Friday night’s Central Georgia scouting reports
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
(Listing based on classification of home team if both from Central Georgia)
Class 6A
Luella (5-1/4A) at Northside (4-2)
The Eagles’ pass defense will get a test from QB Vinson Berry, who has completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,055 yards and 10 scores. Northside has a forfeit win, one quality win (Peach County), and two losses to ranked 5A and 7A teams by 101-14. And the Eagles had a week off after losing 52-7 to 5A No. 5 Colquitt County. Damien Dee is third in 1-6A with 447 passing yards, and Centavious Lowe is second with 18 catches for 341 yards, plus six scores.
Class 5A
Veterans (1-5) at Wayne County (0-5)
It’s the 1-5A opener for both, and already, something of an elimination game for the playoffs. Wayne County has cracked the 7-point mark in one game, a 33-30 loss to 4A South Effingham. Veterans QB Matthew Bruce is likely to give the Yellow Jackets fits, trying to build on 1,336 yards passing, but matching seven touchdowns with seven interceptions, to go with 430 rushing yards. And Damare Franklin is a tough cover with 772 yards on 47 catches.
Teams: Please email game information – stats (offense and defense), names, big plays, etc. – to centralgasports@gmail.com by midnight Friday or by 10:30 a.m. Saturday for inclusion in Central Georgia’s only comprehensive roundup Saturday morning.
Reminder: State statistics from MaxPreps are based only on information put into MaxPreps by individual schools. Less than half of Central Georgia teams put stats in to MaxPreps consistently.
Jones County (4-2/3-0) at Ola (2-4/1-2)
The Greyhounds are on a three-game winning streak, winning each game by more than the one before: by 16 over Union Grove, then 33 over Stockbridge, and by 56 over Locust Grove. Ola has given up at least 26 points in five of six games, and Jones County is averaging 40 points a game. Six Greyhounds – Zion Ragins, Javious Bond, Eddren Chester, Tyler Stewart, Marlin Mills, and Tucker Mix – have at least 10 catches and a touchdown catch.
Class 4A
Rutland (1-5/0-2) at Spalding (5-1/2-0), Thursday, 7 p.m., cancelled
Howard (2-3/0-1) at Westside (Westside (2-3/0-1), Ed DeFore
The winner unofficially stays alive for the fourth playoff in Region 4, behind Spalding, Baldwin, and Perry. The loser will need help. Both teams have battled issues of not being 100 percent personnel wise.
Washington County (4-1/AA) at Perry (4-1)
A quality non-region game pits a pair of ranked teams in their classifications, and is a good win for the survivor. Both are off stinging losses, Washington County after losing a 23-6 lead in the final eight minutes of the game and Perry after losing a pair of 13-point first-half leads, and both losing at home. The contrasts are notable, the balanced run-heavy Golden Hawks and pass-heavy Panthers. Djay Braswell leads Washington County with 430 yards and six scores on the ground, while Perry QB Armar Gordon Jr. , who was 18 of 26 for 299 last week, is rocking along at a 68.8-percent clip for 1,321 yards (second in 4A) and only one interception. The teams have played nine times – Perry leads 6-3 – but not since 2005.
Baldwin (3-2/2-0) at West Laurens (3-3/1-1)
The Raiders took care of business impressively in beating Howard, and Baldwin is picking up steam. The teams have split the last four games, but last year’s meeting – 19-13 Baldwin – was the first since 2015. The Braves bring some weapons with RB Micah Welch (545 yards, 12 TDs), WR Shantavious Hogan (22 catches, 335 yards) and QBs Solomon Burney and Derrick Lewis, who have similar stats, though Burney has thrown for four more touchdowns.
Class AAA
Crisp County (3-3/3-0) at Peach County (3-2/3-0)
Can the Cougars be the first team to beat Peach County in a region game since – sit down and take a breath – Jackson’s 3-2 win – yes, Jackson’s 3-2 win – on Oct. 16, 2015? They came awful close last year, stopped by their own sluggish two-point conversation try near the end of the game. The Trojans have won 35 straight region games. Only four have been by 21 points or less. Peach County QB Christian Martin was percen on eight passes last week for 166 yards and four touchdowns.
