Our final set of 4-A playoff previews are listed below. This preview features matchups between Thomson-Upson Lee, Henry County-Cairo, Oconee County-Troup and White County-Pickens. Thomson will visit Thomaston to take on Upton-Lee and Travon Walker. Can the Bulldogs Damekus Taylor and Bubba Murray shock the Knights…The Cairo Syrupmakers will be looking for big games from Jamarcus Vicks and Tay Solomon. Henry County is in the post season for the first time in five years; they certainly don’t want this run to be a short one…Max Johnson and the Oconee County Warriors will try to out duel the fast paced Troup Tiger offense. Can Troup rebound after a tough loss last week…And White County will get their second chance to beat North Georgia rival Pickens. But the Dragons are flying high and could be a tough out this post season…
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Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Upson Lee Knights will be looking to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The Knights feature UGA commit Travon Walker. The senior has been effective on both offense and defense this season. Sophomore quarterback Jake Davis and senior Daymon Thomas lead an offense that has scored 28.3 points per game. The Thomson Bulldogs are down a bit this season. They are averaging 22.8 points per game, but their defense is giving up 27.9 points per game. Damekus Taylor leads the Bulldogs with 997 yards rushing through 8 games. He has also scored 17-TDs. Taylor will need another big game in order to get past Upson-Lee. We don’t think that will happen this week. It will be close but we like Upson Lee by a touchdown.
The Skinny
Henry County is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2013. They will travel to Cairo to take on the Syrupmakers. Henry County Will lean on the passing of Jaylon West to help guide them this week. The Hawks are averaging 20.1 points per game on offense, but their defense is giving up 26.4 points per game. Meanwhile the Syrupmakers are on an eight game win streak. They are averaging 32.1 points per game while the defense is only surrendering 11 points per game. The Syrupmakers rely primarily on the run game. Tay Solomon and Robert Peters have combined for over 1,000 yards on the season and 17-TDs. We believe Cairo won’t have much trouble this week against Henry County. We like Cairo by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Oconee County Warriors will travel across the state to take on the Troup Tigers in LaGrange on Thursday. The Warriors are averaging 18.4 points per game but have a highly rated quarterback prospect in Max Johnson. The Warriors defense is only giving up 13.9 points a game on the season. Meanwhile, the Troup Tigers are averaging 37.4 points per game and only giving up 18.2 points per game. Quarterback Kobe Hudson has passed for 2,467 yards and 25-TDs. Jamari Thrash is the teams leading receiver. King Mwikuta is the leader of a pretty solid defensive unit. The biggest question is will there be any hangover from last week’s loss to Cartersville. If the Tigers are focused, they should take care of business. This game will probably be closer than most think, but we like Troup by 8 points.
The Skinny
The White County Warriors and Pickens Dragons will face off for the second time this season. Pickens got the best of their North Georgia rival back in September, so you can bet White County will be looking for some redemption. Sophomore quarterback J. Ben Haynes has passed for 1,291 yards for the Warriors. As a team, White County has rushed for over 1,400 yards on the season. The Pickens Dragons have had the best season in school history, going undefeated and winning the region title. They are averaging 46.4 points per game on the season, while the defense is only allowing 13.3 points. Dual threat quarterback C.J. Streicher leads the Dragons offense with 1,167 yards passing, 934 yards rushing, and 30 total TDs. Senior running back Robert Davis has added 697 yards and 12-TDs. The first game was decided by 7-points, but we don’t think that this one will be as close. We like the Dragons by three touchdowns.