By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Classification listed first if games pit games of different classes. Rankings are from Georgia High School Football Daily composite polls

Games of the week

Games of the week

Harlem, 3-0/1-0, at No. 17 West Laurens, 4-0/2-0
          Third-year head coach Kip Burdette has the Raiders 4-0 for the first time since 1990 when they finished 11-2. Harlem’s last 3-0 start was in 2013 when the Bulldogs finished 7-3. Both teams are run-oriented, West Laurens’ Ty Cummings good for 148 yards a game and Harlem’s Malik Tyler 106.7. Harlem has been in closer games, including an overtime win over Greenbrier and 17-14 win over Baldwin last week.

Class A/Division I
ACE Charter, 3-1/2-1 at No. 10 Northeast 3-1/3-0
          The Gryphons are at least 3-1 for the third straight year, under head coach Keith Hatcher, while the Raiders are 3-1 or better for the fourth time in head coach Jeremy Wiggins’ seven seasons. This is the most even matchup of the teams: ACE scores four more points a game and gives up 2.5 fewer points. The difference in strength of schedule is the non-region matchups, Northeast with top-5 3A Peach County and ACE with middlin’ Class A/II Wilkinson County. ACE is more balanced, at 218.5 rushing and 160.8 passing yards a game, to 272.3 and 78.8 for Northeast. ACE, which has a special teams edge, is going for its first win against a ranked team in program history.

GIAA
Westfield, 3-1, at FPD, 4-1
          Which FPD offense shows up is Westfield’s task. The Vikings went all run against Pinewood Christian, albeit on a rainy night on the road, and cruised 47-0. FPD ran for 488 yards, led by Bennett Lake’s 149 yards, Major Simmons getting another 134, for 283 yards from the quarterbacks. The Vikings will try to corral Brayden Gay, who has completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 805 yards and 6 touchdowns with no interceptions, with a variety of targets. The series is tied at 19, but they haven’t played since 2009, a 28-14 Westfield win. FPD soon joined the GHSA for several years, interrupting the series.

Many thanks to ACE, FPD, Jasper County, John Milledge, Jones County, Perry, and Tattnall on Friday for sending in postgame information and/or stats, and Upson-Lee for information afterward.

🏈 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.

The Schedule
Class 4A

5A Veterans, 0-4, at No. 5 Warner Robins, 3-1
          Taking on one of the state’s top 25 or 30 teams in the state in any class while trying to avoid the program’s second 0-5 start is a tough task for the Warhawks, averaging 16 points a game but facing a defense giving up 27 (mostly to Lee County and Houston County).

6A East Coweta, 2-2, at No. 7 Perry, 3-1
         The Panthers are among the more balanced teams around, with 171 rushing yards and 183 passing yards a game, Ahmad Gordon getting 99.3 a game on the ground. East Coweta had five straight non-losing seasons. The teams have played twice, splitting in 1990-91.

Class 3A

6A Northside, 2-2, at No. 2 Peach County, 3-1
          A year ago, Northside lost three straight around this point, but had beaten Peach County 28-17 in Game 2. The Eagles have lost two straight, and the Trojans are much better than in 2023, led by QB D.J. Hudson, who is 175 yards from 1,000 for the year.

Howard, 2-2/1-1, at Hephzibah, 1-3/0-2
          The Huskies are favored on the road against a team off two straight winning and playoff seasons. Howard has been able to score this season, and have given up 26 and 28 in the losses and 12 and 13 in the win.

Whitewater, 1-2/1-0, at No. 18T Upson-Lee, 2-2/1-1
          Whitewater brings some momentum to Thomaston with a 28-10 win two weeks ago over Troup, which then went to Forsyth and beat Mary Persons 24-17. Neither team is racking up a lot of points or yards. The teams haven’t played since Whitewater’s 14-7 win in 2011.

Class A/Division I

No. 11T Bleckley County, 2-2/1-2, at Washington County, 1-3/1-2
          The Royals have had a week to regroup after the stunning home loss to Southwest last week, and – led by QB Kam Everett – head to the House of Pain, which hasn’t  lived up to the name for opponents lately. Washington County is 6-7 at home since the start of the 2022 season, including 0-2 this year. The Golden Hawks lead the series 4-3, all the games coming since 2016.

Central, 0-4/0-3, at Southwest, 1-3/1-2 (Ed DeFore)
          Southwest averages 24.3 points a game and the Chargers are giving up 43.3. The Patriots’ defense isn’t allowing much less, 36.8, but Central is only getting 4.5 points a game. The Chargers lead the series 30-19, Southwest winning four of the last five, including 37-0 last year.

No. 8T Dodge County, 4-0/3-0, at East Laurens, 2-2/1-2
          East Laurens and first-year head coach Jesse Hicks had a week off after their 49-0 win over Central, while Dodge County and first-year head coach Phillip Brown gutted out a 13-7 to-the-wire win at home over Vidalia. The Indians lead the series 13-1, the Falcons’ lone win coming in 2008, 28-14.

