We enter the second quarter of the Georgia High School Football season with another slate of great games. Here are our Eight Greats Around the State for their week. First up the Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines hosts the Holy Innocents’ Bears. The Wolverines will look to keep rolling through the air, while the Bears will try to control the ground and the clock with the triple option who will prevail? Next up in a clash of titans, the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes will host the Creekside Seminoles. Can the Seminoles get another big win and slay another giant this week or will Cartersville hold serve at home?
Down in Cordele, the Crips County Cougars and E.L.C.A. Chargers will tangle as oddly enough, both teams are in search of their first win on the season. Finally, down in Eastman, Dodge County hosts Fitzgerald in a Class-2A top-100 matchup. Dodge County is riding the hot hand of freshman quarterback Duke Johnson, but will Fitzgerald’s defense but an end to their run?
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Special thanks to the Georgia Helmet Project for providing each team’s helmet. You can find all of their work here: http://gahelmetproject.com
Special thanks to the Georgia Helmet Project for providing each team’s helmet. You can find all of their work here: http://gahelmetproject.com
Historical records are provided by the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. (ghsfa.org)
The Skinny
After an opening round defeat at the hands of upstart Calvary Day, Prince Avenue Christian has rolled up some really big offensive numbers of the past two weeks. Despite being g held to 13 points in Week-1, the Wolverines are averaging 47 points per game this season. Quarterback Aaron Philo, (who is just a sophomore), has already thrown for 1,115 yards and 11-TDs. He has seemingly picked up where his predecessor, (Brock Vandagriff) left off. Bailey Stockton, Ethan Christian and Elijah DeWitt have been his man targets, combining for 42 receptions, 780 yards and 9-TDs.
The Holy Innocents Bears have also been impressive in their own right. In their two games this season, the Bears are averaging 43 points per game and while the defense has already recorded a shutout. Holy Innocents is led by running backs Jacobi Murray and Drew Bomar. The two backs seem to work well in the triple option attack for Holy Innocents. Murray is a load to bring down at 240lbs and is a punishing runner. Holy Innocents won’t pass much, but they do have a budding star in Zach Jackson at receiver.
This game will be a big contrast in styles. If it’s low scoring, we like Holy Innocents; if it’s a shootout we lake Prince Avenue. We’ll take Prince Avenue by 13.
The Skinny
The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes seem to have not missed a beat from last year’s run to the finals. Quarterback Jake Parker has completed 62.5% of his passes while backs Malachi Jeffries and Khristian Lando have been getting the lion’s share of the carries, combining for 211 yards and 7-TDs. Collin Fletcher and Brynen Wilkins lead the Canes in receiving with 14 receptions for 223 yards and 2-TDs.
The Creekside Giant Killers…aka the Creekside Seminoles come off of impressive wins defeating the reigning 7A stare champ Grayson in week one. And then to prove it wasn’t a fluke the beat 6A semifinalist Westlake last week in a thrilling ballgame. Quarterback Nyqua Lett leads the offense as he’s demonstrated an ability to make plays both with his arm and his legs. While Lett was impressive perhaps even more impressive was the Creekside secondary that recorded 10 pass break ups last Friday night. That should come as no surprise as they boast two of the top defensive backs in the state in Roderick McCrary and Dainsus Miller.
Weinman Stadium is a tough place to play with the Canes winning 49 consecutive home regular season games dating back to November 4th, 2011. We don’t expect for Creekside to be intimidated. We like the Noles by 6.
The Skinny
The Crisp County Cougars will be looking for their first win of the season. The road doesn’t get any easier this week with one of the toughest Class A-Private schools in the state coming to Cordele this Friday. The Cougars have a relatively balanced attack. Last week, it was Ahmad Brown taking snaps under center. Senior Marquis Palmer is the bell cow for this offense with 144 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. Kevon Merrell continues to lead Crisp in total tackles.
The ELCA Chargers are also in search of their first win of the season. Similar to Crisp they have faced tough competition from higher classifications in their first two games. Quarterback Charlie Gilliam has thrown for 442 yards and 2-TDs. R.J. Johnson and Jacque Holley are the teams leading receivers with a combined 12 catches for 276 yards and 2-TDs. ELCA had done most of their damage through the air this season, averaging 221 yards per game through the air.
Since joining the GHSA in 2004 ELCA has only started the season 0-3 once. This will be another tough test for the Chargers. If Crisp County can get Palmer going in the run game, it could be another long night for ELCA. This game should be much closer than last season’s 20-point margin of victory. We like ELCA by 4.
The Skinny
The Dodge County Indians are 3-0 for the first time since 2018 and they are getting it done with a freshman quarterback. Duke Johnson has thrown for 364 yards and 4-TDs and has added 154 yards and 3-TDs on the ground. Demron Gordon is Dodge’s overall leading rusher while Jalon Jaynes less the Indians in receiving. The Indians defense is allowing 9.6 points per game.
The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes had a little easier time this past weekend as they downed Turner County. Look for Fitzgerald to continue to use the ground game with the duo of Jakorrian Paulk and Sylon Davis while Sultan Cooper continues to get comfortable at quarterback. E.J. Lightsey leads a defense that is allowing 13.5 points per game.
This game could be a low scoring defensive battle with both teams looking to control the tempo on the ground. Dodge County looks to have something working with the freshman quarterback. We believe they’ll do just enough to outlast Fitzgerald this Friday. Indians by 4.