In Part II of our Week-9 preview of GHSA football, we preview four more games involving teams at or near the top in their region. The Elbert County Blue Devils will travel to take on the red-hot Rabun County Tigers…Next we head to Central Georgia to preview the Washington County-Dodge County matchup. Dodge County will be looking to bounce back from last weeks loss while Washington County is looking to stay unbeaten…Westminster and Cedar Grove look to lay claim to sole possession of first place in a Region 5-3A…Finally, we check in down in the City of Roses as Thomasville hosts the Warner Robins Demons. The Jackets have improved their win total from last season, but will need a solid defensive performance to derail the pass-happy Demons.
Please feel free to share and comment. Thanks for reading!
Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Rabun County Tigers will host the Elbert County Blues Devils this week in a pivotal Region 8-2A matchup . Elbert County is coming off of a tough one point loss to Union County two weeks ago and will have another tough test as the Tigers come calling. The Elbert County defense has been pretty stingy, giving up just over 15 points per game thus far. DJ Ardister and Shun Allen have been stalwarts for the offense. Ardister is a crafty quarterback and Allen is tough to bring down once he gets going.
Rabun County has reeled off five straight wins since their week one loss to Class AA newcomer Bremen. They are led by freshmen QB Gunner Stockton who has passed for over 1,200 yards and 13-TDs. Stockton is also a threat to run and is second on the team in rushing with 376 yards. Brison Beck leads the way on the ground with 591 yards rushing and 7-TDs. Stockton’s primary receiving targets are Austin Jones (24 receptions, 469 yards, 5-TDs) and Braxton Hicks (18 receptions, 270 yards, 4-TDs). Rabun is averaging 42.6 points per game. We don’t think they will get to 42, but we do expect them to outlast Elberton…Tigers by 13.
The Skinny
The Dodge County Indians will look to get back on track this week as they host the Washington County Golden Hawks. Prior to last week, the Indians had only given up 76 points on the season. There is still a lot to play for this week. RJ Carr and Erin Pitts will again be called on to lead Dodge County this week. Pitts has rushed for 547 yards and 6-TDs while Carr has rushed for 559 yards and 9-TDs.
Washington County comes in the game undefeated they are 6-0 for the first time since 2014, when they lost in the state title game. The Golden Hawks are averaging 42.6 points per game while the defense is holding opponents to 16.6 points per game. That defense is led by the likes of Dyquan Bloodsaw, Preston Daniels and Jawan Dukes. The winner of this game will more than likely have an opportunity to host at least a first round home playoff game come November. We like the War Hawks by a touchdown on the road this week.
The Skinny
The Cedar Grove Saints will travel to Westminster to take on the host Westminster Wildcats. Both Cedar Grove and Westminster are the only remaining unbeatens in region 5-3A. Most of the attention for Cedar Grove has gone to Jadon Haselwood, and deservedly so. Haselwood is by many accounts the top recruit in the state. But the Saints defense has also been a nice story this season. They have recorded 4 shutouts and are giving up an average of 8.7 points per game. Their only loss was to 7A McEachern.
Westminster started the season with two big wins over Woodward Academy and Greater Atlanta Christian. Then dropped their next two games to a couple of 4A powers. The Wildcats are back in track with consecutive wins but have a tall task in front of them on Friday night. The Wildcats are averaging 26 points per game, but can they keep up with the scoring of Cedar Grove. We think it will take more than 26 points for Westminster to get the win this week. But we just don’t think they’ll get there against the Saints. We like Cedar Grove by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets will host one of the Warner Robins Demons on Friday night. Coach Ashley Henderson has reversed some of the Yellow Jackets misfortunes from last season. The team has already bested last year’s 3 wins as they sit at 5-1 coming into this week. Quarterback Adam Tedder has passed for 655 yards and 9-TDs, while senior running back Quay Edwards has rushed for 483 yards and 6-TDs. Dee Wyche leads the receivers with 20 receptions and 254 yards. The Jackets defense is only giving up 14.3 points per game.
Warner Robins has been scoring points in bunches this season. In their six wins, they are averaging 38.2 points per game. As expected most of the damage has been done through the air with QB Dylan Fromm passing for 2,272 yards and 25-TDs. Fromm’s top target this season has been Marcayll Jones. Jones has 47 receptions and 1,084 yards. Jahlen Rutherford leads the team in rushing yards with 606. The Demons defense is giving up an average of 25.5 points per game, so perhaps this game might be a little higher scoring than one would expect; especially with the improvements of TCC this season. We still believe that Warner Robins is the class of this region. We like the Demons by a touchdown on the road this week.