By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

This week

Friday night’s scouting reports
Maxwell Ratings predictions and rankings
Who’s going to win this week’s games?
Macon Touchdown Club players of the week: Westside, Howard, Northeast
Monday Morning Quarterback: Predictable – and misguided – handwringing about Atlanta; Loughdmouthings; Central Georgia polls

Last week
Roundup: Warner Robins surprised, Perry and Houston County cruise, Northeast with upset, big wins for Peach County, Mary Persons, ACE, Bleckley County, and more
Friday night’s scouting reports
Maxwell Ratings predictions and rankings
Who’s going to win this week’s games?
Notebook: Washington from Mount de Sales to ACE; still no sign of Zavion Hardy; GHSA decides on Mary Persons-Northeast
Early-season Macon Touchdown Club players of the week: ACE, Howard, Jones County, Mount de Sales, Northeast, Tattnall
Monday Morning Quarterback: Enjoy those Saturdays, for college football's greed will eliminate them, which should anger you; surprises, upsets, Loughdmouthings, Central Georgia's polls.

Class 6A

Northside 20, North Cobb, No. 5 7A 17, OT

          Ashton Paredes drilled a field goal in the first overtime after the Northside offense stalled. North Cobb seemed destined to make the Eagles pay for that, reaching a first and goal at the 5. But the Northside defense bowed up with a stop on fourth down from the 2, giving Northside the upset win over a top-5 Class 7A team. Northside got game-tying touchdown runs from Duke McClinton in the first quarter and Keron Milton in the third, North Cobb taking the lead on a 26-yard field goal with 1:50 left in the third.. Paredes tied it from 40 yards at the 6:34 mark of the fourth quarter.

          The Eagles gutted out the road win despite being outgained 330-260 and completing only 3 of 12 passes for 26 yards. Quarterback Damien Dee carried 18 times for 93 yards, Michael McClendon adding 62 yards on 15 rushes. The Eagles had lost their previous meetings with a 7A team, Colquitt County in 2020-21.

Veterans 28, Lakeside Evans 17

          The Warhawks took the lead with 3:59 left in the game when Matthew Bruce, in for Jake Maxwell, connected with Damare Franklin for a score and a 20-17 lead. Veterans got the ball back, but missed a field goal. The defense combined with a Lakeside mistake led to a Veterans possession and a short game-sealing touchdown by Earnest Sandiford.

Class 5A

Thanks to Dublin, GMC, Jones County, Northside, and Westfield for sending in postgame information and/or boxes. Teams can still send information by 10 a.m., to centralgasports@gmail.com

No. 7 Dutchtown 14,  No. 4 Warner Robins 7

          Warner Robins led 7-0 at halftime, but the Bulldogs won the second half in the Region 2 opener, tying it about five minutes into the third quarter and taking the lead on a touchdown pass almost five minutes later, the Demons unable to avoid mistakes or get into a flow. It’s the earliest loss in a season for Warner Robins since a 41-14 non-region loss to Colquitt County on Sept. 14, 2018, a season that ended with the championship loss to Bainbridge. And it’s Warner Robins’ first region loss at home since 24-21 to Bainbridge to end the 2016 regular season, also the last time the Demons were 1-3 or worse.

No. 12 Jones County 62, Locust Grove 0

          The Greyhounds exorcised the last two games by marching out to a 28-0 lead, Devin Edmonds getting the call at quarterback to start and completing 9 of 11 for 155 yards and a score. Judd Anderson, who had started, went 12 for 24 for 156 yards and a touchdown, Will Keenum finishing things with three caught passes for 11 yards and a touchdown. Geo Wade caught seven passes for 105 yards and a score, Zion Ragins with seven catches for 103 and a touchdown. The Greyhounds led 49-0 at halftime, going on to stuff Locus Grove to minus-37 yards rushing and 11 through the air. This is the fifth straight season Jones County has cracked 50 points at least once, and it’s the biggest margin of victory since beating Greenbrier 70-7 early in the 2015 season. It’s unofficially the biggest shutout win in program history. 

