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. Many thanks to Dublin, Jasper County, John Milledge, Mount de Sales, Northside, and Perry on Friday and FPD and Lamar County for sending in postgame information and/or stats on Saturday.

🏈 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 to Central Georgia’s only roundup.

This week
* Roundup: No trouble for Warner Robins, Peach County, Northeast, Southwest, Dublin, Jasper County, others; Thriller wins for Washington County,Putnam County, FPD; Howard, Westside with surprises
* 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

Class 4A

6A East Coweta 31, Perry 15
          The Panthers (3-2) suffered their first loss to an unranked team since falling to Spalding in 2021, although East Coweta is a 6A program. Perry was in position for a comeback, down 10-9 after three quarters. The Indians blocked a punt late in the third quarter and scored early in the fourth, Perry answered about two minutes later but failing on the game-tying conversion. The Indians were up 24-15 midway through the fourth, and sealed it with a pick-6 of more than 90 yards in the final two-plus minutes.

Warner Robins 41, Veterans 10
          There was no doubt some optimism on the Veterans (0-5) side after a quarter, the Warhawks down only 7-0, and then watching the Demons (4-1) miss a field goal early in the second quarter. But Warner Robins scored two touchdowns in five minutes for a 21-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the first half. Skyler Williams connected with Rasean Dinkins for a 23-yard score in the final seconds of the first half for a 28-0 lead.

Class 3A

Harlem 28, West Laurens 7
          The game lived up to expectations for a half, the teams battling to a scoreless tie. Something may have happened in the locker room at halftime, because the Bulldogs (4-0/2-0) exploded for 28 third-quarter points, more than Harlem had scored in its last two games (22 and 17). The Raiders (4-1/2-1) finally broke the shutout on a 30-yard TD pass from Duggan Malone to Juvon Hill with about three minutes left.

Howard 42, Hephzibah 20
          First-year head coach Trey Porter’s third win at Howard (3-2/2-1) is one of the Huskies’ best in a few years, coming on the road against a team that went 7-4 last season. The margin is Howard’s biggest over a public-school team not from Bibb County – other than a 49-0 win over Pike County in 2023, the Pirates finishing 0-10 – since a 31-7 win over West Laurens in 2022.

Peach County 50, 5A Northside 7
          The Trojans’ sixth win in the 21-game series history was the biggest margin in series history for either team, and the highest point total. The 43-point margin is also the largest in series history. It’s the second straight year the Eagles have given up 50 or more, Lee County winning 56-7 last year. The oddity: It was tied at 7 two minutes into the second quarter after Northside (2-3) answered a 17-yard TD pass from DJ Hudson to Zion Hudson in the first quarter with a 10-yarder from Jayden Wright to Zaylon Washington. From there, Peach County (4-1) rolled, with three touchdowns – two on the Hudson-to-Hudson connection – in six minutes for a 30-7 halftime lead.

Whitewater 31, Upson-Lee 24
          The action started immediately, with Whitewater (2-2/2-0) leading 16-14 with nearly two  minutes left in the first, Upson-Lee (2-3/1-2) scoring on its first two snaps. Whitewater led 24-17 after three only for the Knights to tie it three minutes into the fourth on a great diving catch by Jayden Skelton. Whitewater regained the lead, and sealed it with an Upson-Lee fumble in the final two minutes in Whitewater territory.

Class A/Division I

Dodge County 46, East Laurens 27
          East Laurens (2-3/1-3) came out swinging, and led 14-7 after a quarter only for Dodge County (5-0/4-0) to tie it early in the second quarter and take the lead in the final three minutes of the half. Dodge County added another score inside the final minute of the half. The lead grew to 20 a few minutes into the third on Duke Johnson’s 12-yard run, and by another score on Johnson’s run early in the fourth.

Dublin 56, Jefferson County 0
          The trip a few counties to the northeast went as expected, the Irish (5-0/4-0) getting a 35-0 halftime lead. Xavier Bostic scored on runs of 48, 7, and 54 yards, Willie Batts adding scores of 44 and 6 yards. Trav Bostic went in from 23 yards, with Jamarcus Knoght adding a 29-yard interception return, and Azontae Walker finishing the scoring from a yard out early in the fourth quarter. Jefferson County was held to 2 first downs, 9 rushing yards and 49 passing yards. Dublin had just one penalty, and outgained Jefferson County 385-58.

Jasper County 43, Towers 8
          Homecoming went mighty well for the Purple Hurricanes in their most complete game this season, and biggest margin of victory since a 42-7 win last year over Mt. Zion. Towers lost by the same margin once in last year’s 1-9 season, 47-12 to sixth-ranked Callaway. Jasper County is on its first four-game winning streak since 1996. Bryan Ridley had a 70-yard pick-6, thanks to a deflection on the pass by Demonte Greene. Cam Farley added an interception as the Purple Hurricanes held a fourth straight opponent to single digits. Jalen Stewart had 141 of Jasper County’s 235 yards on the ground, scoring twice. J.T. Thomas passed for 66 yards and ran for 33. It’s Jasper County’s highest scoring total since a 43-7 win over Crawford County in 2014.

