HS 🏈roundup: Big comeback for Warner Robins, big OT W for West Laurens, Perry pops Peach County, Northeast & Woodford pull away, John Milledge sweats, Williams big for FPD

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.

Updates Saturday morning: Perry, Lamar County

Class 6A
7A North Cobb 35, Northside 17
          The visitors took control early, starting with a 67-yard scoring run from David Eziomume four minutes into the game, and sealed it with a 21-point second quarter featuring two more TD runs from Eziomume, of 4 and 46 yards. The Eagles got a 1-yard run from Da’veon Latimore with 22 seconds left in the second quarter and added a TD pass from Ricard Jones to Keron Milton in the final two minutes of the third quarter, but couldn’t mount anything else. Jones took over for Damien Dee at quarterback, and completed one less pass for 40 more yards, going 8 of 18 for 141 yards, a score and a pick. E.J. Riley led Northside with 71 rushing yards, half of the Eagles’ total. Northside was outgained 495-384 on seven fewer plays.

Veterans 38, Lakeside-Evans 15
          For awhile, it was a game, Veterans leading 10-7 early in the second quarter. The Warhawks got a little cushion for a 17-7 halftime lead, but won the third quarter 21-8 to take control, Jake Maxwell connecting with Chandler Thomas and Monterris Engam for scores, Preston Bird adding a 4-yard score.

Class 5A
Warner Robins 29, Dutchtown 22
          The hosts were on the verge of taking serious control in the 2-5A opener, leading 22-7 – thanks in part to a blocked punt and safety - and set to score again. Warner Robins’ Myles Joiner picked off a pass in the end zone, and that sparked the 2-2 Demons’ offense into a 22-0 run. The defense held late to get the ball back on Isaiah Gibson’s fumble recover with just more than a minute left, and Warner Robins ran out most of the remaining clock. The safety came after Dutchtown turned it over on downs on the Demons’ 4. Dutchtown (1-4) drove on its next possession, but Joiner came up with the pick. The Demons scored a few minutes later and got the conversion to pull within 22-15. They tied it early in the fourth on Isiah Canion’s second TD catch. The Demons got it back after a fourth-down stop, and ate up some clock before Rasean Dinkins went in from 22 with four minutes left.

Class 4A
Howard 49, Pike County 0
          The Huskies (3-1) recorded their second shutout of the season and passed 40 points for the third time en route to their biggest win in program history, as well as fifth shutout ever. Their total of 166 points is more than they scored in eight of their 15 seasons.

West Laurens 33, Bleckley County 27, OT
          For the second week in a row, Bleckley County went into overtime, and had the same result. The Royals went first and were stopped, and the Raiders (2-2), aided by a penalty, got the game-winner on Shannon Adkins’ 2-yard run on second down, his fourth touchdown of the night. It was another even game for the Royals: tied at 7, 14, and 27. The Raiders took a 27-20 lead on Ty Cummings’ 81-yard TD, but missed the conversion kick with about four minutes left. The Royals already did that, missing a game-tying PAT to trail 21-20 late in the the third quarter. It was Bleckley County’s second overtime game in two weeks, West Laurens’ first since a 28-22 win over Wayne County to open the 2016 season.

Class 3A
Perry 42, Peach County 21
          Ahmad Gordon’s short run four minutes in put Perry on top, and the Panther added a Colter Ginn-to-Isaiah Miller 36-yard TD pass for a 14-0 lead after one en route to a 21-7 halftime lead. The Trojans cut it to seven about three minutes into the second half only for Perry to answer 70 seconds later on Gordon’s powerful 48-yard blast. Peach County was unable to take much advantage of anything, and Gordon’s short run with four minutes left in the third made it a 21-point game. The Trojans are 0-4 for the first time since 1983 (excluding 1986 when it forfeited nine games, eight of which they won on the field) and are being outscored 2-1 (152-72). They’ve scored less than 350 points in a season only six times since 2000, the 217 in Rance Gillespie’s first season in 2000 the lowest total. Ginn, who transferred from Peach County, was 13 of 18 for 239 yards, two scores, and a pick, while Gordon hit 103 yards on 14 carries. Dakarai Anderson caught six passes for 111 yards. The defense was led by Jerrell Pinckney with 14 tackles, and 12 from Jordan Donald and Devon Smoot.

