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

Class 5A
Northside, 2-3, at No. 4 Coffee, 5-0
          Life doesn’t get any more manageable for Northside, which has to travel to take on the top-5 Trojans, playing their first opponent from Georgia since Aug. 23. Coffee is 2-0 vs. Georgia and 3-0 vs. Georgia. Third-year head coach Mike Coe is 30-3, but the Trojans are 2-5 against the Eagles, off a 7-0 win in 2019. Northside is going for its first win since beating Jones County to open last season, going 0-6 since then. The Eagles have gone backwards in scoring, putting up 38 against Eagle’s Landing in the season opener and 38 points since then.

No. 8 Houston County, 4-1, at Veterans, 0-5, 1 p.m.
          Veterans’ tasks are simple to determine, difficult to accomplish. Antwann Hill averages 281.4 yards passing and Javien Durham 78 yards rushing, with Isaiah Mitchell catching 39 passes for 627 yards. Hill has 17 touchdown passes and only 1 interception. The Warhawks have been outscored by 35.2 points a game and are in danger of the first winless season in program history.

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

Class 4A

New Hampstead, 2-3, at No. 10T Perry, 3-2, 3 p.m.
          The region opener for both teams pits one coach who has built up a middling program (Kevin Smith) against one trying to do the same thing (Kyle Hockman). The Phoenix have been inconsistent, scoring 56 and 47 in wins, and a total of 42 in three losses, two of which have come against lower classification opponents. New Hampstead, which ended Westside’s season 40-12 in last year’s first round, gets half as many yard on the ground as Perry, which is led by Ahmad Gordon, who is good for 85.4 yards a game and has 6 TDs. Decorrion Daniels has 7 TDs.

Jones County, 4-1/3-1, at Stockbridge, 4-1/4-0, 2 p.m.
          There’s likely to be plenty of offense, so let’s see which defense wins the game. The Greyhounds get 390 yards a game, 10.2 more than the Tigers. Stockbridge is a little more balanced, with Edward Minor getting 42 more yards a game on the ground than Jones County’s Zacari Thomas, while the Greyhounds’ Devin Edmonds passes for 65 more yards than Joshua Scott. And both have playmakers on defense, Jones County’s led by Daniel Hawk and D.J. Ingram.

This week
* Friday’s roundup
*The adjusted area football schedule
* Central Georgia scouting reports, Friday
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* Central Georgia rankings
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Two good weeks of football for Atlanta? Loughdmoutings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm)
* 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 3A

No. 8 Westover, 5-0, at No. 2 Peach County, 4-1, 12 p.m.
          Westover gives up 7 fewer points a game, and has allowed more than 8 points only once (56-31 win over Westside). The Patriots have scored 36 points or more in four of five games, while off to the best start in program history. Peach County has ridden the passing game of D.J. Hudson, connecting often with brother Zion (Peach County doesn’t update stats on MaxPeps).

Class 2A

No. 2 Morgan County, 5-0, at Westside, 2-3 (Ed DeFore), 2 p.m.
          The state’s No. 2 passer in AA comes to Macon, Davis Strickland and his 1,250 yards, as well as RB Christian Monfort, averaging 141.5 yards on the ground. The Bulldogs, who have held four of five opponents under 20 points, went 10-2 last year in winning the program’s 12th region title and third since 2016. Westside has given up 161 in its losses and 20 points in its wins. Kadiphius has 8 TDs on 127 carries to go with 136.4 yards a game rushing. Morgan County is 5-1 against Bibb County public schools.

Class A

Social Circle, 3-2/1-0, at Putnam County, 1-4/0-1, 1 p.m.
          The War Eagles are on a 2-game winning streak, while Redskins have no streaks going either way, but won 65-6 over Utopian Academy last week.

Putnam County doesn’t input stats to MaxPreps. Social Circle averages 103.4 yards passing and 131.4 yards rushing. 

Class A/Division I
No. 9 Lamar County, 3-1, at McNair, 2-3/1-0
          The Trojans are the last team I 4-A/I to play a region game, and are coming off a fairly rare non-region loss. McNair is trying for its first win over a ranked team since 2006 when the then-3A Mustangs edged 5A No. 3 Stephenson. That was also the last year McNair finished with a winning record. It’ll have to contend with an offense getting 182.5 yards a game, down a good chunk from last year’s average of 231.3 yards.

GIAA

FPD, 5-1, at Mount de Sales, 3-3, 1 p.m.
          Mount de Sales rebounded well from its loss to Gatewood by being in control against Central Fellowship, and is 3-3 for the first time since 2021. The Cavs have put up some yards, led by QB Zavion Deshazier, good for 81 rushing and 165.7 passing yards. But they’ve given up an average of 35 points in losses. They face a balanced offense at FPD (which doesn’t update offensive stats on MaxPreps) with QBs Bennett Lake and Major Simmons, and RBs Brady McHugh and Breck Griffin. The Vikings lead the series 25-14-1 and have won the last four, by an average of 26 points.