Class 4A

No. 4 Perry 35, No. 5 Peach County 7

          Perry took advantage of a fumbled punt – recovered by De’untae Kendrick - three minutes into the game and settled for a field goal try, and missed. The positives for the Trojans were few after that. Perry muddled through its next possession only for Armar Gordon Jr. to throw a strike on fourth and eight to Traveon Wright for a 22-yard score at the 3:42 mark of the first quarter. Neither team got much going until late in the second quarter. A 65-yard pass to Dakarai Anderson Gordon to Anderson for the 3-yard score with 1:53 left in the half. Perry added another two minutes into the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Demetrious Carter, set up by a 58-yard pass to Wright. WHAT, set up by a and scored twice in the fourth. Peach County broke up the shutout two minutes into the fourth quarter to pull within 14, only for Perry to answer a little more than two minutes later en route to its biggest win in the series since 34-0 in 1983, the Panthers with their highest point total against Peach County since a 48-28 win in 2007 in breaking a 10-game losing streak. The last time Peach County had been held to single digits twice in a season since 2008, head coach Chad Campbell’s second season.

Rankings are compiled by the Georgia High School Football Daily and are composite rankings from AJC, GPB, ScoreAtlanta, 680 The Fan, Maxwell, and MaxPreps.

Howard 14, Pike County 3

          The Huskies are 4-0 for the first time since 2015 when they finished 6-4 and missed the playoffs. That year, those first four wins came against Class AA (Lamar County), Class A Private (FPD), and two Class AA teams (Central and Rutland). This time, it’s been against two AA teams, a 5A, and 3A, with two non-Bibb County wins.

Class 3A

Upson-Lee 29, Haralson County 15

          The run-oriented Knights outdid the run-oriented Rebels to get their first win of the season.

Class AA

Putnam County 44, Butler 0

          It went from only 7-0 after a quarter to 20-0 at halftime, Putnam County pulling away with 24 in the second half. Rashod Daniel got the War Eagles going with all three first-half touchdowns, all from less than 15 yards in. Jalon Kilgore jumped in with a long kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. It’s Putnam County’s biggest shutout since, well, last year’s meeting with Butler, a 61-0 win.

Southwest 61, Jordan 0

          The Patriots scored more points Friday night than in the first three games this season, against a team that had already been shut out this year by 55, 58, and 57 points, and had two 44-0 losses last year amid seven forfeits. It’s the first time Southwest has cracked 40 points since beating East Laurens 46-25 in 2019, and first 50-point game since the year before’s meeting with East Laurens, a 50-13 win.

No. 8 Northeast 47, ACE Charter 21

          The Raiders got major momentum after trailing early in the Region 2 showdown before an overflow crowd at ACE, the Gryphons going up 14-13 on Aaron Davis’ powerful 6-yard run with 1:29 left in the half after an earlier 53-yard scoring pass from Kaleb Scarbary to Sam Whitley. Northeast turned in a clutch drive that ended with freshman Kavon Conciauro making a big catch in the end zone for a touchdown with 11 seconds left, and a 20-14 halftime lead. Sophomore Nick Woodford, who scored Northeast’s first touchdowns of the half on runs of 18 and 5 yards, broke off a 67-yarder early in the third quarter to set up freshman QB Reginald Glover’s short run for a 27-14 lead, the Raiders starting to pull away after converting a fumble into a 16-yard shake-and-bake Woodford touchdown run.

Washington County 43 ,Glenn Hills 7

          The Golden Hawks got head coach Robert Edwards his first win at his alma mater in style, scoring only six fewer points than they’d managed in the first three games. The timing was good, coming in the Region 4 opener and on the road.

Class A

Chattahoochee County 61, Taylor County 7

          It was tied at 7 through half of the first quarter, and then Chattahoochee County went off for a 33-7 halftime lead. The last time Taylor County gave up 60 points was in a region showdown with Macon County in 2016, a 63-27 loss.

Metter 12, Dublin 0

          Metter’s defense came up strong and held Dublin to 124 rushing yards and 34 passing yards, and to only seven first downs. The Tigers ran for 274 yards, winning despite losing two fumbles. Defenses were tough: Dublin was 1 for 9 on third down, Metter 2 for 7. Ethan Oglesby had 85 yards rushing and Kaliq Jordan 77 for Metter. Malachi O’Neal had 37 yards on four carries for Dublin, but lost yardage, with a long of 44 yards.

No. 5T Johnson County 34, East Laurens 6

          The Falcons smelled upset early with a 6-0 lead that lead through halftime and midway through the third quarter until Johnson County got going with a flurry of 20 points in the third quarter.

