Week-12 ushers in the end of the regular season for GHSA football. In part one of our Eight Greats Around the State, we preview four games in which the winner will claim the region title. First we check in with DeKalb county traditional powers Tucker and Stephenson. The teams have only met four previous times. Both teams have pretty good defensive lines, but which team will be able to break through and impose their will…Lowndes will travel to Colquitt for the Class 1-7A title. No one has been able to slow down the Packers this season, does Lowndes have what it takes…Up in Northeast Georgia, The Union County Panthers have quietly put together an impressive undefeated season. But now comes what should prove to be the most difficult test for the Panthers; a date with the defending region champ Rabun County…In our final game, we preview the Troup-Cartersville game. Coach Glisson told us earlier this season in a podcast that this game really isn’t a rivalry until Troup beats Cartersville a few times. Is this the start of that trend or will the Canes maintain their stranglehold on region titles.
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Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
Stephenson and Tucker will meet in a game that will determine the Region 4-6A champion. The Tucker Tigers got off to a bit of a slow start this season with losses to two of the top programs in Georgia. Yet the Tigers have gotten the job done in region play and have a chance to make it two consecutive wins against the Jaguars. Donny Harris and Tyler Hughey lead the Tigers on the ground. Combined, the two backs have rushed for 1,501 yards and 16-TDs. The Tigers might not have some of the same star power they have in the past, but Derrick McLendon is a star for the Tigers on defense. McLendon leads the Tigers in sacks this season.
Stephenson has also reeled off seven consecutive wins after dropping a week two matchup to county rival Southwest DeKalb. The Jaguars are averaging 36.5 points per game. Ryan Ingram and Jevon Goff have filled in for the injured Deandre Jackson this season. The two backs have combined for 1,085 yards and 16-TDs. The Jaguars defense is only giving up 11 points per game. Omari Terry leads the team in total tackles. The defensive line is probably one of the best in DeKalb county led by Jamal Andrews, Nazir Stackhouse and Joshua Black. This game really looks like a toss-up. We think points will be at a premium this week. But we like Stephenson to win by 4.
The Skinny
The Lowndes Vikings and Colquitt County Packers will meet to decide the Region 1-7A champion. The Vikings were the last team to beat Colquitt in the regular season; that happened back in October of 2017. Lowndes is led by Travis Tisdale, who has rushed for 1,391 yards and 18-TDs. As a team, the Vikings are averaging 300 yards on the ground.
Colquitt County has won convincingly all season long. The offense is averaging 43 points per game while the defense is only giving up 9 points per game. We have talked about the Colquitt offensive players in past previews, but we wanted to spotlight a couple of young men that lead the defense. Rashard Revels has recorded 119 total tackles from his linebacker position. Revels is also second on the team with 10 sacks. Kendrick Neloms leads the Packers in sacks with 11 and is second on the team in tackles with 103. It’s also worth mentioning that 90% of Ryan Fitzgerald’s kickoffs go for touch-backs and he’s averaging 40.3 yards per punt. He’s also 10 of 12 on field goals with a long of 57 yards. No shocker here, we like Colquitt by 13.
The Skinny
The Union County Panthers will travel to Tiger, Georgia to take on the Rabun County Wildcats. The Panthers were reclassified from Class 3A last season and have really dominated most of their competition this season. Junior quarterback Pierson Allison has passed for almost 2,474 yards and 20-TDs. Allison also leads Union County in rushing with 597 yards and 8-TDs. While Chad Buzzard has also rushed for 521 yards and 11-TDs. Allison’s top receivers have been Sawyer Drake (746 yards, 6-TDs) and Kyle Morlock (608 yards, 6-TDs). Sloan Sutton has recorded 101 total tackles on the season and leads the team in sacks with 5. He and the rest of the Union defense are giving up 10.4 points per game.
The Rabun County Wildcats have won eight straight games since an opening round loss to Bremen. Freshman QB Gunner Stockton has had a pretty good season by most accounts, passing for 1,924 yards and 24-TDs. Brison Beck will look to go over the thousand yard mark this week as he sits on 952 yards. Braxton Hicks leads the team in receiving with 541 yards and 9-Tds. The Rabun County defense is giving up 15.4 points per game. Jackson Webb leads the team with 10.5 sacks. He could cause some troubles for Union’s Pierson Allison, if the Panthers offensive line don’t account for him.. This is another game that could be high scoring. We like Rabun County to win at home by 10 and claim their 5th consecutive region title.
The Skinny
The Region 5-4A title will be on the line as undefeated Troup will travel to Cartersville to take on the defending region champs, the Cartersville Hurricanes. The Troup Tigers have a high-powered offense that averages 40.4 points per game. First year quarterback Kobe Hudson has passed for over 2,400 yards on the season with 25-TDs. Hudson also leads the team in rushing with 772 yards and 11-TDs. Trey Williams is second on the team in rushing with 575 yards. Jamari Thrash leads an electrifying group of receivers with 615 yards and 9-TDs. Linebackers King Mwikuta and Joko Willis lead a defense that’s only giving up 15.4 points per game.
The Canes from Cartersville perhaps have an even more impressive defense, as they are only giving up 5.5 points per game. The Canes have four shutouts on the season. Offensively, Cartersville is averaging a hair under 40 points per game. There are plenty of offensive weapons for the Canes including QB Tee Webb, and running backs Quante Jennings and Marcus Gary. We don’t know if Cartersville can hold the high scoring Troup offense to less than a touchdown. In fact, we think this game is going to be a track meet. We think Troup will finally change the tide of this series and leave Cartersville with a 6-point win in a high scoring game.