No. 3 Dublin, 4-0/3-0, at Jefferson County, 0-4/0-3
          Dublin has won eight straight regular-season games, and Jefferson County is on a 15-game losing streak. Only three losses have been by less than 25 points. Dublin'ss Xavier Bostic, Willie Batts, and Micah O’Neal average 11.4, 11.1 and 9.8 yards a carry for Dublin.

This week
* Roundup, Saturday morning
* 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
* What do the Central Georgia area rankings look like?
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Another black and blue battle in Lexington; Loughdmouthings: Falcons, silly second-guessing, county records …
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

Last week
* Roundup: Big nights-Houston County, Perry, West Laurens, ACE, FPD, Brentwood, Trinity Christian; Last-minute Ws-Jasper County, Westfield; huge game for Gatewood’s Johnsons; clutch W-Dodge County
* 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 Quarterback: Suddenly, we saw Ridder and Smith …; Notable numbers, on campus, Loughdmouthings
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

McNair, 2-2, at Putnam County, 3-1

          It’s the first meeting between the Mustangs and War Eagles. McNair is off consecutive 4-win seasons after three straight winless years, part of a run of 15 straight losing seasons. The Mustangs haven’t made the playoffs since 2007. Putnam County is off to its roughest start since 1-4 in 2019.

Towers, 2-1, at Jasper County, 3-1
          The Purple Hurricanes are off a 273-ard rushing effort and a buzzer-beating win over Jackson. They haven’t been 4-1 or better since a 5-0 start in 1996. Jasper County had won four games or less 17 times since that 1996 year. Towers hasn’t had a winning season since2009, and have already passed the win total of the past two years (1-18). The Titans scored just 38 points in 2022.

AA Westside, 1-3, at No. 6 Lamar County, 3-0
          The run-heavy Trojans scored 62 points last week, scoring on runs of 20, 26, 32, 1, 7, and 9, for a total of 95 yards alone, plus a 64-yard kickoff return and 32-yard TD pass, a rarity. Lamar County hasn’t updated MaxPreps info, but the Trojans averaged 231.1 yards a game rushing last year. Westside hopes to break a 15-game losing streak against ranked teams, and to avoid the first 1-4 start in program history.

Class A/Division II

Chattahoochee County,1-3/0-1, at Macon County, 2-3/1-0
          The Bulldogs had their best game since the season-opening 26-19 win over Southwest, topping Crawford County 33-7.The Panthers fell hard to Schley County, 42-16, after hammering Kendrick 54-7 for their first win. Macon County has won four straight in the series, including a combined 78-6 in 2022-23.

Crawford County, 2-2/0-1, at Schley County, 2-3/1-0
          Schley County is quite down this year, falling from the rankings and losing 60-35 two weeks ago to top-5 Irwin County and 32-6 to Early County last week. The Eagles fell 33-7 to Macon County. Schley County leads the series 3-1, last winning 54-14 in 2019.

Taylor County, 2-1, at Marion County, 1-3
          Marion County leads the series 10-3, but the teams have split the last six meetings. The Vikings are trying to go 3-1 for the second year in a row.

GIAA

Class AAA

Central Fellowship, 1-4, at Mount de Sales, 2-3
          The Cavs have had to replace standout lineman Carter Sparks (season-ending injury in Game 1), who would’ve helped only a little bit last week in the 46-20 loss to Gatewood. But Mount de Sales has had some success on offense, and are on target to roll back their scoring totals of the last two seasons. The Lancers are struggling with the ball, being held to single digits in all four losses.

Piedmont, 3-1/1-1, at King’s Academy, 2-3/0-2
          The Cougars have digressed a bit on offense, scoring less each week but surviving Loganville Christian 14-13 last week. King’s Academy, less than a decade old, went 8-4 last year in AA.

Stratford, 5-0, at Brookstone, 2-2
          After two blowouts and a solid win, the Eagles had to battle past Frederica last week on the road. They’re off to their best start since going 9-2 en route to a 10-2 season in 2017. Brookstone rebounded from a 6-3 loss at FPD to roll past Southwest Georgia 38-0 a week later, its best point total this season. The teams have only played three times, 2020, 2022 and 2023.

Class AA

John Milledge, 1-4, at Brentwood, 3-1
          Brentwood leads the series 15-14-1, but the War Eagles have lost 10 straight in the series, and scored more than 10 points only twice. The last time John Milledge lost to a lower-classification team was Brentwood’s 13-12 win to open the 2011 season.

Thomas Jefferson, 0-5, at Trinity Christian, 3-2
          The Crusaders seem to have found an identity, especially on defense. In their losses, they’ve given up 44 and 41, but only  12, 14, and 14 in the wins. They’re scoring more each week, as well.

Windsor, 2-2, at Briarwood, 4-0
          The Knights are on a two-game losing streak and face a team that is off a 28-0 shutout of Robert Toombs, and is outscoring opponents 37.5-8.8.

8-man
Covenant at John Hancock