Friday night's Central Georgia HSFB roundup
Teams: send info to centralgasports@gmail.com by or 9:30 a.m. Saturday
Come back before lunch for more information and some video, with the final edition around 11 a.m. Saturday.
Class 6A
Lee County 24, Houston County 20
The Bears gave the defending 6A state champs a battle down to the final minute, but were plagued down the stretch by a number of dropped passes, including a few in or near the end zone for what would’ve put the hosts up late. The Bears led 17-14, then Lee County recovered its own fumble in the end zone four minutes into the third for a 21-17 lead. The Trojans added a late third-quarter field goal, which the Bears countered fairly early in the fourth. But the Bears couldn’t convert plenty of snaps in Lee County territory into points.
Houston County held Lee County to its lowest point total in a region game since a 23-7 win over Coffee in the 2017 regular-season finale, and it was only the fourth time since the start of the 2018 season the Trojans failed to crack 30 points. Northside, which hosts Houston County next week for the final playoff spot in the region, is responsible for two of those, last season. Peach County, who Houston County beat this year, got the other one.
Valdosta 48, Northside 7
The Eagles broke a streak of 13 straight scoreless quarter when Mason Ford went 40 yards for a touchdown almost three minutes into the second quarter to pull the Eagles within 14-7, but the Wildcats answered with two more scores before halftime. Valdosta took a 524-178 advantage in total offense, running 22 more plays, 59-37. The Wildcats had 20 more first downs, and held Northside to 0-for-9 on third down.
Class 5A
Jones County 23, Ola 14
The Greyhounds had to battle to clinch the top seed, leading only 16-14 late in the third after an Ola score. Jones County, which converted a fake punt only to end up punting on a fourth-quarter possession, got a big interception at the 4:29 mark of the fourth quarter and finally got an insurance score in the final minute. The Greyhounds (9-0/6-0) are the top seed in the region, and can win it outright next week with a win over Stockbridge or a loss by Dutchtown (8-1/5-1).
Veterans 27, Thomas County Central 21
The Warhawks gutted out the road win to set up a winner-take-all Region 1 championship game next week against Warner Robins at Freedom Field. Daniel Gibbs’ 45-yard field goal to end the first half put the Warhawks up 17-14, and they extended that to a 10-point lead with a third-quarter touchdown. A short TD pass pulled TCC within four early in the fourth before another Gibbs field goal with around two minutes left made it a six-point game.
Class 4A
Howard 37, Spalding 14
The Huskies broke a three-game losing streak and got back into the middle of the playoff hunt, avoiding elimination with a score close to last year’s 35-13 win. Jeremiah Kelly led the Huskies with 186 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, Javarsia Meadows adding 104 yards on 11 carries. Gerraud Pertillo scored once with 56 yards on eight carries. QB Jaylon Clark was 9 of 17 for 125 yards. Meadows also carried back an interception for a touchdown.
Perry 21, Mary Persons 17
It started off like the same ol’, same ol’, the Bulldogs taking a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter and Perry missing a field goal. Daequan Wright broke the shutout late in the half for a 14-7 Bulldog lead that grew by three with just over seven minutes left in the game. Perry held off a score with a interception deep in its territory, but went down by another three with a field goal about five minutes into the fourth. Lane Rucker’s TD pass a few minutes later got the Panthers within a field goal with 4:46 left.
An interception by Chriseth Stewart got Perry the ball back with 3:58 remaining. Makeil Kendrick converted a fourth and short inside the final two minutes, and then Perry converted fourth and 10. A TD pass on first down was nullified by an ineligible receiver downfield. But on fourth and goal from the 1 and after a number of near misses and drops in the passing game on the drive, Wright plowed in over the left side with the game-winner with 28 seconds left, putting the Panthers into the region title game next week against West Laurens.
West Laurens 30, Upson-Lee 0
The Raiders’ second shutout of the season gave them their first eight-win regular season since 1996 and kept alive the potential for their first perfect region season in program history. A field goal and fake punt gave West Laurens a 9-0 halftime lead, and it eased away in the second half.
Class 3A
Peach County 49, Jackson 14
The hosts clinched another top seed with another running-clock game, leading 21-0 at halftime. Peach County (8-1/5-0) visit Westside. More likely to come on this game.
Westside 42, Pike County 14
Jaylon Barden broke the school single-season mark of 55 catches while doing the same and passing 1,000 in receiving yards in a season as Westside (6-3/4-1) clinched the third playoff spot in Region 4.
Class AA
Bleckley County 41, Dodge County 34
What started looking like a solid home win became a lot more harrowing in the second half, Dodge County outscoring Bleckley County 28-14 in the final two quarters, which wasn’t enough to overcome a 27-6 halftime deficit. The Indians pulled within seven with a short TD run early in the fourth, the Royals answering shortly thereafter. Dodge County passed for a score with about a minute left, but that was it. Bleckley County broke a five-game losing streak to Dodge County and sealed second place in Region 3 and a home playoff game, its first since 2013.
Dublin 77, Suwannee, Fla. 48
The Irish turned the field into a track against the 5A team from Florida. It was 21-7 after one, 45-21 at halftime, and 59-35 after three quarters, Dublin improving to 9-0 overall after racking up a staggering 798 yards in total offense, all but 40 on the ground. JaQues Evans went wild with 375 yards on 23 carries and seven – seven – touchdowns, Zion Kemp scoring three times on 12 carries as part of 252 yards.
