HS 🏈 roundup: Demons survive, Panthers thrive, Bears crush, Trojans escape, Dooly County dazzles in another night of a Six Flags ride

By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com

          There was history made, hearts broken, minds confused, short bus rides that lasted hours, long bus rides that were trips to the store, and another Friday of “ wha ha happened was.”

          The shocker of the night was Macon County getting rolled by a Dooly County team that hadn’t beaten a ranked team 2019 when the Bobcats beat, well, No. 10 Macon County 46-40.

Classification in roundup determined by home team when area teams play each other. Rankings are compiled by the Georgia High School Football Daily and are composite rankings from AJC, GPB, ScoreAtlanta, 680 The Fan, Maxwell, and MaxPreps.

          It was the highest point total for the Bobcats, under an interim head coach, since a 63-36 win over Brookstone to end the 2018 regular season.

          Point-after and conversion issues bruised Dublin and Northeast, who were on the verge of attention-getting wins.

          Perry surprised with a convincing win over Jones County, Northside had a slump-breaking win over Warner Robins within its grasp more than once, Houston County made history for West Laurens in a not good way, ACE cracked 60 points for the second time in three games, Wilkinson County came up with a notable shocker at Crawford County, and Washington County was handled for the second straight game.

          Tattnall went from 14-0 to 57-14, Class AA Putnam County lost to a AAA playoff team but in a respectable way, and Twiggs County scored more points in one game than the Cobras have scored in entire recent seasons.

          We’re three weeks in. It’s gonna be one of those years. Trust nobody. 

Class 6A

No. 2/5A Warner Robins 17, No. 10T/6A Northside 10, OT
          Northside will take no solace in the most competitive game in the series since  a 5-point loss in 2018, since the Eagles had multiple chances to win, including late. They let one chance go when a bad snap on a field goal try set up the Eagles on the Demons’ 40 with a few minutes left. Then Jaquavian Turner charged in all but untouched from the right defensive side and blocked a punt with just more than a minute left. The Eagles had a first-and-goal from the 7 only to drop the snap and lose it with 56 seconds on second down after getting nothing on first down. Warner Robins threatened but couldn’t score. On the first play of overtime, QB Chase Reese cruised in from 15 yards out, and Warner Robins converted the kick. Northside got nothing going on offense, missing an open receiver in the end zone on third down, and sophomore Rasean Dinkins broke up the fourth-down pass a yard into the end zone.
Northside got points on safety to make it a 3-2 game early in the second quarter, and it was 10-2 at halftime. The Eagles tied it on Damien Dee’s 8-yard pass to Brandon Wilson and Dee’s conversion run with 3:01 left in the third. Weather grew angry for much of the third and fourth quarter, stopping late in the game. The Demons outgained the Eagles 238-204 on 10 more snaps, quarterbacks struggling to a 12-for-43 night passing in the weather. Amazingly, there were only three penalties, and each team had two turnovers. Reese ran for 122 yards on 17 carries, Dee for 84 on 17.

Class 5A

No. 9/4A Perry 42, No. 3/5A Jones County 14
          The Panthers took out the frustration of last week’s lead-blowing loss to Houston County, and made sure they didn’t repeat things en route to knocking off their highest-ranked – in any standard state poll - victim since 1982 when the Panthers beat No. 2 (AJC and sportwriters) Crisp County 14-12 at home. That same year, they knocked off No. 3s Upson County and Dodge County. This is the first such win, though, over a higher-classification team in program history. Perry led 21-0, watched it cut to 21-14, and that was it, the Panthers handing Jones County its worst regular-season home loss to a same-classification or lower-classification team since a 39-8 region loss to Woodland in 2016. It was, oddly, the fourth time in 10 games a team has scored exactly 42 on the Greyhounds, who won the first three.
Armar Gordon hit Dakarai Anderson from 30 yards out almost four minutes into the game. Gordon then recovered a fumble and took it in from 20 yards out for a two-score lead less than two minutes later. The Greyhounds then had a long TD pass to Zion Ragins called back, as well as an interception return for a touchdown by Javious Bond. Gordon and Anderson connected right after that for a 21-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. Jones County converted a fumble into points and got to within a touchdown four minutes into the third quarter, but couldn’t get into a groove, although it had three more first downs than the Panthers.
Gordon was 14 of 26 for 200 yards and three scores with no picks, Anderson catching four passes for 117 yard. Demetrious Carter had 91 yards on 18 carries for Perry, whose defense held Jones County to 77 yards rushing on 37 tries. QB Judd Anderson was 21 of 34 for 257 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked five times. Ragins caught 10 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown.