Mary Persons (3-3/1-2) at Pike County (1-4/1-2)
Pike County hasn’t cracked the 10-point mark in the last five meetings, though last year’s game was the first since 1997 when Dan Pitts was still owning the sidelines in Forsyth. The Pirates lone win was a surprising 45-33 win at Upson-Lee, but they’ve been outscored 107-14 since then (well, one was Peach County). Two Bulldogs are likely to crack the 1,000-yard mark in the game, QB Logan Hickman being 88 yards away and RB Duke Watson 47 yards away.
Central (0-5/0-2) at Upson-Lee (3-3/1-2)
The Chargers are in a rut, getting only 7.4 points a game, and are in danger of their first winless season in program history. Two losses, though, have been by nine and 10 points. Upson-Lee continues its suspenseful – what will happen this Friday night? – season. The Knights cracked the 100-yard mark – 100 – passing last week with a season-high 62 yards, on one completion. Led by Jaquan Bentley and Detravious Mathis, the Knights average 298.2 yards and 42 carries a game.
Class AA
Dodge County (3-2/0-1) at Jasper County (0-6/0-2)
The Indians are on a two-games losing streak, but to Fitzgerald and Bleckley County by 11 points. Demron Gordon leads the eighth-ranked Indians with 460 rushing yards and five touchdowns, and QB Duke Johnson has five touchdowns on 35 completions (438 yards). Javan Smith and Damarion Simmons team for 10 tackles a game.
Bleckley County (6-0/2-0) at Lamar County (4-2/1-1)
Bleckley County’s Jahvon Butler is fourth in AA with 760 yards (plus 8 TDs) and Lamar County’s CJ Allen is eighth with 599 yards (and 9 TDs). The Royals are much more balanced, with Eli Mullis passing for 551 yards and the Trojans for a little more than 100. Lamar County, which has matched last season’s win total, leads the series 11-5.
Southwest (1-3/1-1) at Northeast (4-1/1-0), Thompson
Northeast QB Travion Solomon has a banged up wrist, but odds are huge he won’t need to pull out the heroics of last week at Washington County. He’s sixth in AA with 758 yards passing, but only three touchdowns with two interceptions. He also has 323 rushing yards (while unofficially running around for another 200 in scrambling) and four touchdowns. The Patriots are off a 62-0 loss to Lamar County.
Glenn Hills (0-4/0-3) at Putnam County (6-0/3-0)
The War Eagles are heading toward their second straight 7-0 start, coming after starting off 2-5 and 1-6 the previous two years. Gerald Kilgore is eighth in AA with 736 yards, and a nifty 8-1 TD-INT ratio, although on only a 47.1 percent completion rate. Versatile Cedrion Brundage has rushed for 525 yards and eight touchdowns.
Class A Public
Hawkinsville (1-5/0-4) at Dooly County (3-2/2-1)
The Red Devils have been held to 16 points or less in every loss, and given up at least 20 points in every loss. The Bobcats have won two straight over region contenders Wheeler County and Dublin. Hawkinsville is in the spoiler role in 4-A Public, and the Bobcats need a win to stay in the crowded playoff hunt. Dooly County has won nine of 10 meetings dating back to 2011.
Wilcox County (4-2/4-0) at Dublin (2-3/2-1)
The Irish won the first meeting between the two not-far-apart programs, 35-28 last year. Dublin is having an odd year, being outgained 1,149-1,000 on the ground and 504-317 through the air. J.T. Wright’s nine touchdowns put him in the top 10 in A Public in scoring.
Macon County (5-0/3-0) at Schley County (5-0/3-0)
First in Class A Public in points allowed? Macon County, with 14 in five games. Fifth in Class A Public in points allowed? Schley County, with 33 in five games. Schley County has scored 12 more points than Macon County, and this battle pits No. 3 at No. 5. This season is a big turnaround for the Wildcats, 4-5 last year with a 28-7 loss at Macon County. Kenwan Felton has 14 tackles for loss for Macon County, Jace McLendon another 10.