Class AA
Northeast 52, ACE 26
          A nice 25-yard field goal late in the first half pulled ACE (4-1) within 20-10, but in something of a rerun of last year’s meeting, the Raiders (3-2) and Nick Woodford owned the second half. Woodford, who also had a superb pick-it-up-off-the-turf first-half catch, ran 28 times for 298 yards and five touchdowns, adding a long kickoff return along the way as Northeast outscored ACE 32-16 in the second half. The teams traded touchdowns early in the third quarter before Woodford went 68 yards for a score three minutes in. Another ACE field goal followed, but the Raiders’ Reginald Glover took the ensuing kickoff back about 90 yards for a 19-point lead. The Gryphons turned it over on downs, and Woodford went 24 yards for a score, Glover closing it out with a 25-yard run with 9:18 left in the game. Aaron Davis cracked 100 yards rushing for ACE.

Putnam County 35, Butler 12
          Returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown inside the first three minutes got the War Eagles (2-2) on top, only for Butler (1-3) to answer on the kickoff, and then miss the conversion. Rashod Daniel’s touchdown with two minutes left in the first got the War Eagles going, and they led 28-6 at halftime.

Southwest 40, Jordan 0
          The Patriots (2-2) celebrated the anniversary of their last shutout – 61-0 over Jordan on Sept. 16 a year ago – with another shutout. The Red Jackets have been blanked 11 times in their last 14 games.

Upson-Lee 21, Haralson County 3
          The Knights (4-1) muddled their way through on the road, holding Haralson County to 61 yards in total offense while getting 171 yards on 15 carries from Ja’Quan Bentley, 106 in the second half with two touchdowns. QB Niko Wells had 118 all-purpose yards.

Class A/Division I
Dublin 28, Metter 0
          Dublin bounced back from last week’s upset by ECI in a big way, with its first shutout in the series in the last five games, the Irish (3-1) ending a three-game losing streak to Metter, including being shutout the past two meetings, both in 2022. Xavier Bostic got Dublin going with a 46-yard score at the 4:04 mark of the first quarter, to just get started in a game slowed early by a lights outage. He broke free from a big pile for a score of about 40 yards with 8:51 left in the second quarter, Willie Batts adding the conversion. Ken Hampton sprinted away for a 76-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, and Bostic finished the Tigers off less than a minute into the fourth quarter with a 7-yard score. Metter was shut out 2-0 a week earlier by Jeff Davis.

Jasper County 12, Lake Oconee 6
          A 37-yard field goal put Lake Oconee up in the final minutes of the first quarter only for the Purple Hurricanes to answer with a minute left, finally adding to it with another ground-game score late in the third quarter.

A/II Johnson County 34, East Laurens 20
          The Falcons got down two scores in a little more than a quarter, and pulled within a score on a passing TD earlyin the fourth, but the Trojans all but sealed it with a touchdown a few minutes later.

Lamar County 31, Jackson 0
          The Trojans marched out to a 16-0 halftime lead, and kept it going, sparked by Jordan Glover’s 63-yard scoring run midway through the third and capped by his 10-yarder with 37 seconds left in the third. It’s Lamar County’s first shout over a higher-classification team since 45-0 over 6A Alcovy in 2014. Glover ran 10 times for 124 yards, adding an icing 10-yard scoring run in the third quarter. ZyQuavius Hughley had 88 carries on 10 runs, with a 16-yard touchdown run to get the Trojans started. Lamar County held Jackson to 171 yards total offense, half of Lamar County’s output.

Class A/Division II
GMC 46, Riverside Military 12
          New head coach Bobby Rhoades got his first win after the Bulldogs exploded to a 46-6 halftime lead, more than doubling their point total this season. Jessie Washington put GMC up for good with a 9-yard score early in the first, and the defense bowed up to set up the offense for Logan McMillan’s 8-yard score and a 13-0 lead just past the midway point of the first quarter. McMillan hit Cam Lango for a 21-yard score a few minutes later, and the Bulldogs (1-4) were rolling.

