By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

🏈 Any update will be around 11 a.m. Saturday, based on new information contributions from teams over night. Thanks to Northside for a box score, and Jasper County and ACE for information.

🏈 Dear coaches and teams: PLEASE UPDATE YOUR MAXPREPS ROSTERS, so kids can accurately be credited for doing good things. Ditto schedules, results, and stats.

🏈 Teams: Please email game information – stats (offense and defense), names, big plays, etc. – to centralgasports@gmail.com by 10:30 a.m. Saturday for addition in Central Georgia’s only roundup.

GHSA

Class 6A

Houston County 55, West Laurens 14
          For the seventh time in 18 games – and second time against the Raiders - under head coach Jeremy Edwards, the Bears cruised past the 50-point mark. The Bears opened up a 49-0 halftime lead, getting one score on a fumble recovery.

Class 5A

Warner Robins 39, Northside 35
          No matter what happens the rest of the season, somebody who joined the Demons on Monday will go down in Northside-Warner Robins legend-filled lore. Judd Anderson transferred to Warner Robins from Jones County this week and had only a few practices with his third team in three seasons, yet the Miami commitment came on late in the second quarter and played nearly all of the second half to spark a Demons’ comeback from 17 points down with 7:19 left in the third quarter en route to their seventh straight win in the series in the most thrilling meeting in the streak. Anderson finished 14 of 22 for 180 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in a little more than a half of play, succeeding incumbent Chase Reese, who was 2 of 5 for 14 yards.

          Anderson connected with Cam Flowers for a 40-yard score in the final half-minute of the third to pull within 10. The defense got a fumble deep in Northside territory only moments later, and Anderson hit Isiah Canion – who was penciled in as Warner Robins’ No. 1 quarterback heading into 2022 camp – with a 24-yarder for the Demons’ second touchdown in 21 seconds, pulling them to within 28-25.

          Special teams came up big when Cam Flowers blocked a 37-yard field goal try, and Khaedric Edwards took it all the way for a 64-yard scoer and four-point Warner Robins lead at the 8:32 mark of the fourth quarter, the Demons’ first lead. Damien Dee and Ricardo Jones teamed up for a nice TD pass and the lead again four minutes later. Warner Robins embarked on a long drive, capped by an 8-yard scoot off left tackle from Jeremiah Jackson for the four-point lead with 1:22 left. Northside started on its 40, but went backwards 15 yards on a first-down sack by Edwards and the Eagles couldn’t mount any threat.

          Warner Robins outgained Northside 368-241, more than doubling the Eagles on the ground, 151-77. Dee led Northside with 52 rushing yards, and was 16 of 25 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns. The Demons survived twice as many penalties (14-7) and yards (125-63).

Class 4A

Ware County 48, Baldwin 20
          It was Ware County’s night from the start, although a long pass pulled the Braves within  10-6 with 2:38 left in the first. The wave then started, with a TD pass four minutes into the second quarter, followed four minutes later by another scoring pass and less than a half-minute later by a pick-6 for a 31-6 lead that grew to 38-6 at halftime.

Perry 54, Jones County 21
          There were no lingering effects for Perry after last week’s heartbreaking home loss before an epic crowd to Houston County, while Jones County struggled in its worst loss to a lower-classification team since the 4A Greyhounds lost 63-0 to AA Dublin in 2005. The Panthers led 33-14 at halftime en route to the third 50-point game under head coach Kevin Smith.

Westside 26, Morrow 6
          The Seminoles are off to their second straight 3-0 start, improving to 4-0 against Morrow.

Class 3A

Central Georgia’s best coverage

Last week
* Roundup: Northeast takes down No. 1 on the road, new kid at the Mac sparks Warner Robins comeback; nice rebounds for Perry, Mary Persons, FPD; ACE shutout streak ends; Tattnall gets first W
* A Greyhound on Friday, a Demon on Monday: Anderson transfers to Warner Robins
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
* Maxwell Predictions, Central Georgia state rankings
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Notes, reviews, Central Georgia polls, Loughdmouthings

Two weeks ago
* Roundup: Houston County holds off Perry aGAIN, Northside stops Peach County, shutouts for Veterans, ACE, surprises from Jasper County, Upson-Lee
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
* Maxwell Predictions, Central Georgia state rankings
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Notes, reviews, Central Georgia polls, Loughdmouthings

Mary Persons 23, Trinity Christian-Sharpsburg 20
          The banged-up Bulldogs played a second straight game with a half-dozen or so regulars out, including kicker Ryan Bankston, likely to be released to play in a few weeks. So backup kicker Gavin Cabe, recovered from a badly-missed point-after kick late in the third quarter that lift the Bulldogs in a 20-20 tie, stepped in and drilled a 39-yard field goal on the game’s final play to lift Mary Persons over the Class 4A Lions, who won the GHSA Class A Private state title 55-28 over Prince Avenue in 2021. The Lions were 10-2 at home since the start of the 2021 season. Duke Watson, who missed last week with a foot injury, passed the 200-yard mark rushing and scored once. Mac Nelson hit Ty Dumas with a 73-yard touchdown pass and RJ Holder added a 25-yard scoring run. The Bulldogs defense, sparked by Jacobi Jonse and Shamon Reese, held Trinity Christian to 90 yards rushing.

Upson-Lee 41, Worth County 7
          The Knights led 20-0 at halftime and kept on rolling, sparked by a pick-6 from Michael Foster less than two minutes into the third quarter, Ja’Quan Bentley’s short scoring run a few minutes later making it 34-7. Upson-Lee has scored more points than the previous week the last two games.

