rest of the season, and of just playing good football.

“The kids know, jut because of experience, that ‘rah rah’ doesn’t win football games. Getting your job done is what wins it. There’s gonna be a a ton of emotion and there’s gonna be a ton of electricity and all that

“But eventually it’s going to come down to who does their job.”

Games of the week

Veterans (5-0) at Perry (4-0)

Only Northside-Warner Robins would be big enough to drop this matchup, this year, to No. 2 in the county. Otherwise, this would draw some outsiders to Herb St. John Stadium.

Perry head coach Kevin Smith, who has watched all sorts of upgrades and renovation take place in and near the stadium, expects about 6,000 to squeeze into the 4,500-seat home.

The teams shared the stadium until the opening of Freedom Field, giving Veterans another stadium to share, but one closer to home. So there is that familiarity, only adding to the hype of a pair of undefeated teams meeting.

And nobody was predicting that, what with Veterans undergoing a coaching change and Perry in its second season under Smith, whose priority has been to bring stability to a program that’s lacked it.

The buy-in under Milan Turner at Veterans and Smith has been a pretty clear one, and the electricity will be something new for all involved.

Adding to the chess match is that, like the other big game in the county, this is a matchup of contrasts.

The Panthers pitch it around, the Warhawks keep it on the ground.

“Cyrus (Zuell) is a good running back,” Smith said. “The quarterback (Sebastian) Verger, he presents a problem.”

Zuell has 504 yards rushing, Verger 343, Julian Barnes 253 and Kedrek Smith 164, leading to 292.8 yards a game on the ground.

Smith is impressed with receivers Cordelle Clark and Jacob Pierce, Pierce also a key defender. Veterans is big and physical on defense.

“They do what they do, they do it well,” Smith said, “and they believe in what they’re doing.”

Ditto Perry, which offensively is riding the arm of Lane Rucker. The 6-1,175-pounder is among the state’s leaders in passing yards in all classes. He has completed 54 percent of his passes for 1,120 yards and eight touchdowns, with five interceptions.

Davion Ross has 26 catches for 444 yards, putting him among state leaders as well.

The Panthers do need to see progress in the run game, which hasn’t cracked 200 yards yet for the season.

“Our offensive line has struggled, but they’ve gotten better,” Smith said. “We’ve been working on it. We showed signs against Monroe running the ball.”

Perry has an advantage in that it doesn’t have any two-way players, but Veterans does.

“We want 100 plays a half,” Smith said. “They want 40 plays at half.”

Somebody’s defense will determine that. Smith is thrilled with the progress the Panthers have made on that side.

“Last year, we didn’t execute our scheme at all,” he said. “We’re executing the scheme now. We’ve had seven goal-line stands. Seven. Last week, Monroe was 0 for 5 on fourth down. That’s believing.”

Both defenses have had some up-and-down to the season. Veterans has two shutouts, but has given up 30 points or more in two games. Perry has one shutout, and kept three opponents to less than 20 points.

Turner and Smith are both enjoying the enthusiasm this year’s success – and more than just the record – is bringing.

“There’s such a buzz in the community,” Smith said. “I think the trust factor is good. We’re winning that.”

Mount de Sales (4-0) at Stratford (1-3)

Stratford hopes to be a perfect example of a tough schedule paying off in region play.

The young and rebuilding Eagles took some major early poundings. By three teams all 4-0.

Mount de Sales is yet another 4-0 team, one that has been efficient and steady, winning close games along the way. The Cavs have been able to survive with QB Dexter Williams eating up yards. He has accounted for 67.6 percent of their rushing yards and five of the team’s six rushing touchdowns, while completing 49 percent of his passes for 442 yards.

Stratford will have confidence for another reason: a seven-game winning streak over Mount de Sales.