Hancock Central 18, Warren County 14

          The Bulldogs broke a two-game losing streak, this season and to Warren County.

Hawkinsville 48, Twiggs County 0
          The Red Devils of new head coach Tim Suttles are 4-1 for the first time since 2014. It’s Hawkinsville’s biggest win since beating Stewart-Quitman 60-0 in 1999.

Macon County 41, Greenville 6
          The No. 2 Bulldogs racked up their biggest win of the year, and biggest since over somebody other than Central-Talbotton since beating Crawford County 35-0 in the 2021 playoff opener.

Taylor County 34, Chattahoochee County 14
          A 20-0 lead dropped to 20-14 in the third quarter, but the Vikings got a rushing score and conversion early in the fourth quarter and sealed it later in the quarter. The Vikings are 3-1 or better for the first time since a 4-0 start in 2020.

GIAA
Class AAA
FPD 28, Pinewood 14
          Jakhari Williams ran for 143 yards and a touchdown while completing 12 of 17 for 139 yards and another score to lead FPD (2-1-1). Carter Hayes caught five passes for 106 yards and a 37-yard touchdown, Hayden Auld adding 87 rushing yards and two scores on 16 carries. FPD outgained Pinewood 400-392 on 11 fewer snaps. Pinewood (1-3) scored first, and the lead lasted a full quarter. Then FPD scored twice in six minutes in the second quarter, and twice in five minutes in the third quarter.

John Milledge 17, Frederica 7
          A team off of two straight losing seasons put John Milledge’s record-setting winning streak in more jeopardy than teams expected to be much bigger threats. The Trojans survived themselves to win their 54th straight game, held to less than 20 points for the first time since, well, the game before the streak started, Frederica’s 48-0 win in the GISA Class AAA title game in 2018. Ironically, the Knights lost 14-13 in OT to JMA a little more than a month earlier. John Milledge had only a 7-0 lead at halftime, on Javian Butts’ short run in the final three minutes of the half, and it stayed that way until Brice McDonald’s interception paved the way for Kolt McMichael to connect with Justin England  to set up Bud Veal’s 3-yard run with 15 seconds left in the third. JMA turned it over on downs deep in Frederica territory, and got a safety with 10 minutes left. Jordan Triplett put the Knights on the board with less than a minute left with a 66-yard touchdown. JMA recovered the onside kick, surviving a sloppy night and only 237 yards in total offense.

GHSA A/I No. 10 Mount Vernon 40, Tattnall 20
          The Mustangs sent the Trojans reeling with an 85-yard touchdown pass on their first play and then a 43-yard TD pass on their next possession, en route to a 26-13 at halftime. Tattnall fell to 1-4, its worst start since 0-5 in Barney Hester’s final season, in 2012.

St. Anne-Pacelli 22, Stratford 3
          The Eagles trailed 7-3 at halftime of the third meeting between the teams in a year, but couldn’t mount any more offense en route to their first loss of the season.

Westfield 32, Mount de Sales 14
          The Cavs made the visiting 3-2 Hornets sweat, pulling to within 16-14 with a 69-yard touchdown keeper by quarterback Zavion Desahiser with 10:360 left in the third. The Hornets coughed it up on their next possession with an interception deep in MdS territory, a penalty pushing the Cavs to the 5. They paid for it with a safety – second one in the game - a few plays later. Westfield, which had a pick-6 nullified an fumbled in the red zone in the first half finally gained some control of the winless hosts when it converted a fourth and 15 into a 20-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Gay to tight end Trae Hardy in the final seconds of the third quarter.,

Class AA
Gatewood 17, Briarwood 8
          The Gators improved to 4-0 after opening up a 14-0 halftime lead.
Edmund Burke 15, Piedmont 0
          Edmund Burke got all it needed in the first half.

Trinity Christian 48, Creekside 6
          The Crusaders cruised to a 28-0 first-quarter lead, and expanded it to 41-6 at halftime.

8-man

Covenant at Young American

John Hancock at Crisp