We enter Week-7 of the Georgia High School Football season and the threat of Hurricane Ian has prompted many teams across the state to reschedule games to Wednesday or Thursday. This is another big week of high school football, as there are many games that will go a long way in determining region seedings for the state football tournament. This is part two of our Georgia High School Football Previews where we take a look at eight great games around the state.
First up, in Southwest Georgia, the Dougherty Trojans will host the Crisp County Cougars. This is the region opener for both teams and we believe the winner will have the inside track to host a home playoff game come November. Will Crisp be able to slow down Dougherty and Cam Davis or will the home team hold serve? Moving up to Middle Georgia, Peach County will host Carver of Atlanta in a big non-region Class 3A matchup. Can Carver recover from their first loss of the season or will Peach County’s talented running backs be the difference?
Over in Baxley, the Appling County Pirates will host the Pierce County Bears in the region opener for both teams. Will Pierce’s D.J. Bell continue his outstanding performance this season or will it be Dayson Griffis and the Pirates who start off region play with a big victory at home? Finally, in Atlanta, the Columbia Eagles will host the Callaway Cavaliers. Columbia has been one of the surprise stories this season. They will get their biggest test as Callaway has been at or near the top of Region 5 for the past few years.
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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
The Dougherty Trojans are 5-0 for the second consecutive season. Their offense is humming along averaging 31.6 points per game while averaging over 370 yards of offense per game. Quarterback Kameron Davis has thrown for 1,152 yards and 12-TDs and has not been intercepted this season in 112 pass attempts. Davis also leads the team in rushing with 541 yards while Jacob Stallworth is second on the team in rushing with 319 yards and 6-TDs. Larry Lane leads the Trojans in receiving with 25 catches for 418 yards and 4-TDs. The Dougherty defense is allowing 17.8 points per game.
The Crisp County Cougars fell to Class 6A Northside Warner Robins last time out. Both of their losses this season have come at the hands of teams in the highest two classifications in the state. The Cougars are averaging 18.8 points per game and allowing 21.4 points on defense. In their three victories, Crisp County is averaging 25.6 points per game, while in their two losses, they are averaging 8.5 points per game.
Only one of the teams that Dougherty has faced has a record above .500 to this point in the season. Crisp seems to have the edge in strength of schedule. We believe that strength of schedule comes into play this week. We like Crisp on the road by 3.
The Skinny
The Peach County Trojans got back over the .500 mark with a victory last week. The Trojans went back to the ground and rushed for over 480 yards in the victory. Most of that coming from Chris McMillian and Robert Jones. The Trojans are averaging 29.8 points per game and allowing 22.8. Interesting note for Peach County, in their three victories they are averaging 45 points per game and allowing 14.6. However, in both of their losses, the score has been 35-7.Suffice to say that Peach will need to score more than 7 points this week if history is any indicator.
The Carver Atlanta Panthers were off last week and are coming off their first loss of the season to Class 7A Buford. The Panthers offense is averaging 214 yards per game through the air and 165 yards per game on the ground. Quarterback Bryce Bowens has thrown for 856 yards and 6-TDs and also leads the team in rushing. Bowens’ top receivers this season have been Deandre Buchannon (24 reception, 335 Yards, 3-TDs) and Zyee’k Mender (14 receptions, 330 yards, 4-TDs). Aquantis Clemmons leads the defense with 6 sacks. Speaking of defense, Carver is allowing 25.2 points per game this season.
It will be interesting to see how Carver bounces back from the loss the last time out. They will have to be up to the task in slowing down the fast pace attack of Peach County. We believe Peach may have found the spark they needed last week. We like the Trojans at home by 4.
The Skinny
The Appling County Pirates will be at home this week as they look for their first victory over a team from the State of Georgia. Both of the Pirates victory have come over out of state teams. Appling County is averaging 25.6 points per game while the defense is allowing 10.3 points per game. Their only loss this season came at the hands of Class 4A Wayne County. The Pirates have a talented tandem at running back in Jaylen Johnson and Jamarion Williams who both possess game breaking speed and can also find creases in between the tackles. Dawson Griffis has also been effective throwing the ball this season, keeping opposing defenses off balance.
The Pierce County Bears are averaging over 430 yards of offense this season with the vast majority of that coming on the ground. Quarterback D.J. Ball has only passed for 231 yards but leads the team in rushing with 921 yards and 13-TDs. Jimaryion Guyton is second on the team in rushing with 546 yards and 10-TDs. If Bell does go to the air, expect him to target Jaquez White who has caught 8 passes for 157 yards and 2-TDs. Pierce County is averaging 45.6 points per game while the defense is allowing just 10 points per game. This is the second time since 2019 that the Bears have started 4-0.
Appling County leads this series and have a couple of talented backs that will lean heavily on. The problem is whether or not they can slow down Pierce’s Bell. While that is certainly possible, we don’t think it is probable. We like the Bears by 11.
The Skinny
The Columbia Eagles find themselves in some uncharted territory as they jockey for a region crown. They can take a big step to their first region title on Friday if they can defeat visiting Callaway. The Eagles have been doing most of their damage on the ground Royce Tolbert and Jadan Baugh have led the way on the ground, while Baugh also leads the team in receiving. Columbia is averaging 21.2 points per game while the defense is allowing 14.6. The Eagles defense has recorded two shutouts on the season.
The Callaway Cavaliers have won two straight games after starting the season on a three game losing streak. The Cavs had their best offensive performance of the season as the scored 44 points last week in their victory over Redan. Similar to their opponent, look for the Cavs to do most of their damage on the ground. They are averaging 22.8 points per game while the defense is allowing 23.6 points per game.
This game will go a long way in determining the Region 5-2A crown. Columbia has played well and they are certainly on the right track, but we believe the challenging schedule Callaway has faced to this point has prepared them for games like this. We like the Cavs by 8.