Central Georgia HS football scouting reports
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Rankings are from Georgia High School Football Daily final regular-season composite polls. GIAA championship scouting reports will post Saturday.
🏈 Teams: Please email game information – stats (offense and defense), names, big plays, etc. – to centralgasports@gmail.com by 2 a.m. Saturday morning to be in Central Georgia’s most comprehensive game-night coverage - the most names and stats and details - for the first roundup, and by 10:30 a.m. Saturday to be added.
Coaches and team officials can email or text some basic game details by 2 a.m.
GHSA
Second round
2/4 No. 10T Houston County, 7-4 at 1/2 Lakeside-Evans, 10-1
Two teams looking to get over humps meet. The Bears reached the second round last year after a quarterfinal trip, following two straight first-round losses. The Panthers broke a nine-game first-round drought, and haven’t gotten past the second round yet. This is their second 10-win season in program history. Eastside must deal with program record-setters Antwann Hill (117 touchdown passes) and Isaiah Mitchell (81 catches, 1,392 yards), but the Bears face QB Ty Jones, who’s good for 260 rushing and passing yards a game, and 17 total touchdowns. Two Panthers have 23 rushing touchdowns, one less than the Bears’ total.
8-2 No. 5 Eastside, 10-1, at 1/1 No. 7 Perry, 8-3
Playoffs are nothing new to either team. Eastside has made it nine straight times, and won five first-round games, reaching the quarterfinals twice. Perry has reached two quarterfinals and won a state title in the last seven seasons, all under Kevin Smith. Both teams have four opponents still alive and three higher-classification teams. Perry has a two-headed QB monster with Reid Ginn (64-91-1, 4 TDs, 784 yards) and Cullen McDaniel (114-174-2, 11 TDs, 1,268 yards), countered by P Shaw (79-106-0, 17 TDs, 1,545 yards), the Panthers having more receiving threats but the Eagles getting 85 more rush yards a game, and 11 more touchdowns overall. Eastside can put on some heat on defense, with two dozen more tackles for loss.
CENTRAL GEORGIA’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COVERAGE
This week
* Roundup, Saturday
* Scouting Reports/predictions: GIAA 4A and AA finals, Saturday
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA games
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games, Thursday
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Watch big Willie’s run; a Friday night of some surprises; go watch Mercer; Loughdmouthings: Watch a HS game; ranking whines, flubbin’ Falcons …
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week
Last week
* Saturday’s scores
* Roundup: FPD, Brentwood head to GIAA title games; big nights for Houston County, Jones County; Bleckley County surprises, Jasper County ends drought, Baldwin survives penalties
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* Central Georgia rankings
* Monday Morning QB: Kennesaw State colossal screw up; CFP sermon; Loughdmouthings-UGA’s slump, Beck’s slump, Tech’s Canes pain, ripping a backup? …
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week
* GHSA playoffs are set: Who’s at home? What Central Georgia teams play each other? Who’s seeded where?
Two weeks ago
* Roundup: FPD lone Macon GIAA survivor, road heartbreakers for Tattnall, Stratford; Milestone win for Gatewood’s Ratliff; Southwest stays in playoff hunt; Jasper County, Brentwood roll
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games, coming Friday
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* Tuesday’s Roundup
* Central Georgia rankings
* Monday Morning Quarterback Safe to hop on Falcons bandwagon; CFP sermon; Westside's Iverson & Northeast's Woodford; Northside news; Loughdmouthings-Cowboys/TV tiff, GHSA playoffs ...
* GIAA playoffs are set, GHSA picture much clearer but still has some fuzzy going on
* The schedule
2/2 Jones County, 10-1,at 5/1 No. 1 Marist, 11-0
The Greyhounds have one win over a No. 1 team, and it wasn’t that long ago, beating Northside 45-37 in 2014. Last year, they lost to eventual state champ Coffee in the second round, a recent trend for Jones County, falling to the state winner. Marist, winner of at least 10 games every year but one since 2012, is a front-runner this year, eyeing its first title since 2020, which broke a drought stretching back to 2003. This is the first meeting. Marist is 13-1 at home the past two seasons – including 47-25 last week over Warner Robins - and has played only seven Central Georgia teams in a century. Head coach Alan Chadwick has been at the school since 1976, and is in his 39th year as head coach.
