By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Teams: send info/details/updates to centralgasports@gmail.com by or 10 a.m. Saturday, the final update coming at 11a .m.

Class 6A

Houston County 21, Northside 16

          Houston County trailed twice against the rival dominant in the series, but the Bears (5-5/1-3) scored twice in the fourth quarter and then held on when the Eagles (3-7/0-4) took advantage of a downed knee on a punt snap to score with 23 seconds left and pull within five. Max Rigby went 22 of 35 for 243 yards and two scores for Houston County, which won despite only 21 yards rushing on 29 carries, to 145 on 37 for Northside, which had 307 yards in total offense, its best total in several weeks.

          Isaia Harris caught 10 passes for 119 yards and a score for Houston County. Northside’s Mason Ford was 7 of 19 for 162 yards, four for 92 to Justin Lake. The Eagles are home for the first time since 1991, with the fewest wins since then. The 17.7 points per game is the Eagles’ lowest since getting 18 points a game in 1996, a 6-4 season. The Bears are in the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

Class 5A

Warner Robins 47, Veterans 17

          The Demons (9-1/4-0) took control early with a 20-3 halftime lead that only kept growing as they won their third straight region title with their second perfect region mark in three seasons. Veterans (8-1/3-1) just missed a 51-yard field goal after Warner Robins’ first touchdown, but the Warhawks’ Daniel Gibbs hit a 34-yarder late in the first. Two TD passes from Jalen Addie to Armon Porter in the second quarter gave the Demons a 20-3 halftime lead, and little of what Veterans tried on offense the rest of the way had much success.

Stockbridge 44, Jones County 14

          Jones County (9-1/6-1) scored on its first possession, but the rest of the night wasn’t so pleasant against a team (8-2/5-2) that was, in a rare year, not playing for first or second. The loss ended Jones County’s perfect regular and region season, but didn’t change the Greyhounds’ top seed.

Class 4A

Mary Persons 45, Howard 38 (Thurs.)

          The Bulldogs stormed back to win in the final two minutes.

Upson-Lee 43, Spalding 31

          The Knights (4-6/2-3) had a battle with a team that finished its second straight winless season, Upson-Lee making the playoffs for a second straight year for only the second time in more than a decade.

West Laurens 36, Perry 2

          The Raiders (9-1/5-0) rolled to the Region 2 title, throwing a defensive shutout and giving up points on a safety less than two minutes into the third quarter for a 20-2 lead. Daniel Dorsey’s 76-yard score on the third play of the game got West Laurens going, and A.J Mathis followed with a TD pass to Bradley Wilson with three minutes left in the second quarter. The Raiders added another TD with 11 seconds left in the half.

Baldwin 41, Cross Creek 0

          The Braves (4-6/3-1) got the third seed after recording their first shutout since last year’s second-round 21-0 win over Columbus.

Class 3A

Peach County 68, Westside 21

          The Trojans (9-1/6-0) cracked 40 points for the seventh time this season and four game in a row, topping by 19 the most points they’ve scored against Westside (6-/3-2). The 47-point margin was the most in the series by 14 points.

Jackson 42, Rutland 6

          Jackson (7-3/5-1) took second as Rutland finished 2-8 and 1-5.

Class AA

Monticello 50, Social Circle 20

Northeast 53, East Laurens 34

          The Raiders (5-5/3-3) did their part, although East Laurens (1-9/0-6) battled for a good while, to keep playoff hopes alive only for Washington County’s upset to allow Dodge County to get in. Northeast’s Travion Solomon and JaCoby Hill teamed to go 6 for 12 passing for 135 yards. It was Deondre Duehart’s night, the senior running seven times for 169 yards and four touchdowns along with 41 yards in kickoff returns.

Southwest 16, Bleckley County 11

          The host Patriots (4-6/2-4) survived a pretty sloppy game, knocking off the second-place team in 3-AA.

Temple 28, Lamar County 26

          The teams exchanged leads all game long, until Temple (6-4/3-3) scored late in the third quarter to go up 21-20 and added another one with 7:08 left for a 28-20 lead. The Trojans (6-4/2-4) managed a last-minute score, but it was too late, and Lamar County’s season ended with its fourth straight loss after a 6-0 start.

Putnam County 13, Oglethorpe County 10

          The War Eagles (5-5/4-3) eked out the win and got into the playoffs.

Washington County 27, Dublin 23

          The Golden Hawks (7-3/4-2)  turned in a defensive performance that won’t be forgotten for awhile, “holding” Dublin (9-1/5-1) to 352 yards on the ground and to the Irish’s second-lowest point total of the season and fewest points in a region game since a 21-20 loss to Northeast late in the 2017 regular season. Chasing down and Irish runner at the one followed by a goalline stand was part of the defensive effort, keyed by Dylan waters, Warren Coneway, and Jalen Mathis.

