Bibb County banner being carried by …

          Howard.

          The Huskies have a quality loss and no true quality wins, per se. The reality is they should be 3-0, and it takes no brilliance to project entering September that the Huskies are now the favorite to finish second in Region 2-AAAA behind Mary Persons.

          Truly quality wins right now are few and far between for Bibb. Class 3A Westside beat 5A Harris County in overtime on the road, but the 0-3 Tigers are headed toward their fourth straight non-winning season.

          Nobody’s ranked, and the only teams to reach even 2-0 were Westside and Mount de Sales.

          The Cavs are the lone unbeaten team in the county, with the Huskies’ lone loss by 6 to a ranked higher-class team and the Seminoles losing by three at an unranked 4A team.

          The county’s GHSA teams not named Howard, Westside, or Mount de Sales – the only teams with winning records - have been outscored 556-311.

          Stratford is 0-2 for the first time in 1996, when the Eagles started off 0-5 en route to 1-9.

          Tattnall could fall to 1-3, its worst start since 0-5in 2012. And FPD, which changed offensive schemes last week, is young and hasn’t had a losing season since 2008.

          It is, however, too early to research the last time Stratford, FPD, and Tattnall all had non-winning seasons, in part because it’s early and in part because Region 7-A in general appears to be mediocre this season, moreso Division A.

          The Huskies have size, speed, confidence, and momentum, but will need better balance on offense, especially against a defense like West Laurens.

          With standout running back Jeremiah Gray hobbled, Javarsia Meadows filled in and only ran for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

          Now, just as all this comes up for debate, who plays this week at Ed DeFore?

          Howard and Westside. It’s a non-region game, but it’s a battle between the county’s two best teams and a statement win for whoever survives.

          The question: can Westside fill the visitor’s side? Can Howard cover half of the home side?

          Locals have quite a choice this Friday, with Stratford, Tattnall, FPD, and ACE at home, and Central facing Southwest.

 

Mds            3-0    70-42

Howard     2-1    124-29

Westside    2-1    75-54

Southwest 1-1     14-29

ACE            1-2    51-83

Tattnall      1-2   86-115

Central       0-2    39-67

Northeast 0-2    38-50

Rutland      0-2    24-86

FPD            0-2    31-91

Stratford    0-2    7-56

 

 

A giddy Gator

          A week ago, Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff was mighty miffed with his team’s performance against John Milledge, and railed pretty hard in a weekly newsletter.

          The 45-7 loss came a few days after his birthday.

“We did not block.  We did not tackle, and special teams were not very good.  Plus, you simply can NOT turn the ball over FIVE times (which led to 35 points) and expect to win,” he wrote in last week’s newsletter.

          No kidding. And they did all the right things a week later, hammered a decent Trinity Christian team 43-0. That’s an 81-point turnaround in the game’s margin.

          The Gators wore solid gold helmets for the game, paying tribute to one of the area’s legends.

          “The solid gold helmet this past Friday was my way of paying respect to my former coach and mentor Barney Hester,” Ratliff wrote. “I played (4 years) and coached (17 years) for Coach Hester. During his career, he won 340 games and 11 state championships.”

          Now, if the Gators fall this week to Brentwood …

 

Numbers

2

          The only Central Georgia teams to throw a shutout last week were Gatewood, surprisingly dominant in a 43-0 win over a decent Trinity Christian team, and Crawford County, 35-0 over Central-Talbotton.

4

          Four area teams – excluding Trinity Christian – were blanked, and by an average margin of 28 points.

11

          Almost a dozen area GHSA teams are still undefeated, either 3-0 or 2-0. 3-0: Houston County, Veterans, Jones County, Mary Persons, Perry, Dublin, and Mount de Sales. 2-0: Warner Robins, Dodge County, Washington County, and GMC.

 

Checking scoreboard bulbs at Pitts’ place

          Mary Persons is keeping the scoreboard lights changing, at least on the home side.

          The Bulldogs are averaging 50.7 points a game, which would put them at 507 points for the regular season.

          Granted, nobody’s expecting that to happen, because the Bulldogs will face region teams that are familiar with them, and there will be a off night or two. Plus, the visit Peach County on Sept. 14.

          But the program records for points scored and average points are looking over their figurative shoulders.

          Mary Persons scored 458 points and averaged 35.2 in 1994, when the Bulldogs went 10-0, but lost in the 30-14 at home in the quarterfinals to Washington County.

          The Bulldog were in 3-AA then, with West Laurens (also a quarterfinalist that year), Dodge County, Bleckley County, Harris County, Jackson, Perry, Houston County, and Pike County.

          Head coach Brian Nelson in 1994? He was a high school senior quarterback in West Burlington, Iowa.

 

The surprises

          The Maxwell Ratings projections completely missed eight area games, some by a burly chunk.

          Westside was picked by 1, lost by 3. Macon County was a 5-point favorite over Southwest, lost by 6.

          Monticello was picked to lose by 12, won by 1. West Laurens was picked by 6, Dodge County won by 12 (18)

          Northside was picked by 9 over Jones County, lost by 8. Some places called it much, much closer than that (*coughcough*).

           FPD was picked by 2, lost by 24.

          Peach County was picked to lose by 6 to Lee County, lost by 33 in a game called a few minutes into the fourth quarter.

 

A little (OK, a lot) off

         Hancock Central was picked by 16, won by 39.

        Taylor County was a 5-point underdog that lost by 30.

         George Walton was a 7-point underdog, won by 35, a difference of 42 points.

          Crawford County was an 8-point underdog, won by 35, a difference of 43 points.

 

On the money (or really close)

          The perfect call was Mount de Sales over Pinecrest by five, and the Cavs won 21-16.

          Dublin over Swainsboro by 4, won by 7.

          Veterans over Baldwin by 11, won by 8.

          Upson-Lee over Harris County by 8, won by 5.

          Lamar County over ACE by 42, won by 45.

          Howard over Central by 15, won by 20.

          Houston County by 37 over Rutland, won by 45.