Crawford County 60, GSIC 0

          The first win of the season is also the first time the Eagles hit 60 points since a 62-0 win over Stewart-Quitman in 1998. Crawford County had scored 53 and 60 points in two games this season.

Warren County 54, Hancock Central 14

Hawkinsville 58, Twiggs County 22

          The Red Devils were red hot from the start, exploding for a monstrous 37 points in the first quarter. Hawkinsville kept on pounding and led 51-16 at halftime. The last time Hawkinsville cracked 50 points was in 2005 when it beat Montgomery County 51-18.

Jasper County 27, Lake Oconee 8

          The Purple Hurricanes came up with a strong finish after being tied at halftime and through three quarters, scoring 19 fourth-quarter points. Jasper County has matched its win total of the last two years, with its highest point total since beating Southwest 36-22 in 2020.

No. 8 Lamar County 42, Jackson 16

          Jackson certainly could’ve picked a better opponent to dedicate a new stadium. Lamar County had its best game of the year, with CJ Allen, Jordan Glover, Ty Head and Ty Jones scoring touchdowns en route to a 42-7 halftime lead. One blip for the 4-0 Trojans was a fumble in the fourth quarter that was a safety. They’ve beaten four straight higher-classification teams. Allen went for 123 yards on 11 carries, while Antonio Altman had 10 more yards on one more carry.

Macon County 31, Greenville 20

GMC 54, Riverside Military 12

          The Bulldogs got into the win column in a big way, leading 20-0 after one on two short Johnathan Roach runs and one from Jesse Washington. Washington started the 27-point second quarter early with another short scoring run, then catching a 40-yard TD pass from Tyler Saunders for a 33-6 lead. Roach ran eight times for 127 yards and Washington nine times for 93. Saunders completed 5 of 6 for 95 yards and a score as GMC racked up 414 yards in total offense.

No. 4T Bleckley County 33, West Laurens 0

          The Royals racked up their second straight shutout, and handed the Raiders their third straight shutout. QB Eli Mullis got Bleckley County going with a 9-yard run midway through the first quarter. He hi Dequavis Benjamin for a score near the end of the quarter for a 14-0 lead that grew by two passing scores to 27-0 at halftime. It’s the Royals first shutout over the Raiders since 35-0 in 1993, and that win ended a three-game win streak, which Bleckley County is now on in the series.

GIAA

Class AAA

Pinewood Christian 34, FPD 28

          The hosts led 22-14 at halftime, and doubled up FPD entering the fourth quarter. The Vikings got within seven with nearly eight minutes left only for the margin to grow to 14 again. The Viking scored in the final 20 seconds.

John Milledge 63, Frederica 13

Westfield 49, Mount de Sales 21

          This was a game of consistency. Westfield outscored Mount de Sales 14-7 in the first three quarters and settled for a 7-0 fourth-quarter win. The Hornets outgained the Cavs 429-162 in total offense on 14 more plays. Westfield QB Hunter Kirkley passed for 117 yards and rambled for 226, with two TD passes and four TD runs. Cameron Kalmbach caught four passes for 68 yards and  a score, running for 59 yards on nine carries. Jojo Harden had 55 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown for Mount de Sales, which got a fumble recovery for a touchdown from Allen Chandler.

St. Anne-Pacelli 21, Stratford 7

          Pacelli took some control early, thanks in part to some Eagle miscues, and led 21-0 through three quarters before Stratford broke the shutout.

Mount Vernon 35, Tattnall 34

          After being tied at 7, Mount Vernon took the lead and the Trojans played catch-up the rest of the way, finally tying it at 28 with 3:53 left in the game. Mount Vernon went back up and Cam Person got the Trojans with in one with 1:16 left, but the conversion failed.

Class AA/A

Briarwood 22, Gatewood 13

          The Gators’ three-game winning streak over Briarwood came to an end.

Edmund Burke 25, Piedmont 24, 4 OT

Trinity Christian 27, Creekside Christian 18

          The Crusaders trailed only for moments getting going early on Jim Coleman’s short TD pass to Jack Polhill. Creekside scored about nine minutes later, but missed the PAT. TCS followed Creekside’s next score with one right after on a 70-yard pass from Coleman to Polhill. Polhill scored on a run for a 20-12 halftime lead.

Fullington 50, Lakeside, Ala. 14

          Fullington hit the 50-point mark for the first time since beating Unity Christian 53-32 in the 2014 regular-season finale.

David Emanuel 22, Windsor 14