HSFB2019: Friday's Central Georgia high school football GHSA/GISA scouting reports

The overall record, region and region finish accompany each team. Ranking is from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s final regular-season poll.

Come back at 11 p.m. for the first edition of scores and around 12:45 a.m. for the full roundup.

Class 6A
Houston County, 6-5, R1/4, at South Paulding, 9-2, R5/2
Last week: Houston County beat Evans 31-21; South Paulding beat North Atlanta 41-27
          The Bears have some momentum, with a road win in their first playoff game since losing 59-47 to Allatoona in the 2015 Class 5A quarters. A win puts them at the same level they maxed out at in the 2014-15 run of 11-2 and 10-3 seasons, the quarterfinals, which they’ve also reached in 2006 and 2004, both season as a barely-.500 team.
          Houston County has to clean things up to avoid games being closer than maybe they should, like last week and the regular-season finale against Northside. And the Bears are likely going to have to get the run game going some against an run offense that gets 40 more yards a game, but has only two more touchdowns. Killing the clock with a lead by running the ball wins games in the playoffs, like Houston County did with 44 carries and 192 yards against Evans, only the third 100-yard game.
          But these two are going to throw it around, the No. 2 passing offense in 6A hosting the No. 5 passing offense. South Paulding has thrown for 14 more touchdowns and three more interceptions on 18 more attempts. The Spartans are completing 61 percent to 53 percent for the Bears.

Class 5A

No. 3 Rome, 9-2, R7/2, at No. 2 Warner Robins, 10-1, R1/1
Last week: Rome beat Lithonia 52-0; Warner Robins beat Jonesboro 28-7
          Another battle of teams that know each other from the postseason. Rome thoroughly enjoyed the ride, even in frigid weather, in 2017 when it came to town for  a state championship and left with a 38-0 win, some tempers flaring afterward. The Demons got some revenge a year later at The Mac with a 45-28 win over the top-ranked Wolves in a semifinal.
          So the Wolves have to handle a balanced and versatile Demon offense to avoid their earliest playoff departure since 2015, when a second-round loss to Ware County in head coach John Reid’s first season preceded two state championships and last year’s semifinal trip.
          Rome has an efficient passing game – 1,028 yards, eight touchdowns, no interceptions – and boast Ahijah Blackwell, unofficially second in 5A with 1,442 yards and 21 touchdowns. Warner Robins’ Jahlen Rutherford is ninth with 1,054 and four.
          The Demons have the sixth-best rushing offense – Rome is third, 20 more yards a game – in yards, but have 32 fewer rushing scores than the Wolves. Warner Robins counters with QB Jalen Addie and the No. 5 passing offense in 5A, with twice Rome’s yardage and nearly three times as many touchdowns.

Veterans, 9-2, R2/2, at No. 1 Carrollton, 11-0, R7/1
Last week: Veterans beat Riverdale 28-6; Carrollton beat Arabia Mountain 42-14
          There will be some grounding-and-pounding, with the visitor averaging 239.3 yards a game rushing – and 37 attempts a game – and the host good for 208.2 yards on 26 attempts.
          So there’s quite the contrast with one team averaging 213.7 yards a game throwing and the other less than half of that. Veterans has seven passing touchdowns and six interceptions to 16 and 5 for Carrollton, which has completed 61.7 percent to Veterans’ 56.6.
          The defenses face Veterans’ Lebron Fields, who has 1,080 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, and Carrollton’s trio of Brandon Marenco, Mecose Todd, and Shyquan Johnson, who have teamed for 1,460 yards and 15 touchdowns, 10 from Todd.
          Carrollton rolled last week despite the absence of QB MJ Morris, and a few other regulars, but may not be the 100 percent for this point in the season. The Trojans have reached three straight quarterfinals, a run starting three seasons after making the finals in 2013. They’ve won 42 games the past four seasons, and their last nine at home.

Cedar Shoals, 8-3, R8/3, at No. 7 Jones County, 10-1 R4/1
Last week: Cedar Shoals beat Carver-Atlanta 36-12; Jones County beat South Effingham 26-13
          The host Greyhounds welcome a hungry and improving Jaguar program in its third straight playoff trip for the first time since a 2000-04 run, and looking for its first second-round win since reaching the 1995 3A championship.
          Jerdavian Colbert comes with more than 1,200 rushing yards, and a rushing and receiving touchdown last week. The Jags have passed, though, for 1,048 yards on 50.6-percent completions, with 14 TDs and eight INTs.
          But the Jaguars have a variety of weapons to deal with in QB Hunter Costlow (2,495 yards, 65.8 pct., 26-2 TD/INT), WRs Jontavis Robertson (49-948/7 TDs), Malik Wooten (47-799/12), and Caden Mutchler (24
220/1), among others, plus underrated RB Andrew (130-1,086 rushing, 9 TDs, 19 catches for 128 yards).
          Jaheim Wilson has four sacks for Cedar Shoals, and Jaiden Williams four interceptions. Nathan Seiy leads Jones County with four sacks, and Jitavius Whipple had 13 pass defended.