Class 4A

Houston County 58, West Laurens 0
          Antwann Hill Jr. had the air game going (10-11-0, 2 TDs, 212 yards) and Ryan Taleb handled ground travel (16-153, 4 TDs) as the Bears rolled on the road. The Bears - who got five catches for 132 yards and 2 TDs from Kale Woodburn) are now averaging 52 points a game, the team’s best three-game stretch scoring 171 in 2016 in wins over Eagle’s Landing (50-27), Veterans (58-27), and Warner Robins (63-28). In both cases, though, all three opponents were lower-classification opponents. That was also Houston County’s last 3-0 start. The Raiders suffered their worst loss since 55-0 to Dublin in 1972, the program’s first season.

Westside 40, Morrow 14

          The Seminoles weren’t threatened in improving to 3-0, taking down a Class 6A team. Westside is off to its first 3-0 start since 2015, when the Seminoles went 9-4 and reached the Class AAA quarterfinals. A 77-yard pick-6 by junior Jessie Bell got the Seminoles going.

No. 4/5A Ware County 41, Baldwin 3

          Baldwin suffered its second loss of more than 30 points this season, and has given up 111 points in three games while scoring only 37. It was Baldwin’s lowest scoring output at home in the regular season since a 27-0 shutout by Jones County in 2019, also the last time Baldwin started 0-3 under head coach Jesse Hicks. That year, Baldwin rebounded from an 0-5 start to make the playoffs and finish 5-7.

Class 3A

No. 11T/4A Trinity Christian 31, No. 11T/3A Mary Persons 20
          The defending GHSA Class A Private champs are now in 4A, and their first win was an impressive one, at Mary Persons. Trinity Christian led 7-0 in the final minute of the first quarter and added a 28-yard field goal two minutes before the Bulldogs got a short TD pass from Logan Hickman to Nemo Jones, set up by a 58-yard Duke Watson run. Hickman hit Jones with an 81-yarder for a 13-0 lead – the PAT failed – less than two minutes into the third quarter. Trinity Christian took the lead for good on a 21-yard run to end the third quarter, scoring again at the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter for a 25-13 advantage.

Worth County 56, Upson-Lee 33

          The Knights battled early and trailed only 14-6, then dug a huge hole with a Worth County flurry, but kept fighting after trailing by around 30, and 35-12 at halftime.

Class AA

No. 1/AA Fitzgerald 28, No. 12/AA Northeast 27
          The Raiders rode the shoulders and legs of sophomore Nick Woodford against the state’s top team, taking a 12-7 lead, sparked by a pick-6. The Raiders upped it to 21-7 on Woodford’s run only for Fitzgerald to answer with less than a minute to make it a 21-13 at halftime. Fitzgerald got a touchdown back midway through the third quarter, and then took the lead and got the conversion early in the fourth quarter for a 28-21 lead.  Woodford’s score halfway through brought the Raiders within one, but they again failed on the conversion. A last-second pass on the Fitzgerald side of the field was picked off to end it.

No. 6/AAA Oconee County 20, No. 7/AA Putnam County 0

          Oconee County came up with a stellar defensive effort to hand Putnam County its first shutout since a first-round 56-0 playoff loss to Hapeville Charter in 2019, and first regular-season blanking since 55-0 to region rival Union County in 2018. It was a two-score game until Oconee County scored in the final minute.  

ACE 63, Pataula Charter 22
          What started off as a close game, maybe a back-and-forth affair, turned into another ACE romp. The visitors took an 8-0 lead, only for Kaleb Scarbary and Brice Whitley to hook up for a long TD pass. On the first play of the next drive, Scarbary hit running back Aaron Davis with a catch-and-run for another score. Scarbary and Whitley again connected, and Pataula Charter answered only for Brice Whitley to come up with a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. ACE led 28-22 at the break.

Pike County 49, Southwest 20

Dodge County 43, Washington County 21

          The hosts were pretty much in control from the start, taking a 16-0 lead 10 minutes into the game. The Golden Hawks got within 16-13 in the second quarter, but the margin was 30-13 at halftime. Ka’Monta Durden had 12 catches for 175 yards and a score for the Golden Hawks.

Class A

No. 8/A-I Lamar County 21, Dublin 20, OT
          The expected showdown materialized, with the Trojans surviving the Irish’s comeback and statistical domination. Micah O’Neal’s 1-yard run put Dublin up midway through the first quarter, but the Irish missed on the conversion, serving as painful foreshadowing. CJ Allen’s 5-yarder and Josh Moore’s PAT kick put Lamar County up 7-6 with 10:08 left in the half, and that’s where it stood at intermission. The Trojans added to the lead halfway through the third quarter on Ty Head’s 2-yard run and Moore’s kick. It stayed that way until two minutes into the fourth quarter when Kameron Hampton went 24 yards, and then Xavier Bostic tied it with a conversion run with 10:14 left in regulation. Bostic went in from the 8 for Dublin first in overtime, but the Irish again couldn’t add the conversion. Allen scored from 11 yards out, and Moore won it with the PAT kick.
          Dublin outdid Lamar County 18-8 in first downs, 313-133 in rushing, 46-0 in passing, and ran a whopping 22 more snaps. The Irish had eight penalties for 50 yards to two for 10 for the Trojans. Jaquarius Evans ran 11 times for 118 yards for Dublin, while Allen had 82 on 19 for Lamar County, to go with 13 tackles, Reco Walker adding 10 stops.