No. 14 Baldwin, 7-4, at No. 3 Peach County, 10-1/No. 1
The Braves come in with some momentum after blocking a field goal in the final seconds to knock off West Laurens 26-24 10 days after losing 28-14 to the Raiders. Mistakes and some inconsistency remain an issue, but lacking weapons isn’t, with QB Lamar Pounds and RB Sadur Salahuddin, among others. The Braves do have an edge in close games, with seven games decided by 14 points or less, going 4-3. The Trojans have been explosive, with plenty of running clocks while outscoring opponents by an average of 26.5 points. In last week’s 23-point win over Chestatee, QB D.J. Hudson threw for 349 yards and four long touchdowns, Zion Hudson catching 144 of those yards. Since the 49-33 loss to Perry in the second game, Peach County’s closest win was by 19 points over second-place Westover. The Trojans have scored at least 40 points in nine games, to four for the Braves. Peach County leads the series 9-7, Bladwin taking an early-season 34-13 win last year.
No. 12 Upson-Lee, 8-3/No. 12T at No. 5 North Hall, 9-2/No. 15
The Knights haven’t played many normal, routine, uneventful games in recent years, including last week’s win over Long County. Upson-Lee led 15-0, then trailed 1-15 before a 20-6 fourth quarter. QB Niko Wells, WR, Akeondre Chaney, and RB-LB Malachi Character give the Knights some steady weapons. Character, a junior, gets 12.9 tackles a game, and the Knights have 14 interceptions, twice as many as the Trojans. Region 6 champ North Hall has had six games decided by 14 points or less, and is 5-1, including last week’s 21-14 overtime win over Gilmer, won on a 9-yard TD pass to Justin Allen by Smith McGarvey followed by a defensive stop. This is only the fourth Central Georgia team North Hall has played. Head coach Sean Pender is 147-105-1 in his 23rd season, while Upson-Lee’s Justin Elder is now the program’s second-winningest coach with 46 wins (and 42 losses), nine behind Mike Majors (55-24, 1999-2005) at 46-42. The Knights haven’t gotten past the second round since 1993, the second year of football after consolidation.
Come back around 8 p.m. for Central Georgia's only live scoreboard
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Come back around 8 p.m. for Central Georgia's only live scoreboard 〰️
No. 16 Westside, 6-5 at No. 1 Rockmart, 9-2/No. 8
Kadiphius Iverson set the school record for single-season touchdowns with 30 during a big night last week, 40 carries and six TDs en route to 261 yards. The Seminoles are looking for their third second-round win under Spoon Risper. Rockmart counters with Nate Davis, owner of 764 yards while also racking up nearly 100 tackles on defense. Rockmart is the defending state runner-up, as it was in 2018. The Yellow Jackets have won at least two playoff games eight times in the last nine years, getting sent home in the first round in 2021. They’ve won eight straight region titles, and head coach Biff Parson is 92-20 in nine seasons.
No. 9 Lamar County, 9-2/No. 11 at No. 8 Northeast, 9-2/No. 5
Those on hand at Thompson will hear a lot of popping as two run-oriented teams throw down. Lamar County regularly tries fewer than five passes a game, while Northeast is capable of being a throwing threat with QB Reginald Glover, who has 12 TD passes to go with a dozen rushing scores. His 1,063 rushing yards are second to Nick Woodford’s 1,630. Woodford is unofficially the No. 2 rusher in Bibb County public school history with 5,309 yards, but is first – and unofficially in the top 20 statewide – with 84 career rushing touchdowns. Caleb Laster and QB Kaden Carter teamed for 289 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in Lamar County’s 51-10 win last week, part of a 476-yard effort. Carter leads the Indians with 814 yards and 9 touchdowns. Both teams are recent playoff veterans: Lamar County is in the second round for the third straight year after a five-year playoff-free stretch, and Northeast has made the second round in four of the last five years. The Trojans are 8-2 in the series, including a 28-20 win in 2021 in an upset.