Class 4A
No. 10 North Oconee, 10-1, R8/2 at No. 7 West Laurens, 10-1, R2/1
Last week: North Oconee beat Pickens 45-24; West Laurens beat Luella 37-6
          The Battle of Regions 2 and 4 is highlighted by the showdown in Dexter, where talk has been about burly defenses the past several years but is now home to one of the best – and probably among the most underrated – offenses in Class 4A.
          The Raiders get 204.3 yards in the air on a a nifty 63.8-percent completion rate from QB A.J. Mathis, the new author of the West Laurens passing records, and 211.4 yards rushing, led by Brent Carr’s 1,204 yards. The Titans have a quality passing game to go with a good defense.
          North Oconee’s first football season was in 2004, and the Titans have made the playoffs all but six seasons, following up a 1-19 run by going 19-4 the past two seasons.
          Both teams have been tested by region opponents, with three from Region 2 alive and all four teams from Region 8 still playing.
          The Titans have kept three opponents to single digits, compared to eight – the last seven – for the Raiders and Spencer Dacus, Daniel Lindo, and D’Eryk Jackson and Company.

Perry, 7-4, R2/2 at No. 6 Oconee County, 10-1, R8/1
Last week: Perry beat Hampton 38-0; North Oconee beat Northwest Whitfield 41-14
          Oconee County is on a nine-game winning streak, the loss in August to 5A Clarke Central. Only two wins have been by two touchdowns or less, 21-13 over Winder-Barrow and 21-7 over St. Pius X.
          The teams are pretty even statistically in rushing and passing yards per game and scoring.
          Oconee County opened last week with a quick touchdown after a game-opening onside kick, and then recovered its onside kick, then grinding it out the rest of the game, led by Jimmy Boswell’s 277 yards and three touchdowns, passing 1,000 yards for the year.
          Perry has won four of its last five, hammering Hampton 38-0 after getting popped 36-2 by West Laurens in the region championship, a very nice rebound.
          Makeil Kendrick is 143 yards from 1,000 for the Panthers, and QB Lane Rucker is five from 1,300. Rucker has thrown only one interception in the last five games.
          Perry only threw four passes in last week’s weather mess, and rolled, getting a huge defensive effort. The Panthers and Warriors are similar in philosophy, so an efficient passing game for two running teams might be the difference.

Madison County, 5-6, R8/4, at Mary Persons, 6-5, R2/3
Last week: Madison County beat Ridgeland 27-20; Mary Persons beat Eastside 28-21
          There’ll be smiles galore in a game pitting a 3 and a 4, until kickoff.
          Mary Persons is in a familiar spot, despite an “off” season, and Madison County is in an unfamiliar spot.
          The Red Raiders are in the playoffs for the second time in three years after a 10-year drought, and last week was their first outright GHSA playoff win. They’ve had only one winning regular season since 2007, going 6-4 in 2016 but missing the playoffs.
          The Bulldogs are getting 153.8 yards a game on the ground, led by William Stewart and Enrico Harden’s 668 and 614 yards. Freshman quarterback Logan Hickam emerged to clinch the starting job, and has 1,268 yards on a 54.3 percent completion rate, 11 TDs and 8 INTs. Seven different players have caught touchdown passes. 

Baldwin, 5-6, R3/3, at No. 3 Blessed Trinity, R7/1
Last week: Baldwin beat Cairo 38-30; Blessed Trinity beat Troup 40-14
          The Braves face another perennial state finalist contender, a year after taking on Cartersville.
          The Titans are mighty close to undefeated, the lone loss 13-10 to top-ranked Woodward Academy. They’ve had to pull some games out, with single-digit wins down the stretch over Denmark, Flowery Branch, and Marist.
          Of course, all three were ranked at the time.
          Blessed Trinity, which started in 2001 and is still only on its second head coach, has won the last two 4A titles and reached the quarterfinals four straight years before that. The Titans aren’t quite as dominant as last year, when they won by an average of 25.9 points a game, to 16.1 points this year.
          They’re an I-formation offense, and a team that’ll won’t let Baldwin survive the early mistakes of last week that the Braves overcame to knock off Cairo.

