Who's going to win in the first week of Central Georgia high school football games?

Last season: 314-104, 75.12 percent
Within 7 points of margin: 101
Maximum Sports Report spread is 39 points.

Games of the week

Jones County vs. Northside, at Mercer

          Both teams are dealing with some coaching staff changes, but moreso at Northside, with its third head coach in five years. The Greyhounds may be a hair under the radar in some circles, but they have a lot of seniors, some quality talent, and likely the hunger – there were some hunger issues last year – to blow past the 6-5 season of 2023. Northside doesn’t have much back on offense, and Jones County has plenty back on defense.

TSR pick: Jones County by 18

Mary Persons vs. Northeast, at Mercer
          Welcome to some good ol’ old school football, with two of the state’s top running backs – Nick Woodford of Northeast and Duke Watson of Mary Persons – going behind offensive lines looking for bragging rights and into defenses looking for bragging rights. Thus, a pass play will be the difference, to win or to gain control.
TSR pick: Northeast by 2

Baldwin at Peach County
          What will Peach County look like after the biggest changes in the program in about two decades? The Trojans will probably look pretty decent, but how decent is the question. A rerun of last year’s 50-20 Peach County win in Milledgeville is fairly unlikely, but Baldwin has lost three straight openers against lower-classification teams, and has tended to get off to rough starts most of the past several years.
TSR pick: Peach County by 14

Bleckley County at Dodge County
          The neighbors who don’t much like each other go at it again. The best player might be with Dodge County (Duke Johnson), but the Royals have more weapons, barely. They lost a boatload of quality players to graduation.
TSR pick: Bleckley County by 8

Tattnall at Schley County
          Tattnall gave the GHSA then-No. 1/A Division II a heap o’ trouble last year, and probably should have won. It’ll be hard for the Trojans to do the same this year, thanks to personnel losses, but they certainly won’t be intimidated with the GHSA opponent.
TSR pick: Schley County by 12

The schedule

Sumter County at Houston County

TSR pick: Houston County by 39

Richmond Academy at Veterans, at Perry

TSR pick: Veterans by 30

Warner Robins at Lee County

TSR pick: Lee County by 11

Central vs. Westside, Ed DeFore

TSR pick: Westside by 16

Upson-Lee at Union Grove

TSR pick: Union Grove by 6

ACE Charter at Crawford County

TSR pick: ACE by 17

Hancock Central at Glenn Hills

TSR pick: Hancock Central by 16

Wilkinson County at Dublin

TSR pick: Dublin by 33

Washington-Wilkes at East Laurens

TSR pick: Washington-Wilkes by 12

Wilcox County at Lamar County

TSR pick: Lamar County by 10

Jasper County at Walnut Grove

TSR pick: Walnut Grove by 21

Portal at Hawkinsville

TSR pick: Hawkinsville by 8

Wheeler County at GMC Prep

TSR pick: Wheeler County by 4

Macon County at Whitefield Academy

TSR pick: Macon County by 1

Taylor County at Southland

TSR pick: Taylor County by 2

Brentwood at John Milledge

TSR pick: John Milledge by 35

Mount de Sales at Strong Rock

TSR pick: Mount de Sales by 9

Trinity Christian at Piedmont

TSR pick: Piedmont by 9

Rock Springs at Central Fellowship

TSR pick: CFCA by 39

Deerfield-Windsor at Westfield

TSR pick: Westfield by 2