Two weeks in is, in 2021 and always, too early to panic and too early to talk smack.

          Peach County was stunned 14-7 last year at home by a mediocre Northside team, beat Griffin 54-14 a week later and won six more in a row.

          Houston County get manhandled by Perry, then takes down Crisp County.

          Jones County is stunned by AA Northeast at home, goes on the road to dump a 7A program and holds on down the stretch to do it.

          Start writing off Dublin after their first home opener loss since 2014? Hah. A week off after that, and we can pit Wheeler County, a 63-12 loser a year ago to the Irish.

          Calm down, everybody. Decaf.

          A prime notable game last week was Northeast and Central.

          There had been way too much blather about Northeast, way too much air-polluting hyperbole for a program that hasn’t had consecutive winning seasons since 2011-2013 (6-5, 8-3, 7-3) and won its first playoff game since 2002.

          And, as some regularly point out with a frown, “Bibb County.” Teams rarely follow up a good win with another one a week later.

          That the Raiders slammed Central so handily – in a game where apparently the teams are on a penalty-per-point plan – a week after shocking Jones County is huge. Mammoth.

          Like a Raider lineman.

          Unfortunately, Northeast is off this week, so the next challenge is maintaining the current level next week – thanks to everybody who has (not) done their part in putting us back in a “will our game be moved? Situation – against Dougherty, 1-0 after going 0-5 last year.

          Almost any game can be a trap game for a local doing well. And one that’ll soon have a legit target on its back?

          It helps make Region 3-AA a roller coaster to watch, with playoff-caliber teams at Northeast, Bleckley County, Dodge County, Lamar County, and Washington County.

          There’s still plenty to clean up – for anybody and everybody – and nothing slows down momentum like a bunch of penalties.

          And Jeremy Wiggins sure know it.

          Halftime was nearing an end Friday, and the Raiders were starting to mosey back out to the field to warm up, and Wiggins wasn’t to happy with the orderliness of the procession, and let them know about it with something along the lines of:

          “This ain’t no fashion show.”

 

Loughdmouthings

          The MMQB – or MAQB, Afternoon – will delve into all football this year. …

          More to come before the opener, but the feeling – and it’s been this feeling for awhile – is that the Falcons will be better than people “think” (yeah, gotta put quotes around that anymore).

          Change in culture is huge. A change in philosophy is big. Hunger from new and young players can make a difference.

          Remember – or, don’t ignore – that Atlanta was 4-12 last year and outscored by only 18 points. Cleveland went 11-5 and was outscored by 11 points in the regular season. Las Vegas was 8-8, outscored by 44.

          Lost several very winnable games: Dallas by one, Chicago by four, Green Bay by 14, Carolina by seven, Detroit by one, New Orleans by five, L.A. by three, Tampa Bay by four, Kansas City by three.

          Put the wine back in the bottle and the general – but understandable – “It’s the Falcons’ negativity away. They’ll make progress faster than you think. …

          I’ve always been one to defend coaches about 97-98 percent of the time and official 98-99 percent of the time.

          Coaches make decisions they believe in, and if one player screws up, kaboom.

          Officials tend to have the worst viewpoint, and they call what they see. Almost all the time. Every so often, yes, we wonder what in the world they see. From this viewpoint, though, that’s pretty rare.

          Calls are defendable. Poor administration, not so much. …

          Dear Gamenight describers: If you watch the referee, the white hat, you can find out what the penalty is, much more often than not. Looking at each other in the booth? No. Looking at the end zone? Nope. Looking at your phone? Uh uh.

          So perhaps knowing that from here on out will lead to less two- and three-person booths missing what the penalty is 71 percent of the time. …

          Brentwood’s Bert Brown tops the milestone watch, with 148 wins. Westside’s Spoon Risper and Hawkinsville’s Shane Williams are at 92 wins each. And Mount de Sales’ Keith Hatcher has 42 wins. …

          When will we get back to moving games to Saturday because of an officials shortage? Happened last year. …

          Another shocker last week: The parking lot at Henderson Stadium was full.

          Full. Not fake hyperbole, like the inaccurate blather about “place will be packed” stuff to make people feel good. Legitimately full.