          Tayshaun Dixon’s 25-yard run with 7:53 left in the third put Dublin behind for the first time in the game, and for the first time since Brooks County led for the entire second quarter of the Irish’s 49-35 win on Sept. 20. Sha’Marcus Poole’s 3-yard run with 3:08 left put the Golden Hawks up, and then the defense came up with a fourth-down stop in the final minute to clinch it. Poole ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns, while Zion Kemp led Dublin with 145 yards on 11 carries. The Irish were without standout JaQues Evans, for reportedly a non-injury issue. The win broke a five-game losing streak to Dublin, the last win ironically coming in the Shamrock Bowl, 28-0 in 2003.

Class A

Central Talbotton 56, Crawford County 50

FPD 49, Warren County 28

          QB Parker Ingram was on fire, completing 29 of 34 passes for a school record 465 yards and school record six touchdowns in the must-win crossover game for the Vikings (5-5/3-2).

Hawkinsville 41, Greenville 33

Lincoln County 35, Tattnall 7

          Tattnall (5-5/3-2) led 7-6 two minutes into the second quarter, and trailed only 13-7 at halftime. The Tigers (8-2/5-1)  didn’t extend the lead until the final 76 seconds of the third quarter and sealed it with a score at the 6:28 mark of the fourth quarter. The Tigers won 25-0 on Sept. 13 at home.

Manchester 40, Dooly County 19

Marion County 37, Macon County 20

          Marion County assured itself of a first-round bye with the Region 4-A title.

Mount de Sales 23, Aquinas 20

          Ethan Aler has been a money kicker all year long, and it certainly showed with his buzzer-beating 35-yard field goal on the game’s final play to give the Cavs their first region title since 1997. MdS (10-0/5-0) led 14-7 at halftime, Aquinas (8-2/5-1) tying it with a 40-yard field goal with 1:05 left. Dexter Williams rushed for 145 yards and two scores for the Cavs.

          Mount de Sales led 14-10 at halftime, getting a 4-yard score from A’Khori Jones less than four minutes into the game. It was countered by a 40-yard scoring run early in the second by Aquinas. Williams went 47 for a score, the Irish getting a field goal with five seconds left in the half. Aquinas took the lead with 2:23 to go in the third, Williams – who passed 2,000 yards in total offense last week - returning the Cavs to the lead with a 22-yarder with 33 seconds remaining in the third. The teams slugged it out until the final 65 seconds. The Cavs outgained the Irish by two yards on two more plays, but gave up 183 rushing yards to James Schlegel.

Taylor County 27, Pacelli 20

Twiggs County 16, GMC 8

Washington-Wilkes 21, Stratford 9

          Stratford’s Mark Farriba will have to wait to get win No. 200, the Eagles (4-6/3-2) unable to build on an early 3-0 lead on James Michael Reeves’ 51-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter. Washington-Wilkes (6-4/4-2) took the lead for good with its first touchdown midway through the second quarter, adding another score about two minutes later en route to a 14-3 halftime lead. Dell Sikes’ 3-yard score pulled the Eagles within five at the 9:01 mark of the fourth quarter, but the visitors sealed it with a score six minutes later.

Wilkinson County 49, Greene County 20

GISA

Brentwood 56, Thomas Jefferson 19

          The War Eagles won their first region title in 13 years to finish the regular season 9-2. There wasn’t much suspense, Brentwood marching out to a 22-0 lead after one and 29-7 at halftime. Chase Everett scored on runs of 27, 11, and 2 yards, Schley Moore adding scores from 4 and 8 yards. The War Eagles also got rushing TDs from C.J. Daniel< Cameron Waddell, and Oscar Gonzalez, who added a PAT kick. Everett finished with 75 yards on eight carries, trailing Thomas Denton’s 97 yards on four tries. The War Eagles ran 33 times for 338 yards, about 10 yards a pop. QB McKinley Newton got over 12 negative yards on the ground with a 9-for-14 night passing for 157 yards.

Gatewood 63, Piedmont 0

          The Gators hit the 60-point mark for the third time this season.

Pinewood Christian 26, Westfield 13

Trinity Christian 48, Bethlehem Christian 32

          The Crusaders never trailed, scoring two touchdowns in three quarters of their second-highest point total of the season. The teams combined for 833 yards and 120 plays, TCS surviving 17 penalties for 160 yards and three turnovers, plus three fewer first downs. Going 7 for 10 on third down and 1 for 1 on fourth helped. David Coleman ran 16 times for 190 yards, and completed 7 of 14 for 91 yards and two touchdowns, passing for two. Carson Hall added 72 yards and Ben Butler 68, Hall leading the defense with 6.5 tackles. BC pulled within 28-26 with 7:15 left in the third, but the Crusaders pulled away.

John Milledge 48, Augusta Prep 0