Twiggs County 61, GSIC 0

          In one game, Twiggs County came within 13 points of the Cobras’ entire total in 2019, and was almost three times the 21 points of the brutal 2018 0-10 season, a chunk more than the 41 points in 2017. It was the most points since a 62-6 win over Hancock Central in 2009.

Brentwood 27, GMC Prep 16
          The GIAA Class AA War Eagles trailed 3-0 after Levi Ward’s 47-yard field goal with 1:59 left in the first quarter. Wells Muller returned the kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, and then the Bulldogs regained the lead two minutes later on Tyler Saunders’ 26-yard pass to Caleb Bush. Brentwood answered about two minutes after that with a 18-yard score from Drew Carter. After a scoreless third quarter, Brentwood expanded on the 13-9 halftime lead with a 14-7 fourth quarter, getting touchdowns from Bryce Willford and Wells Muller. The Bulldogs returned the final kickoff, with less than a minute left, for a touchdown. Brentwood had eight more first downs, 250 more rushing yards (holding GMC to 15) and survived a 1-for-4 passing night for seven yards. Brentwood picked off four passes, two by Carter and one each by Muller and Lane Jones. Muller finished with 138 rushing yards, while GMC’s Saunders was 16 of 27 for 159 yards.

Greene County 27, Hancock Central 18

Claxton 19, Hawkinsville 6

Morgan County 65, Jasper County 7

Dooly County 56, No. 6/A-II Macon County 26

          Dooly County came up with one of the early upsets of the year in a battle of 0-2s, the Bulldogs losing by a little two ranked teams.

Montgomery County 14, Taylor County 8

Wilkinson County 53, Crawford County 13

          Siconius Sinkfield scored early on a 31-yard run, and then added a 53-yard interception return. Garin Adside and Asa Walker connected on a 36-yard pass play for a 21-0 lead, then Adside scrambled and hooked up with Nick Carswell for a 67-yard score through the secondary for a 28-0 lead.

GIAA

Class AAA

Brookstone 34, FPD 28, OT
          The see-saw game naturally went to overtime. Brookstone took a 14-0 first quarter lead, one score coming on a pick-6. Then the Vikings tied it on a Jakhari Williams TD pass to Carter Hayes and a 15-yard run from Griffin Green. The visitors regained the lead in the final two minutes of the half, FPD tying it again less than a minute into the fourth quarter on Williams’ short run. Brookstone went back on top seven minutes later, and the Vikings came up clutch late with Williams’ 7-yard TD pass to Griffin Green with 17.8 seconds left, Lucas Buckner’s kick tying it.
          But in overtime, Brookstone scored and then held the Vikings. Brookstone’s Dimitri Flowers ran for 122 yards on 26 carries, and the Cougars passed for 163 yards. FPD was held to 84 yards on the ground, while Williams was 18 of 28 for 316 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Tattnall 64, Athens Christian 34
          The oddities of a Friday night: Athens Christian led 14-0 nine minutes into the game, and trailed 57-14 after Cam Person’s 55-yard pick-6 with a full 6:10 left in the third quarter. In between, Antone Johnson scored four times, including taking the second-half kickoff back, and Brayden Smith scored twice and Person had another score. Smith closed out the scoring with a 70-yard punt return, his second of that distance in the game.

Westfield 48, Southland 14
          Southland made it a game with 14 second-quarter points for a seven-point halftime deficit, but the Hornets had the better halftime chat and came out with 21 third-quarter points. The game was called with a little more than two minutes left when an official was plowed into and hit his head hard on the turf, needing immediate medical attention.
Hunter Kirkley was 13 of 18 for 239 yards passing and two scores, five passes and two TDs – covering 65 and 68 yards - to Ryan Powers. Kirkley scooted for 136 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries, Cameron Kalmbach adding 94 yards on 14 carries. Westfield outgained Southland 564-243 on only two more plays. The teams combined for 21 flags for 210 yards, 130 yards going to Westfield, which took advantage of five turnovers.

Class AA/A

Fullington, 1-1, at Georgia Christian, 1-0-1

Gatewood 33, Augusta Prep 26

Central Fellowship 33, Tiftarea 29

Edmund Burke 35, Trinity Christian 25