By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Two programs with long and storied traditions and two program working toward that will be on the field Saturday for the Macon Touchdown Club Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic.

          The action starts at 4 p.m. at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium with Northside taking on Jones County followed 30 minutes after completion by Mary Persons and Northeast.

          Northside is ranked seventh by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Class 6A, coming off a 9-4 season and trip to the quarterfinals where the Eagles lost 48-7.

          That was like all of the Northside losses in 2021: big. The other three losses were by 42, 45, and 34 points. The Eagles gave up an average of 22.3 points a game.

          The Eagles return all-region player tight end Brandon Wilson, offensive linemen Quinton Lewis and Kyle Mixon, defensive back Ricardo Jones, wideout Keron Milton, defensive linemen Tyler Williams and Isaiah Harvey, linebackers Mikell Roberts and J.C. Coney, plus kicker Ashton Paredes.

          This is their second trip to the Classic. They lost 27-24 to Peach County in 2018 in front of one of the two largest crowds in Five Star’s short history. The Eagles went on to reach the 6A championship game where it lost 14-0 to highly favored Lee County.

          Since 2000, Northside has won at least 10 games 16 times, including from 2000-2014, and had only two losing seasons.

          Jones County is building to that level.

          The Greyhounds had their first 10-win season ever in 2014, going 10-3 in the first year of then-head coach Justin Rogers and reaching the quarterfinals for the second time in history.

          Rogers jumpstarted the program with five straight winning seasons for the first time in its history, also reaching the playoffs each year. Before that, Jones County’s best run was two straight postseason trips in 2000-01.

          Since Rogers took over and was followed by Mike Chastain, the Greyhounds have reached three quarterfinals and two semifinals, and racked up five 10-win season. Jones County has three straight region titles and has won 14 straight region games.

          From 2002-09, the Greyhounds won 15 total region games.

          Wideout Zion Ragins has been on power-5 college radars since his freshman season, and the junior is one of the fastest high school athletes in the state. Javious Bond is another power-5 prospect, and is one of the state’s most versatile players.

          The Greyhounds were young last year and went 10-3 with a trip to the quarterfinals, and replaced standout quarterback John Alan Richter with big transfer Judd Anderson, who’s getting some big-college looks despite having been in a Wing-T offense.

          Jones County doesn’t run a Wing-T offense. The Greyhounds have averaged 35.7 points a game the last three years.

          The Eagles and Greyhounds have played nine times, Jones County winning the last meeting, 55-33 early in 2019.

          Mary Persons is the established program in the nightcap, and Northeast the rising program.

          The Bulldogs have won 69.3 percent of their games in 87 seasons, and the 4-5 mark in 2020 was Mary Persons’ first losing season since 2006 and third this century. They won four straight region titles from 2015-18 with two semifinal trips in that span in 4A.

          Mary Persons’ lone state title came in 1980 with a 15-0 mark under Dan Pitts, who will be honored on Saturday. They have reached 11 semifinals and 19 quarterfinals in school history.

          Duke Watson returns in the backfield as one of Central Georgia’s most prolific yard-gainers last year, with 1,716 yards, 156 a game, and a whopping 25 touchdowns. He averaged  7.5 yards a carry.

          Quarterback Logan Hickman completed 60.1 percent of his passes, with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, plus 1,596 yards. The trio of Ryan Jenkins, Jacobi Jones, and Champ Brantley shared team-high tackling honors last year.

          Northeast, on the other hand, has won only 39.8 percent of its games through 52 seasons.

          Head coach and alum Jeremy Wiggins is 26-19 in four seasons, and is the only coach in Northeast history to have a winning record after four seasons.

          Northeast won its first playoff game since 2001 in 2020, and reached the quarterfinals last year. The last two seasons make up only the second time the Raiders have won at least eight game in consecutive years, the first coming with back-to-back 8-3 seasons in 2001-02.

          Another first came in 2021 when the Raiders were ranked the entire season.

          The Raiders have some rebuilding to do, replacing the likes of quarterback Travion Solomon, who passed for 2,091 yards and 14 touchdowns lsat year, adding 711 yards on the ground. Leading rusher Tyler Terry (1,048 yards) also graduated.

          Northeast boasts power-5 recruit Johnny Williams, who goes 6-7 and 320 pounds and has committed to West Virginia.

          Despite the opposite-ends-of-the-spectrum histories, the series is tied at 5-5, and this is the first meeting between the head coaches. Mary Persons won the last meeting, 9-7 in 2002.