Northeast 46, ACE 0 (for more)
          Quarterback Reginald Glover went for 253 yards on the ground and Nick Woodford 183 as the Raiders (4-1/4-0) rolled to a 27-0 halftime lead en route to a big Region 2-A/Division I win. Woodford had three of those first-half touchdowns and Glover the other. Woodford had a 61-yarder and Glover a 72-yarder in the second half. Northeast held ACE’s passing game to 115 yards, and handed the Gryphons (3-2/2-2) their first shutout since 2021. The Raiders had a 543-168 advantage in total offense.

Putnam County 45, McNair 37

Southwest 45, Central 6
          Steve Robinson led the Patriots (2-3/2-2) to a 26-0 lead, the Chargers (0-5/0-4) getting a TD pass from Justin Releford to Joshua Pettigrew to break the shutout in the final minute of the half. The Patriots sealed it on Christian Hill’s 1-yard run early in the third quarter.

Washington County 21, Bleckley County 17
          The Golden Hawks (2-3/2-2) pulled off one of their most notable wins under third-year head coach Robert Edwards. It was tied at 7 after one, and at 14 at halftime, the Royals (2-3/1-3) driving deep into Golden Hawk territory but coming up empty in the final minute. After a battle of mistakes, Bleckley County took the lead on Ford Childers’ 32-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the third. The Golden Hawks answered by scoring on a pass with 1:37 left in the third. A penalty hurt a nice drive, and the Royals missed a 45-yard field goal shortly after that. The slugfest continued, and Bleckley County was in Washington County territory, but a sack led to the Royals giving it back on downs.

AA Westside 20, Lamar County 10
          The Seminoles (2-3) got off to a good start and 14-0 first-quarter lead and maintained, holding the Trojans to their lowest regular-season total since falling to 3A Upson-Lee 38-7 early last year. Lamar County (3-1) got within 14-10 on Caleb Miller’s 33-yard field goal four minutes into the third quarter, but the Seminoles finally sealed it with a 4-yard touchdown with 1:52 left in the game. It’s Westside’s first win over a ranked team since topping No. 4/5 West Laurens 27-24 in 2015. The Seminoles outrushed the Trojans 180-150 and was 7 for 13 on third down.

Class A/Division II

Macon County 26, Chattahoochee County 14

Schley County 53, Crawford County 21
          The Wildcats took control with a 21-point first quarter, and outscored the Eagles 13-7 in the second. Schley County passed for 283 yards and ran for 164 yards.

Taylor County 43, Marion County 19
          The Vikings (4-1) and Eagles (1-3) had a  battle going for three quarters, Marion County leading 19-14 at halftime and into the fourth quarter after a scoreless third quarter. Taylor County had enough, exploding for 29 points – more than it had scored in two games this year and in eight games last year – to take a closer-than-the-score win. Brayden Ellison, who recently committed to Georgia State, put the Vikings on top for good with a rushing score about four minutes into the final quarter. They recovered a fumble and got some room on A.J. Wilder’s score. A pick-6 by Chan Lumpkin sealed it.

GIAA

Class AAA
Brookstone 33, Stratford 27, OT

FPD 28, Westfield 23
          Westfield led 10-7 at halftime, the Vikings (5-1) taking the lead midway through the third quarter on Major Simmons’ short run. He went in again early in the fourth quarter to put the Vikings up 21-10, and then took off for a 73-yard touchdown and 28-10 lead at the 8:35 mark. The Hornets (3-2) finally got back on the board on a TD pass two minutes later and got within a score on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Gay to Jackson St. Clair in the final minute. Gay completed 15 of 26 for 265 yards, 184 to St. Clair, while the Vikings held the Hornets to 53 yards rushing. Simmons led the 202-yard FPD ground attack with 112 yards on 17 carries, while hitting on 10 of 16 passes for 146 more yards, Breck Griffin catching 5 for 74 yards and a score.

Mount de Sales 31, AA CFCA 7
          The Cavs rebounded well from last week’s 46-20 loss to Gatewood by racking up more than 400 yards in total offense, led by Zavion Deshazier’s 253-yard passing night, completing 16 of 23 with 3 touchdowns. Jackson Rowley and Bryston Fletcher teamed for 25 tackles, while Marcus Wilson led the 143-yard rushing attack. Mount de Sales is 3-3 for the first time since 2020.

Piedmont 7, King’s Academy 6

Class AA

Brentwood 33, 3A John Milledge 6
          Brentwood marched out to a 26-0 halftime lead, scoring on two runs totaling 119 yards and a 70-yard and 6-yard touchdown pass. The War Eagles added a 59-yard score in the third quarter, John Milledge breaking the shutout on Cole Vining’s 16-yard fourth-quarter score. Brentwood outrushed John Milledge 244-172 in breaking a 10-game losing streak in the series, dating back to a 2013 13-12 win. The War Eagles scored more points Friday than in the last four games against the Trojans, held to their lowest total since a 45-0 shutout in 2009. Vining went for 193 rushing yards.

Briarwood 49, Windsor 12
          The Buccaneer put up 29 points in the second quarter to take control.

Trinity Christian 41, Thomas Jefferson 6
          Wade Register ran for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns on12 carries to lead the Crusaders, who racked up 268 yards on 22 rushes. Jakob Sahli added 73 yards and 2 scores on 7 carries. Trinity Christian led 20-0 at halftime, and lost the shutout early in the fourth quarter.

8-man
Covenant at John Hancock