Evans’ scores came on runs of 48, 4, 64, 18, 47, 25, and 13, totaling 219 yards on the scores alone. For Kemp, the distances were 90, 51, and 7, equaling 148, for 367 yards on those TDs alone. QB Markell Mitchell’s lone completion was a 40-yard TD to Marcus Adams. Dublin gave up 358 yards of offense and the most points since Southwest’s 48-28 win in 2016. Evans has 23 touchdowns in the last four games.
Elbert County 56, Putnam County 7
The Blue Devils cracked 50 for the third time this season, all in region games. The loss would’ve been almost fatal to Putnam County’s playoff hopes, but Monticello’s win over Banks County keeps the War Eagles unofficially in the fourth spot. They host Oglethorpe County (2-7/1-5) next week.
Heard County 35, Lamar County 20
The hosts pulled out the heavy machinery to dig themselves into a 35-0 hole in the first half. They broke the shutout three minutes into the third quarter, but couldn’t get back on the board until less than five minutes remained. The Trojans host Temple next week, the winner going to the playoffs.
Monticello 28, Banks County 0
Monticello played quasi-spoiler to Banks County, now almost out of the playoff hunt, with its first shutout since 35-0 over Oglethorpe County in mid-October of last year.
Northeast 26, Washington County 13
The Raiders pulled off their first win over a ranked team in their own classification or higher since a 20-13 road win over Mary Persons in 2003 when both were in Region 4-AAA. That was the year after head coach Jeremy Wiggins graduated. Deondre Duehart was beastly, rushing 27 times for 310 yards, and blocking for the lead 12-yard touchdown by Terrious Myles for a with 5:36 left – set up by Duehart’s 50-yard gain - and then went 70 yards for the game-clinching score with just under two minutes left. Northeast won despite a mind-blowing 17 penalties for 150 yards.
If Northeast beats East Laurens next week and Washngton County loses to Dublin, the Raiders and Golden Hawks will be tied with Dodge County, and a mini-playoff will follow to determine the final two playoff teams.
Southwest 46, East Laurens 25
Class A
No. 28 Dooly County 14, No. 16 Brookstone 13
No. 44 Hawkinsville 33, No. 43 Central Talbotton 24
No. 36 Greenville 41, No. 48 Crawford County 12
No. 21 Macon County 41, No. 24 Pacelli 12
The Bulldogs all but sealed a playoff spot with its fourth straight win, and third in the span by double figures. Macon County is averaging 40.3 points in its wins.
No. 5 Marion County 43, No. 25 Taylor County 7
Taylor County’s playoff hopes took a hit with its worst loss of the season. The Vikings have given up an average of 41.2 points in its losses.
No. 13 Mount de Sales 21, No. 41 Wilkinson County 7
The Cavs (9-0/5-0) outgained the Warriors 257-46 in a close scoreboard game. Dexter Williams completed 13 of 22 for 174 yards and two scores, but the Cavs rushed for only 83 yards on 27 carries. Williams threw TD passes of 17 yards to Josiah Cotton and 13 to Conner Gilbert. The Cavs enter the regular-season finale, a crossover game, having given up 99 points, for their lowest average since winning the GISA Class AAA title in 1996 when they gave up 9.57 points a game.
No. 21 Stratford 48, No. 47 Twiggs County 6
It was over pretty early, the Eagles leading 27-0 after one on two TDs from Ben Jamison, a 54-yard pass from Lawson Cole to Waldon Davis, and a Nate Slappey TD run. The margin was 41-0 when Twiggs County scored in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
No. 29 Tattnall 14, No. 25 FPD 7
The Trojans led 7-0 for a good while, scoring on their first possession of the game. FPD finally tying it with with 3:30 left in the game on Griffin Brown’s 1-yard run after the teams exchanged turnovers past midfield. But the lead didn’t last long. Wes Allen backpedaled and took the kickoff on his 14, and kept running for 86 yards and the lead TD. FPD got inside Tattnall’s 40, but Elmo Daniels chased down Parker Ingram and caused a fumble the Trojans’ recovered with 1:33 left. Tattnall got a first down three plays later to finish it off.
No. 8 Lincoln County 49, No. 24 Hancock Central 14
ACE 35, Pataula Charter 22
GISA
Brentwood 31, Edmund Burke 7
The War Eagles used eight ballcarriers to gain 317 yards on 47 carries, paced by 78 yards on seven carries from QB McKinley Newton and three rushing TDs from Thomas Denton. Brentwood went up 17-0 on a 41-yard Zeb Chapman field goal and TD runs of 2 and 3 from Thomas Denton. Edmund Burke broke the shutout in the final seconds of the second quarter, and it stayed 17-7 until Brentwood recovered a fumble in the end zone at the 8:25 mark of the third, putting away Brentwood’s sixth straight win about six minutes later on Denton’s 8-yard touchdown.
John Milledge 50, Frederica 0
Amaad Foston scored three times and ran for 192 yards for the Trojans, who led 30-0 at halftime. JMA (9-0) rushed for 241 yards and held Frederica to minus-2 on the ground. Grayson Hopkins added two TD runs and a 52-yard scoring pass to Taylor Dixon. Hunter Noles hit a 37-yard field goal and five PATs.
Gatewood 49, Flint River 0
Pinewood 51, Trinity Christian 0
GAPPS Playoffs
AAA
CFCA, bye
AA
Fullington at Georgia Christian
John Hancock at Central Christian