Statesboro (2-2) at West Laurens (3-1)

The Raiders again bring a lumber-wielding defense to the table. In five games, they’ve allowed 22 points, all to Class AA top-10 Dodge County. On the other hand, three opponents have been lower-classification opponents, and Statesboro is a 5A team, like South Effingham, that was bruised 37-0 last week at home by West Laurens. Statesboro has scored 45 points in four games, and was skunked by Veterans. And the Raiders’ offense, led by QB A.J. Mathis and RB Dorian Edmond, is getting 307.5 yards a game.

The matchups

Bleckley County (2-2) at Northeast (1-3), Thompson

The Royals are off a two-point home loss, one that got away, while the Raiders managed only two points last week after getting a big road win against Manchester.

Crawford County (2-1) at Hawkinsville (1-3)

Hawkinsville has 30 points in four games, while Crawford County has cracked the 30-point mark in all three games.

Dodge County (4-0) at Southwest (2-2), Henderson

Dodge County isn’t quite as good, as Southwest coach Joe Dupree called last week’s opponent, Lee County University, the No. 1 team in Class 6A. But the Indians will bring a pretty good team to Macon.

East Laurens (1-3) at Dublin (3-1)

Dublin lost a tough 13-10 game against Brooks County and awaits taking it out on somebody. Alas, East Laurens had a week to celebrate a streak-breaking win over Wheeler County before getting the Irish.

Greenbrier (0-3) at Baldwin (0-5)

Class 6A Greenbrier has scored 18 points, and lost 55-6 to Washington County, which beat Baldwin 19-7 in the opener.

Greene County (1-2) at GMC (3-1)

GMC was humbled last week and wants to do some humbling.

Kendrick (1-3) at Peach County (2-2)

Peach County lost by two touchdowns at home. Kendrick is next in line and will try to give the Trojans their first two-game losing streak in, well, awhile.

Jordan (0-4) at Lamar County (2-2)

Jordan has scored 10 more points than Lamar County in four games, but the 184 points given up is second-most in AA.

Monticello (1-3) at Rabun County (3-1)

Rabun County is ranked fifth and seventh in the two polls, and Monticello will try to slow an offense that has socred 52, 41, and 42 in the last three games.

Hancock Central (3-1) at Washington-Wilkes (1-3)

A win puts Hancock Central at 4-1. The Bulldogs haven’t won more than four games since 2012.

Putnam County (1-3) at Union County (4-0)

Union County has scored twice as many points, plus one, as Putnam County.

Rutland (0-4) at Westside (2-2), Ed DeFore

Rutland had a win within its sights last week against another struggling program before suffering its closest loss since losing 34-31 to Kendrick on Sept. 29 of last season.

Schley County (3-1) at Dooly County (1-2)

Dooly County has a good loss and a bad loss. Schley County has given up a few points, and will try to corral QB Bo Lawson, who has 328 yards passing and 371 yards rushing in three games.

Taylor County (1-2) at Macon County (1-2)

A couple years ago, this was quite the star-studded showdown. Now, both need wins to start building some momentum. The visitors have scored seven fewer points and given up nine more, so this should go down to the last minute.

Twiggs County (0-4) at Tattnall (1-3)

Tattnall’s defense doesn’t want to be the first one to give up points this season to the Cobras, who are giving up 41.3 points a game.

GISA/GICAA

Brentwood (1-3) at St. Andrew’s (0-1-1)

Brentwood is two games under .500, but has only given up four more points than it’s scored.

Gatewood (3-1) at Westwood (1-4)

The Gators are 2-3 against Westwood, but the teams haven’t played since the 2001 quarterfinal, a 49-13 Westwood win.

Piedmont (2-1-1) at SW Georgia (4-1)

Piedmont’s defense must slow an offense that has cracked 40 points in three of the four wins.

John Milledge (4-0) at Westfield (1-3)

The Hornets are improved, and could easily be 3-1, but the Trojans are playing quite well.

Covenant at Thomas Jefferson (2-1-1)

Covenant steps into GISA competition for a week.