          Here’s hoping the scoreboard works this week. …

          Dear schools and teams: If you haven’t updated a website in a year, delete it or archive it. Ditto a Twitter account. Way too many teams have too many dormant accounts. Just kill it and start over when somebody will keep it going (Yes, worth repeating). …

          Those pesky MaxPreps stats and updates. …

          More to come this week: Enjoy just the phrase “Clemson and Georgia” without fretting about losing that game. Fret only about losing players to injury and your cable going out.

          No, UGA’s offense won’t be revolutionary until the executive offensive coordinator – and please remember that all head coaches are the executive coordinators and playbook authors of their teams – allows some flexibility.

          And remember that absurd clickbait rankings in February don’t mean a bleepin’ thing in the fall. …

         

The first coaching shoe of the season drops

          Some were mighty surprised with the move last week at ACE to part ways – ah, the semantics of coaching changes - with head coach Jason Stephens after one game this season.

          But when you know, you know, and certainly it wasn’t because of one game. ACE opened with a 48-0 loss to FPD, showing much less progress than expected.

          It was an odd hire from the start, picking somebody without an abundance of experience to start a program from scratch, and at a school in a unique situation.

          Even veteran coaches are likely to be blindsided by what it takes to start a program. Ask David Bruce (Veterans) and Bobby Hughes (Howard). Not all new-program head coaches get a blank check and free reign like some new-program head coaches.

          Sometimes, new voices get heard better, and don’t be surprised if interim head coach Sam Zanders and offensive coordinator Thomas Darrah make some progress.

          The Gryphons have unfortunately had two straight games postponed by COVID, which means less practice, and they needed practice. Still, 48-0 should make players listen more.

          And ACE is part of a pretty weak region, and is a playoff contender for the fourth spot in Region 7-A Public, after Warren County, Hancock Central, and GMC.

          Wilkinson County is probably the No. 4 team right now. The Warriors beat the visiting Gryphons 32-18 last year.

          Even if ACE doesn’t make the playoffs and even if the record isn’t much better than it’s been, the Gryphons can make progress.

          Sometimes, two assistants can make more headway than the head coach. It was a tough job to start with, and can only be made at least a little more attractive with some progress.

 

Polls

          Reminder that we split up the polls into divisions, because, well, it makes sense. A so-so record by a bigger school against better competition likely means deserving a higher ranking in an overall poll than a smaller school with a good record.

          One game is one game. Polls are big-picture items. Who would beat who right now? If they played 10 times, who’d win more? Tis mere reality.

          This is more fair, allows for more teams to be ranked under logistics that are more even. And there are many more 3A, 2A, and A programs in Central Georgia than larger programs, so they deserve more rankings.

Division I (6A, 5A, 4A)

1. Warner Robins

          Gee, when they clean up some things …

2. Northside

          When the Eagles can get more efficient in the passing game, which is to be expected, they’re going to be somebody to watch down the line.

3. Perry

          A win at Crisp County this week, a transition week, will be pretty impressive.

4. Jones County

          Don’t underestimate the quality of Friday night’s win – a rebound win – at North Gwinnett.

5. Baldwin

          Sure wish the Braves and Golden Hawks could’ve played.

 

Division II (3A, AA, A, GISA)

1. Macon County

          The Bulldogs are off this, and face Marion County in a week in hopes of their second straight 3-0 start, but only third since 2001.

2. Peach County

          The Trojans have played an Alabama 7A school – how in the world does Alabama have 7A? – and a better-than-expected-so-far 6A school. Now, let’s see what happens this week for a better idea of what the Trojans are.

3. Mary Persons

          Another team off the week when playing would’ve been really good.

4. Northeast

          Another team off this week when playing would have been outstanding.

5. Dodge County

          Coaching change? No biggie.

6. John Milledge

          JMA just keeps on JMAing.

7. Bleckley County

          Another season off “can’t leave early” games is off to a good start.

8. FPD

          Last week would’ve been a nice momentum-building game to have played.

9. Lamar County

          Coaching change? No biggie.

10. Stratford

          Winning on the road? Nice. Beating George Walton? Nicer. Doing both by 40? Very interesting.