By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

We start the week with a major fist bump to Perry and Houston County fan bases for doing something simple that fans bases don’t always do:

Show up.

It’s disappointing that there appear to be no good crowd pictures, and goodness, the atmosphere was made for a good drone shot from the overflow crowd at Herb St. John Stadium in Perry when the Panthers hosted Houston County in a non-region extravaganza.

And that’s become one of the more appropriate words to describe the Bears and Panthers, who have had two straight games go down – and do so amid breathtaking thrills – to the final play.

We don’t get many near-capacity crowds – no matter what the streamin’ screamers or people with titles say – let alone overflow crowds at sizable facilities.

But around 4,500 or so crammed in there – bringing lawn chairs despite signs not to bring lawn chairs – and were kept there until the very end, which also doesn’t always happen for good games.

Turns out, they probably could’ve filled Freedom Field, which seats about 1,800 more folks (depending on the math equation), pretty easily. And will next year, so long as wise heads prevail and these teams renew the two-year contract.

They’ve played six straight years, and Houston County has 17 more points in that span. Yeah, keep playing. Please.

And now we know. Until further notice, try to get to wherever the Bears and Panthers shall tangle, and get there early.

Don’t tell the fire marshal when or where the game is, but make sure defibrillators are near both sets of fans.

Last week’s upsets

Hawkinsville flipped the script as a 14-point underdog to beat Rutland in Macon by 14.

Upson-Lee threw the script in the trash as a four-point underdog that hammered Lamar County 38-7. Yes, it was 3A over A, but the Knights have been inconsistent, and the Trojans are pretty good.

Last week’s surprises

As far as underdogs, so to speak, go, Macon County’s win over Clinch County by three as a three-point underdog was certainly no shock.

Few expected Southwest to rebound so well after a thumping by Howard to give Westside that much trouble in a 13-point loss.

It’s an odd world when Washington County is a 24-point underdog to a lower-classification program, and moreso when that’s almost covered before the fourth quarter starts.

ACE was a 13-point favorite by the Maxwell Ratings, but picked to win by 30 here. Taylor County blew away expectations with a 31-0 romp over Crawford County.

Coaches, please PLEASE fix MaxPreps rosters (and others)

Friday night, would’ve loved to tell you who had the big kickoff return late in a huge game, but the MaxPreps roster didn’t have the number listed by a MaxPreps scoretracker as the returnee.

Couldn’t. Roster was wrong (but it was updated Saturday).

For folks who hammer away on details, having incomplete or inaccurate rosters is absurd, and should be embarrassing.

No matter how many places a roster is listed, it should be the same, be accurate, and be checked. Doesn’t take long to at least make sure the players getting action are accurately listed.

Don’t preach if you can’t execute, especially the simplest thing in the world: Names of people you work with.

Kids and parents deserve to have names spelled properly.

This is a recording.

Loughdmouthings

No doubt Perry coaches had mixed emotions Saturday, upon some sleep.

“Dang, we lost” is countered by “Dang, we bowed up.”

Those of us who wondered a little about Perry because of so many losses still wonder, but a whole lot less after Friday. The Panthers did bow up, and while there’s work to do, there should be some confidence and momentum. …

It was work, as expected, but Northside turned in a solid performance in recording the program’s 500th win, as per the Georgia High School Football Historians Association website.

The Eagles are 500-18-98-6, 71.4 percent.

Worth noting: the school down the drive enters Friday’s showdown at 569-239-11, 70.1 percent. And Northside’s Ben Bailey will try to do what neither his immediate predecessor, Conrad Nix twice, and Danny Carpenter couldn’t do: Beat Warner Robins in his first meeting.

Warner Robins’ Shane Sams has a hefty task to match Frank Orgel, Robert Davis, Richard Fendley, Bryan Way, and Marquis Westbrook did: beat Northside the first time out.

The question (well, “a” question): Can the “home” team across the street from the stadium come close to legitimately filling its half of the stadium? Because that team looks pretty close to the level of the one that’s been phenomenally successful the last several years but draws like it’s hoping to get into the playoffs. …

Feel free to ask your favorite coaches if they input stats in a timely manner – by lunch Monday is almost late - into MaxPreps so people can see where kids rank among area and state leaders in rushing, passing, receiving, tackles, interceptions, sacks, special teams, and more.

Stats within a day or two after the game, you might mention, isn’t too much to ask and doesn’t take much time, and is more relevant than paying for Twitter graphics that say nothing. …

Houston County remains Central Georgia’s best shot at a GHSA championship game, and nothing from Friday changes that. The Bears, dang, they sure find a way to play clutch football.

And the number of weapons? Good grief. They could win five huge games – and four wins (sorry, Tift) win in that friggin’ region are huge wins – with a different playmaker making the big play. …

Don’t put any money on anybody in Region 2-AA, because it’s tight. But keep an eye on ACE.

Sure, shutouts over two Class A teams that won’t make the – wait, wait, because of the GHSA’s region silliness that allows for a four-team region and automatic playoff spots, which shouldn’t happen – OK, clarification, that aren’t playoff-caliber teams aren’t necessarily noteworthy.

But shutouts are shutouts, points are points, and confidence is confidence. If Keith Hatcher is smart and plays newbies and youngsters early in these routs – and coaches are very rarely smart enough to do so – and the Gryphons get some depth, they will be – like last year – in the hunt with Spencer and Northeast. …

Something else that makes it hard to identify a player is when one set of observers is screaming like banshees and you can’t understand a word – and they got it wrong anyway three times - and another set was rambling about something and got the name wrong at first (but quickly corrected). …

We’ll find out more this week about Northside and Warner Robins (mauling at the Mac), Baldwin (at 5A champ Ware County), Jones County (at Perry), Northeast (at AA champ Fitzgerald), Lamar County (at Dublin), Dublin (hosting Lamar County),

Dear teams/coaches for some reason paying somebody to do fancy and irrelevant social media graphics: How about telling us whyyyy kids got team players of the week? Stats and information are wonderfully relevant things.

Otherwise, the graphics are pretty much a waste. People do like to know why they should care about a shiny graphic with names. Anybody can do that. Information? Well, that’s substance.

It’s OK to have substance and relevance on social media. …

Shutouts were thrown by ACE, Gatewood, Taylor County, and Veterans

Everybody played – aka margins of 35 points or more – for ACE, Gatewood, Jasper County, and Veterans. ...

Brian Nelson of Mary Persons remains two wins away from the magic 100. He’s at 98-37. …

*Sigh* It’s not Baldwin County. Hasn’t been for decades. Not Spalding County or Spaulding. Not for a long time (and forever is a long time). Not West Laurence. Or Mary Person.

Polls

We’re back to five teams for Division I, though early on, there are more candidates than usual for the final spot. May have to expand Division I, but not to 10, maybe a Solid Seven group.

Division II is tight, and fairly interchangeable, as you’ll see in a week.

Yes, your team can be jumped by not playing. It’s week to week, and not head to head. Just a reminder.

Division 1 (6A-5A-4A-3A, 13 teams)

1. Houston County
2. Northside
3. Perry
4. Veterans
5. Warner Robins
In the hunt: Baldwin, Howard, Upson-Lee

Division II (AA-A-GISA, 34 teams)

1. John Milledge
2. Dublin
3. Macon County
4. ACE
5. Bleckley County
6. Northeast
7. Putnam County
8. Lamar County
9. Jasper County
10. Dodge County

In the hunt: Need another week and more teams having more than one game.