Class AA

ACE 55, Pataula Charter 8
          The shutout streak finally came to an end, with very, very young Gryphons on the field in the fourth quarter. The defense – keyed by seniors Will Crowder, Henry Lewis, Chase Gazafy, and David Ruddell – went 11 quarters without giving up a point this season. Lewis and Crowder had interceptions, Gazafy a fumble recovery. Aaron Davis ran for 93 yards and a touchdown, leading a 242-yard ground effort. Three of Kaleb Scarbary’s passes went for touchdowns, and six different Gryphons scored.

Washington County 27, Dodge County 23

Northeast 27, No. 1 Fitzgerald 20
          The lead was seven, and there was a possibility of a terrifying rerun of a year ago, when top-ranked Fitzgerald survived a trip to Macon with a 28-27 win over Northeast. This time, the Raiders had the lead and some control longer, but Fitzgerald was within a touchdown late, answering a mighty impressive time-killing scoring drive of 17 plays from the Raiders. But Northeast’s defense bowed up and the Raiders took over in the final minutes for their first win over a No. 1 team (AJC, Atlanta Journal, Atlanta Constitution, and Georgia Sportswriters, as per Georgia High School Football Historians Association) in program history. Fitzgerald hadn’t lost to a team outside of the top 10 since Thomasville won 20-14 in mid-October of 2018, Thomasville also the last AA or A team to top the Purple Hurricane, in 2021. Fitzgerald’s last regular-season non-region loss to a non-top 10 team in the same class or lower was to Class A Irwin County in 1999. The Raiders used standout running back Nick Woodford at quarterback much of the night along with starting quarterback Reginald Glover.

Southwest 54, Pike County 7
          The Patriots scored more on Friday than in their last three and a half games.

Oconee County 51, Putnam County 14

Class A

Hawkinsville 51, Claxton 7
          A 26-7 lead after one set Hawkinsville on a path to its first win of 40 points or more highest point total since routing Baconton Charter 42-0 early in the 2021 season. The Red Devils led 45-7 at halftime, after trailing 7-0. They got four rushing and one passing first-half scores as well as a pick-6.
Wilkinson County 30, Crawford County 6
          The Warriors won 53-13 last year after losing 42-8 in 2021.

Macon County 36, Dooly County 30

Jenkins County 48, East Laurens 20
          Jenkins County took a 12-7 lead five minutes into the second quarter, and expanded on the 20-7 halftime lead three minutes into the second half and slowly pulled away.

Greene County 43, Hancock Central 6

Dublin 33, Lamar County 28
          Reeling after a big loss last week, Lamar County trailed 27-7 four minutes into the third quarter on and added a late score to get within 27-14 after three. Kaden Carter’s 19-yard score pulled the Trojans within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Micah O’Neal’s short TD pass to Demari Foster midway through the quarter gave Dublin a needed cushion, Lamar County getting another Carter score only a few minutes later, but that was it for the Trojans’ rally.

Morgan County 35, Jasper County 0

Taylor County 28, Montgomery County 21
          It was tied at 14 after three, and Montgomery went up 21-20 with a passing score with four minutes left in the third, but Taylor County needed until the final minutes to answer, with Cameron Lawhorn’s 21-yard TD pass in the final two minutes to a player not listed on the MaxPreps roster, Lawhorn carrying in the conversion. 

GIAA
Class AAA
FPD 47, Brookstone 28
          The visitors trailed 14-13, thanks to a blocked PAT kick after their first touchdown. FPD then closed the first half with two touchdowns in the final 2:23, and kept the momentum going with a third-quarter score and two fourth-quarter touchdowns to take control before Brookstone scored twice in the final five minutes to avoid major embarrassment. Hayden Aulds scored on runs of 21 and six yards, and quarterback Jakhari Williams marked his return with two TD passes to Ben McElreath, of 35 and 50 yards, while adding one to Gavin Spillers and running one in from 46 yards. Aulds went for 141 rushing yards on 19 tries, Williams with 130 on 17 to go with a 9-for-14 passing night for 168 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. McElreath caught two passes for 85 yards, both TDs. FPD’s defense held Brookstone to 45 yards rushing and 11 first downs en route to giving new head coach Brett Collier his first win.

Southland 14, Westfield 7
          It was the lowest-scoring game in the long series history since Westfield’s 14-7 win in 2009.

Stratford 57, Riverside Military 14
          The Eagles cracked 55 for the second time in four games, winning by its biggest margin since 58-7 over Atkinson County early in 2017. The margin was a whopping 37-0 after one.

Tattnall 54, Athens Christian 14
          Tattnall got into the win column with its biggest margin of victory since 66-0 over Central Fellowship in 2019.

Class AA
Brentwood 28, GMC Prep 13
          The Gators won by the same score for the second straight week. Zach Denton went for 180 yards and three rushing touchdowns, adding an 80-yard TD catch o the first play from scrimmage. Freshman QB Baylor Cobb was 9 of 12 for 175 yards and a TD. Jessie Washington had 113 yards and score on 22 carries for GMC, QB Logan McMillan completing 11 of 18 for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Central Fellowship 28, Tiftarea 28

Gatewood 62, Augusta Prep 6
          The Gators score more Friday than in the past three and a half meetings, cracking 60 for the first time since a 60-21 win over Terrell midway through the 2019 season.

Trinity Christian, 0-2, at Edmund Burke, 1-0

8-man
Covenant at Peachtree
David Emanuel at John Hancock
Westminster 51, Windsor 30