No. 13 Dodge County, 8-3/No. 10, at No. 4 Worth County, 8-3/No. 7
A year ago, Dodge County’s season was a few weeks in the books, ending up 1-9 and having scored all of seven points in the final three games. Under first-year head coach Phillip Brown, the Indians have nearly tripled their scoring output, with the most points since 2017. They followed an 8-0 start with two straight losses, but rebounded well in hammering Chattooga 40-14 last week behind Duke Johnson’s running and Kain Mincey’s passing, the pair teaming for 300 yards and five touchdowns. Worth County is on its 10th head coach this century, Jeff Hammond already the fourth-winningest coach with 21 wins. The Rams have a 1987 state title under Milt Miller, for whom the team’s stadium is named. Since he left after the 1991 12-2 season, the Rams have won eight playoff games. This year’s team gets 249.7 yards in the air – Lyndon Worthy has 30 TDs to 8 INTs – and 183.5 on the ground behind three backs who have 33 TDs. Dodge County is 0-5 against Worth County, falling 47-38 in 2022 and 40-34 in OT last year.
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No. 15 Jasper County, 8-3, at No. 2 Dublin, 11-0/No. 2
A playoff newbie, for the most part, visits a playoff veteran. Since Jasper County’s last playoff win in 1992, before last week, Dublin had gotten past the second round 14 times, with four trips to title games. Jalen Stewart led the Purple Hurricanes in the win over ACE with 147 yards, Jamarkus Thomas getting 167 yards and four touchdowns rushing and passing. Stewart is good for 113.9 yards a game, and has 13 scores. Cope Durand averages 14.1 tackles a game and Ca Farley 10.7. Dublin, which leads the three-game dormant-since-1947 series 2-1, has 1,000-yard rushers in Xavier Bostic and Willie Batts, part of a run game that averages 9.8 yards a carry and has a staggering 70 touchdowns, 32 between them with another 15 from QB Micah O’Neal. Dublin is on a 10-gmae home winning streak, and is 14-1 the last two seasons at the Shamrock Bowl.
No. 28 Bleckley County, 5-6, at No. 12 Fitzgerald, 8-3/No. 6
On paper, the Royals pulled off a huge upset last week, but the only real surprise was the margin of victory, 25 points, over a region champ. The seventh-place 2-A team has a losing record but has scored more than it has given up. Of the six losses, it was out of only one game, a 48-17 loss to Dublin. The total margin of the other five losses is 12 points, with an overtime loss. Bleckley County is led on offense by QB Kam Everett (1,384 yards, 60.7 percent, and 422 rushing yards) and Dequavius Benjamin (452 yards) and on defense by Isaiah Simeton and Jireh Campbell. Fitzgerald is in its seventh straight second-round game, amid a run that includes a state title and three semifinal finishes in the last decade. The Purple Hurricane are a travel-by-ground team under Tucker Pruitt, who is 80-26 in his eighth season, good for second on the program’s all-time list, 40 wins behind dad Robby..
3/2 No. 11 Jenkins County, 8-3, at 6/1 Macon County, 7-4
Macon County has 16 region titles and two state championships, while Jenkins County has but one region title. The Bulldogs have won 62.1 percent of their games in 64 seasons (as per the Georgia High School Football Historians Association) to 40.2 percent for the Eagles. But Jenkins County knocked off top-10 Wheeler County by 25 points in the opener, in a balanced performance that included two defensive scores. First-year head coach Kurt Williams won a region title and has Macon County in its second straight second round, winning six of its last seven games, and giving up only 17 points in the last three. Jakeyveon Parker is 155 yards from 1,000 rushing for Macon County, which is led by Joshua Fulks on defense.