Week-11 looks to help settle a lot of the uncertainty in the regions standings. In Class-A, Claxton will face Savannah Christian and with a win by the Tigers, they would calm a share of the sub-region crown. While Savannah Christian can claim the sub-region outright with a win…Clinch County and Charlton County won’t be playing for a region title, but the long-time rivals will be playing to improve their seeding in the postseason…In a rematch of the 2017 Class 4A state title game, the Marist War Eagles and Blessed Trinity Titans will face off once again for the region title. Can the War Eagles maintain their hot streak, or will it be Blessed Trinity to the talks claim to the region crown…Finally, Brooks County and Fitzgerald will face off for the Region 2-2A title. Both of these teams control their own destiny. Whose rushing attack will reign supreme this week…These questions and much more will be answered this week.
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Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Claxton Tigers are one of the teams that has reversed their fortunes in 2018. Last season the Tigers went 3-7, but this season the Tigers sit at 6-1 and with a win on Friday could potentially force a three-way tie atop the region. On top of that, the Tigers sit firmly at No. 11 in the latest Class-A Public Power rankings. If that holds, the Tigers would host a first round playoff game. Karon Taylor and Myles Freeman have done most of the damage for Claxton this season. Shakari Denson has been a ball hawk in the Tigers secondary. He could certainly cause problems for the Raiders passing attack.
First year Coach Baker Woodward has led Savannah Christian to a 7-1 record and with a win this week, would clinch a sub-region title. Nate Moon, Jordan Grant and Marquell Brown have combined to run for 1,784 yards and 22-TDs on the season. NC State commit Dylan McMahon anchors the offensive line for the Raiders. Omar Burroughs leads the Raiders secondary with 5 picks on the season. The Savannah Christian defense is only yielding 11.1 points per game. If Claxton is going to win this one, this game will have to be low scoring. We don’t think that will be the case. We like the Raiders by 11.
The Skinny
Both Clinch County and Charlton County are in line to earn a spot in the post season. The two South Georgia rivals will face off for the 57thtime. A win would improve either teams standings in the power rankings. Trezman Marshall and Dantonio Robinson help spearhead the be Clinch County Attack. Jeremiah Johnson can also be a mismatch in the passing game for the Panthers. Johnson stands at 6’7”. The Panthers defense has given up 13.8 points per game on the season. Their only loss on the season was to No. 1 ranked Irwin County.
Charlton County may get lost in the shuffle behind Clinch County and Irwin County, but the Indians will be a contender in Class-A Public in the post season. Raykwon Anderson and Michael Elliott have been mainstays for the offense and have helped lead Charlton County to a 6-2 record. One of those losses came at the hands of the aforementioned Irwin County and the other to Appling County. The Indians are averaging 27.3 points per game. We think that they might need to score 30 to outlast Clinch, we just don’t believe the Panthers will give up that many. We like Clinch by 9.
The Skinny
The Marist War Eagles will travel to Roswell to take on the Blessed Trinity Titans in a game that should determine the region champion. As most everyone knows, these two teams met up in the state final game in 2017, with Blessed Trinity claiming the championship. Since then these teams have been on a collision course. The Titans are led by handful of two-way players including Steele Chambers (813 yards rushing, 15-TDs, 54 total tackles), Ryan Davis (412 yards receiving, 16 total tackles, 1-Int) and Jake Smith (991 passing yards 8-TDs and 2-Ints on defense). JD Bertrand (54 tackles) J.R. Bivens (22 tackles) and Quinton Reese (28 tackles) help lead a defense that is giving up 9.5 points per game.
Marist will be looking to claim their 25th region title with a win on Friday night. Much of their success will depend on how well that QB Connor Cigelske can execute the offensive attack. Cigelske has been the leading rusher for the War Eagles, but Marist does have a playmaker in WR/DB Kyle Hamilton. While Cigelske will need to be effective on offense, the Marist defensive line of Ryan Mannelly, Dean Colton and Adam Pozzobon will be tasked with slowing down Steele Chambers. Marist has reeled off five consecutive wins since the loss to St. Pius, including a shutout last week of Flowery Branch. The prior three meetings have been decided by a combined 12-points. We think momentum swings back to Marist and believe the War Eagles will pick up the win on the road by 2 points.
The Skinny
The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes and Brooks County Trojans will face off in a Quitman for the Region 1-2A title. The Hurricanes have won four straight games since their September 14th loss to Dodge County. The ground-oriented attack of Fitzgerald is averaging 30.6 points per game on the season. Their biggest victory to date may have been a come from behind victory two weeks ago over Thomasville.
With a win on Friday, Brooks County will clinch it’s first region title since 2015. Quarterbacks Jacolby Brown and Ni’tavion Burrus have combined to pass for 1,194 yards and 13-TDs on the season. Wide receiver Deon Fountain might be the best offensive weapon for the Trojans. He leads the team in rushing 306 yards and has also caught 48 passes for 605 yards and 12 total TDs. On defense Darryl Gallon has recorded 9 sacks this season for a defense that is giving up 16.6 points per game. We think Fitzgerald has closed the gap on the Trojans, but we still like Brooks County by a touchdown this week.