Scouting Report/Analysis

It’s awfully nice to have a Central Georgia team playing in a state championship game for the ninth year in a row, to have new blood in the championship round.

We’ve had Northside and Macon County and Peach County and Warner Robins and Perry make the finals in that stretch.

Perry won it on its first try. Can Northeast do the same?

Toombs County, though, was more expected to get this far, having been ranked pretty much first – often unanimously - or second all year in the Georgia High School Football Daily’s composite rankings.

Yes, the GHSA playoff seedings were indeed pretty interesting.

Northeast has been in the top seven for the second half of the season after starting off at No. 8 and dropping to a tie for 13th after the Peach County loss, slowly moving forward.

Toombs County has an advantage in most areas: passing (and thus, receiving and pass blocking), and the defensive front (with more sacks and tackles for loss).

The Bulldogs have more depth, and more variety on offense with more weapons.

On execution and scheme, Toombs County will be hard to defend than Northeast will be.

The Raiders will have to throw more, having let slip some chances in routs to work on the passing game, as well as the receiving and pass-blocking game. Starting quarterback Reginald Glover has tried less than 10 passes five times this season, and has tried a max of 18.

Northeast’s basic one-dimensional offense can be stopped. Ask Dublin, a powerhouse run team. Ask Dublin who did the damage. It was Toombs County.

The Raiders are easier to prepare for: hit Nick Woodford low and gang tackle, and play Glover a version of man-to-man when he drops back.

Sure, that’s easier said than done, for had it been done as planned, Northeast wouldn’t be here. The Raiders had answers.

Of course, they were also just better than every team they played, except for the two losses. And this year, they were better than teams in the playoffs ranked ahead of them or owning more tradition.

Glover’s decision-making on when to run from the pocket has been superb in most games. He was slowed a bit against Lamar County and Fannin County, neither of which had enough to slow Woodford nor enough offense to get past Northeast’s underrated defense, led by linebackers Tailen Sampson and Santana Balkcom but loaded with playmakers at each level.

The Bulldogs will focus on Woodford and force Glover – and somebody, anybody else on offense – to make plays.

If nobody else comes through early, the Raiders will be in some trouble.

Northeast’s defense will have to be more on point against an offense that has quality talent and makes fewer mistakes than most of the Raiders’ opponents. Northeast won’t get any help.

Northeast’s other issue is, well, Northeast. The Raiders of 2024 are much more fundamentally sound than teams in the past, and the play to the whistle more.

They also are penalized like they enjoy the sounds of whistles. Northeast doesn’t have the stats, but it’s a safe bet to guess it averages around 15 or so flags a game, with more games closer to 20 whistles than 10.

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The Raiders had nine – niiiiiine – false starts alone against Fitzgerald. Nine. That’s more than two a quarter. Nine penalties for the game is a lot. Against ACE Charter in a 46-0 win, 14 of Northeast’s 21 penalties were five-yarders.

Against Dublin, Toombs County had three penalties and Northeast 10.

They can win the turnover battle, but they won’t win the penalty battle. If Northeast can just do better than average – and it’s a high average – than the Raiders have a nice shot.

Northeast will have to be on point like it hasn’t all year. Be patient if the run game is slow to get going, don’t gamble in pass coverage, and at least avoid 15-yard penalties.

And tackle. Good Lord almighty, if teams just tackled like taught and ignored trying to strip the ball or make a big hit, there’d be more joy in their lives.

Woodford can easily have a big game in a loss, and have an average game in a win. Actually, odds on the latter are decent, because it means Northeast is balanced.

And it’ll have to be balanced – expect some funky plays in there, like a Woodford pass or two – to win. Glover will need to throw some first-quarter passes, no matter how successful the run game is. And Glover can connect deep, something that’ll be open at some point.

The other issue is the kicking game. The Raiders have improved on PAT kicks, and even a little bit on field goal tries. How they do on this stage will be mighty notable.

If Northeast is within seven or less after a quarter, we should have a game. If there’s early impatience or nerves that lead to Toombs County points, three or seven, the hole will be bigger.

“Why so skeptical?”

Well, Northeast is only the fourth team since 1970 from Bibb County to have reached a semifinal, and only the second to make it to the final.

There have been the athletes, there have been some coaches, but the county teams just constantly faltered. Each new level, new accomplishment was always a little surprise, often because of self-inflicted wounds and disappointing execution in losses.

The Raiders have survived them so far. If they can avoid them, make no mistake, they can win. But they haven’t really avoided them all season, and no opponent is as good as Toombs County.

There you go.

Maxwell Ratings prediction: Toombs County 29, Northeast 16

TSR prediction: Toombs County 30, Northeast 21

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Nick Woodford knows.