Central Talbotton (0-5/0-3) at Taylor County (1-4/0-4)
The Vikings have scored only 21 points in the last four games. The Vikings haven’t lost to Central since 1994, and have given up only 29 points in the last five meetings.
Crawford County (0-5/0-2) at GMC (6-0/3-0)
The Bulldogs are third in A Public in points allowed with 20, and the Eagles have scored 20 or more only once this year, in the season-opening 34-21 loss to Taylor County. GMC struggled with Wilkinson County – and with mistakes – last week, but pulled it out, and all but clinch a playoff spot with a win. Judd Puckett went for 245 yards passing for the Eagles in last week’s loss to ACE, 233 yards going to Terrell Ashley, who had 233 receiving yards.
ACE (2-2/2-0) at Hancock Central (0-5/0-2)
The Gryphons can go 3-2 for the first time in program history with a win over the defending region champs, who finally are back to a normal routine after equipment problems for them to delay everything about their season, including practice. The Bulldogs have been outscored 117-0 in the last three games, all against playoff-caliber teams. A loss doesn’t knock Hancock Central out of the playoff picture, but it’s close.
Wilkinson County (2-4/0-2) at Twiggs County (1-4/0-1)
The Cobras have shown some explosiveness, with 40-point games in consecutive weeks, followed by a 42-0 loss to GMC. The Warriors have put up only 56 points, 30 coming when the two met in a non-region game to open the season.
Class A Private
Stratford (4-1) at Mount de Sales (3-2)
The Cavs’ A’Khori Jones cracked 1,000 yards rushing last week – by a yard – and has 8 TDs. Mount de Sales is rushing 71 percent of the time, almost a wide open offense compared to the Eagles, who are run heavy. Stratford leads the series 30-19, but has lost three straight after winning seven in a row. This is one of the first-round seeding games among the Macon private schools, all four with winning records.
FPD (3-2) at Tattnall (5-0/1-0)
John Garrett Abernathy is the third straight Tattnall head coach to get off to a 5-0 start in his second year. That last two (Clint Morgan and Chance Jones) went 10-2 and 12-1. The defense is on par for a top-10 finish in program points allowed average, Charlie Morris and Zavion Hardy leading a balanced attacking attack. FPD brings some balance, with a 58-42 run-pass ratio led by RB Griffin Green (5.1 ypc, 7 TDs). The series is split in the last eight meetings after a six-game Trojans winning streak.
GISA
Westfield (3-1) at Briarwood (5-2)
Briarwood will have to deal with QB Hunter Kirkley (590 yards passing, 303 rushing) and RB Porter Faulk (406 yards rushing). The Buccaneers are off a 28-13 loss to Gatewood. The teams tied 20-20 last year.
Trinity Christian (1-5) at Bulloch (1-4)
The Crusaders have yet to crack the 21-point mark in a game, and the Gators broke a four-game losing streak with a 49-0 win last week over Memorial Day.
Gatewood (3-2) at Southland (2-4)
Gatewood broke a two-game losing streak with a 28-13 win over Briarwood, and Southland snapped a three-game streak by beating SW Georgia 35-14. The Gators won the only meeting, 16-7 last year.
Piedmont (5-1) at Thomas Jefferson (5-1)
The Cougars have won five straight, all by at least 19, since the season-opening loss to Briarwood. TJ has a quality loss to Brentwood, and beat Central Fellowship (GAPPS) 15-7 last week.
John Hancock (0-5) at Glascock County (0-5/A Public)
Glascock County, which hasn’t played a GHSA region schedule in years, won last year 42-0. This is Glascock County’s fifth GISA opponent of the season.
Fullington (1-5) at Robert Toombs (0-6)
Robert Toombs is getting outscored by 24.5 points a game, to 22.6 for Fullington.