TFR Week-9 Eight Greats Around the State Part I

The Flowery Branch Falcons will host the Blessed Trinity Titans in the team’s first ever meeting. Blessed Trinity is the defending state champion and has been playing well all season. Their closest margin of victory has been 22 points. In four of their wins, they have held their opponent to one touchdown or less. Steele Chambers has been getting most of the work at running back. He is averaging 9.3 yards per carry, with 632 yards and 15-TDs on the season. Senior quarterback Jake Smith has passed for 883 yards, 6-TDs and no interceptions. His primary target is Ryan Davis, who has caught 21 balls for 346 yards. Defensively, JD Bertrand and Chambers lead the team in tackles.

Flowery Branch got off to a great start and with four games to play, they find themselves with an identical record with Blessed Trinity. The Falcons have had a couple of high scoring performances on offense, scoring 70 points in week one and 69 points last week. Quarterback Elijah Gainey leads the Falcons passing attack. Last week, Gainey passed for 341 yards and 5-TDs. Gainey will need another big performance this week if he and the Falcons are going to upset Blessed Trinity. We think the Falcons will give the Titans some trouble this week, but we like the Titans to hold off the Falcons, Titans by 11.

The Valdosta Wildcats will host the Coffee Trojans on homecoming week. Valdosta quarterback Tate Rodemaker is quickly approaching the 2,000-yard mark on the season. He has also tossed 20-TDs. His primary targets have been sophomore Aalah Brown (29 receptions, 496 yards), Jaheim Bell (23 receptions, 270 yards) and Devonta Berrian (20 receptions, 270 yards). Rajaez Mosley leads the Wildcats in rushing with 494 yards. He has also caught 11 balls out of the backfield.

Coffee will be looking to bounce back after dropping the first region game of the season. The Trojans defense was on a roll until they gave up 30 points to Northside last week. Before last week, Coffee had only given up 33 points all season. AJ Wilkerson has thrown for 803 yards and rushed for 234 yards on the season. The sophomore signal caller has accounted for 12-TDs as well. Josiah Killiebrew leads the Trojans on the ground with 452 yards rushing and 6-TDs. Antonio Dawson has also run for 282 yards and 4-TDs. Sophomore Kenneth Davis leads the team in receptions (16), receiving yards (209) and receiving touchdowns (4). Quinton Flowers is all over the field on defense; he leads the team with 67 total tackles. Fellow linebacker Timothy Landers is second on the team in tackles with 59. With think that this game could develop into a shoot-out. We like the Trojans to go into Valdosta and steal a win this week. Coffee by 2.

Lee County will travel up to Warner Robins this week as they take on region rival Northside. The Lee County Trojans have only given up 16 points total in six games this season. For all of the non “math-letes” That’s an average of 2.6 points per game. The defense has three shutouts to their credit. Quarterback Kyle Toole has passed for 1,064 yards and 14-TDs with no interceptions. Senior RB Shaundarious Kimbrough and sophomore Preston Simmons lead the Trojan run game with a combined 394 yards rushing and 10-TDs on the season. Lee County has several weapons at receiver including Daveon Sanders, Chauncey Magwood, Artavious Warren, Jeremiah Engram and James Hopson.

Northside picked up a big win against Coffee last week. Quarterback Jadin Daniels had a great week against Coffee. On the season the dual threat QB has passed for 865 yards and rushed for a team leading 790 yards. He has accounted for 17-TDs. Eric Smith has helped bolster the running attack chipping in 484 yards and 6-TDs thus far. Senior defensive backs Kentrez Anthony and Tubby McCall combined to pick off 9 passes on the season. We think they will get their chance to add to those totals this week against Lee County. But we believe that Lee finds a way to win. Lee County Trojans by 9.

The Archer Tigers and Grayson Rams will meet on Thursday in a game that should determine the region champion. Archer won a defensive battle last season to lay claim to the region crown. The Tigers have bounced back in a big way since their week 1 loss to Milton. The Archer defense is only giving up 12.6 points per game. They have two shutouts to their credit. Archer’s offense has been clicking on all cylinders as of late. In their 5-game win streak, they are averaging 43.6 points per game.

The Grayson Rams have played a challenging schedule this season. Their two losses came at the hands of Bergen Catholic out of New Jersey and against Colquitt County almost a month ago. Jonathan Halyard leads the Rams in rushing with 602 yards and 5-TDs. J’Kori Jones has passed for 1,118 yards and 10-TDs. The Rams have a plethora of receivers including Ryan King, Kenyon Jackson, Josh Stinson, and Jamal Haynes. Owen Pappoe, one of many top recruits nationally on this Grayson team, leads the Rams in tackles. Kevin Harris leads the team in sacks with 8. The Grayson defense is giving up 19.5 points per game. This has all of the makings of another low scoring defensive battle. We like the Rams this year by a field goal.