Class 3A
Calhoun, 10-1, R6/2 at No. 1 Peach County, 10-1, R4/1
Last week: Calhoun beat Morgan County 38-10; Peach County beat Brantley County 19-0
          The 2017 meeting: 10-6. The 2018 meeting: 22-7. The points may not equal the action between two of the state’s premiere programs who are in each other’s way in the postseason for the third straight year.
          The Yellow Jackets are led by quarterback Jake Morrow and running back Jerrian Holmes, who teamed for nearly 270 yards and five touchdowns in the first-round 28-point win. The Trojans counter with QB Jaydon Gibson and RBs Noah Whittington and Tijah Woolfolk, with Chris McMillon, Kap Everett and Deshawen Rumph adding 10 rushing touchdowns to Whittington’s 18 and Woolfolk’s eight.
          This meeting is earlier than expected, thanks to Calhoun’s streak of 18 straight region championships ending with a Sept. 20 31-7 loss to North Murray, which ran the Region 6 table. Thus, the Yellow Jackets and first-year head coach Clay Stephenson are on the edge of being eliminated in the second round for the time since 2007.
          Peach County’s last early exit was in the 2015 first round, a stunning 14-7 home loss to fourth seed Appling County, followed by a second-round loss at Calhoun, the Trojans the second seed from Region 2.
          The Jackets score 33.6 a game and give up 9.1, the Trojans 47.2 and 13.1
          Considering the history with these two – Christmas cards will not pass in the mail next month – composure will likely end up deciding it.

Class AA

Bremen, 8-3, R5/2, at No. 5 Dublin, 10-1 R3/1
Last week: Bremen beat Model 17-0; Dublin beat Early County 32-9
          Bremen brings a pretty good defense to the Shamrock Bowl, one that’s allowed only 110 points in 11 games, and 20 points or more in only four games, three of the Blue Devils’ losses (all to still-playing teams).
          But it faces an offense averaging 409.4 yards a game rushing, 9.7 yards a carry, and 6.2 rushing touchdowns. A half dozen.
          Dublin’s 46.9 points a game is second all-time, behind the 50.1 in 2005, when the Irish lost in the second round to Cook, when Dublin was ranked No. 1 by the AJC. That team also gave up 30 points all season.
          This Irish team is able to get the tempo it wants better, and is more than just JaQues Evans, with Zion Kemp and Marcus Adams good for more than 100 yards a game.

Class A Private
No. 12 Hebron Christian (R8, sub-region champ), 7-4, at No. 5/8 Mount de Sales (Region 7 champ), 10-0
Last week: Hebron Christian beat Mount Vernon Presbyterian 13-7; Mount de Sales had a bye
          The Cavs had a week off to heal up and enjoy the last-second 23-20 win over Aquinas to win the Region 7 title and get a first-round bye.
          The second-round battle features some serious playmakers. Hebron Christian’s Colten Gauthier has completed 56.8 percent of his passes for 1,945 yards and 15 touchdowns against seven interceptions. The Lions average 134.6 yards a game on the ground behind four runners getting between 205 and 476 yards.
          Dexter Williams has 1,386 yards and 14 touchdowns on 62 percent passing, with four interceptions, and another 832 yards rushing, just behind Josiah Cotton’s 895 yards. The two have combined for 26 rushing touchdowns.
          Cotton and A’Khori Jones and Kobe Butts are among the Cavs’ two-way playmakers.
          Hebron Christian, coached by former longtime NFL center Jeff Saturday, is in its 13th season, and has made the playoffs only the past four seasons. The Cavs are going for their first GHSA playoff win, and first overall playoff win since 2010 when they reached the GISA Class 3A semifinals.

GISA

Class AAA
Southland, 7-4, R3 at John Milledge, 10-0, R4
Last week: Southland beat Frederica 22-6; JMA had a bye
          The only two 1,000-yard rushers in Class AAA battle in Milledgeville. JMA’s Amaad Foston has 1,581 yards and 25 touchdowns on 164 carries, and Southland’s Clay Owens has 1,358 and 22 on 174.
          There won’t be much fancy football going on, and the Golden Raiders – who run out of a variety of sets – face a defense, led by Je’mazin Roberts, Ethan Huff and Carson Dyer, that has allowed all of 37 points, and none since Oct. 11.

Class AA
Terrell, 7-5, R3, at Brentwood, 9-2, R4
Last week: Terrell beat Robert Toombs 64-26; Brentwood had a bye
          The War Eagles had last week off, ostensibly to rest from the 56-19 win over Thomas Jefferson a week earlier, the seventh time they’d cracked 40 points and fifth 50-point game.
          Terrell will have to deal with the run game led by Chase Everett and Thomas Denton, but QB McKinley Newton is off a 157-yard passing game against Thomas Jefferson, completing 9 of 14, five to Ben Tarbutton. About a half-dozen or so War Eagles will get carries as part of the wear-the-D-down plan.

Memorial Day, 3-8, R2, at Gatewood, 9-2, R1 (7 p.m.)
Last week: Memorial Day beat Westwood by forfeit; Gatewood had a bye
          Gatewood hasn’t lost since Sept. 20, and has only been challenged once since then. The Gators enter with three straight shutouts.
          And one was by a 62-0 count over Memorial Day on Oct. 25, part of a 174-0 three-game run by Gatewood.