          For all the yardage, and all the attention, he gets none of it without the fairly anonymound road-graders who put the hand on the ground and grind away, peeling their bodies off a mass of bodies at the line of scrimmage or pushing downfield before Woodford passes them.
          “They open ‘em up for me,” Woodford said recently of the holes that have allowed him to run for 2,494 yards this season and 6,173 in his career, with 88 rushing touchdowns along the way. “The cutting back, they give to me something to work with. I’m proud of them boys tonight. I got to feed them.”
          Zantavius Towles, Machylan Marshall, Carlos Daniel, Tykerio Parks, and Jared Cooper make up that starting unit.
          It’s not just a collection of huge blockers for a one-dimensional offense. Quarterback Reginald Glover has gotten enough protection whether he takes off running or rares back and throws.
          He is a serious dual threat, having passed the 1,000-yard mark as a runner and a passer. His knack is being in the pocket and not wasting too much time waiting for somebody to get open, taking off after going through his reads, a move that takes pressure off the offensive line.
          The junior has 2,865 passing yards and 42 touchdowns with five interceptions as a three-year starter, while rushing for 2,174 yards and 26 touchdowns.
          The offensive line woke up a little after the season-opening loss to Class AAA Peach County, which spent much of the year at No. 1. Woodford finished rehabbing from last year’s ACL injury, and sat for the 40-19 loss.
          The Raiders rolled over Southwest 36-14 and then handled Washington County 42-9.
          “I was like, ‘OK, we got something going here,” said Towles, 6-1-260-pounder who also plays on the defensive line. “We’re not used to losing. (Peach County) kind of humbled a lot of us, and we got to work.”
          After rolling through the region, other than losing to Dublin, it took until the postseason for Towles to see what was possible.
          “Our first playoff game against Swainsboro,” he said of playing the defending state runner-up, and cruising 46-7.
          “They’ve always been a physical program,” Towles said. “We just, we hit ‘em. We ran through them. I was like, ‘Wow.’”
          It’s been a wow year for the most important unit on any football team.
          Toombs County head coach Buddy Martin raved about Northeast’s size on the offensive line, but raved the most about the size-challenged Raider.
          “They got one guy that’s not as tall as everybody else, and I like watching him play the most,” Martin said. “He freaking gets after it. 53 plays guard and he gets after it. He’s fun to watch.”
          No. 53 is left guard Machylan Marshall.
          “Five-seven, five-eight,” he answers with a knowing smile. “About 245.”
          Marshall is pretty much a poster child for that old phrase about the size of the fight and all.
          “It’s all about the heart,” he said. “You got to have the heart of a dog, man.
          He started getting that fight before first grade.
          “Since I was about 5, 4 or 5,” he said. “I feel like I just kind of came with it. That’s always been me since I started playing sports.”
          Marshall felt the season started having great potential a little earlier than Towles
          “About halfway throughthe season, I realized we were pretty good, better than I actually thought,” he said. “We just started coming closer together and getting better as a group.
          And Marshall was alone in going snap to whistle.
          “We got one of the best O-lines in the state, if you ask me,” he said. “We really only run out our starting five.”
          The challenge of a lifetime awaits.
          “They like to shoot gaps and slant, things like that,” Towles said of the scouting report. “They’re very physical. There’s nothing we never seen before.”

City moves ceremony for game
          The swearing-in of Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller and new members of the county commission was moved from Tuesday to Monday to allow for anybody involved to head to Atlanta.
          “We have an outstanding event happening tomorrow,” County manager – and Northeast grad – Keith Moffitt told the audience at the Macon City Auditorium. “With less than a week’s notice, you were able to change your schedules and join us here today.
          “That reason for tomorrow is that my beloved Northeast Raiders are playing in the state championship game. As a proud product of Northeast, Class of ’89, along with Commissioner (Stanley) Stewart, I would kien of lke to teach us how to support Northeast tomorrow.”
          And he delved into the chant of his school:
          “East siiiide”
         “Out loud”
          The crowd obliged.
          “And tomorrow, we’re gonna rock the Benz Stadium. Northeast will bring home that championship.”

🏈 🏈 🏈

A look at the regular-season schedules

Toombs County
Vs. playoff teams, non-region: 2-0
Vs. higher classification: 3-0
Vs. Above .500 opponents, regular season: 1-1
Away from home: 5-1
Opponents’ record: 36-47, regular season opponents; 32-18 playoff opponents

Northeast
Vs. playoff teams, non-region: 0-1
Vs. higher classification: 0-1
Vs. Above .500 opponents, regular season: 3-2
Away from home: 4-2
Opponents’ record: 58-56, regular season opponents; 34-16 playoff opponents

* Both teams ended perfect seasons on the road: Northeast beat Fannin County 48-39 and Toombs County beat Dublin 46-14

* Neither team has played a team in this year’s other classification state championships. Northeast beat Class AA finalist Carver-Columbus 25-18 last year and 26-8 in 2022.