This is Part II of our GHSA Football Previews called Eight Greats Around The State. As we mentioned in Part-I, a lot is at stake this week as the region picture starts to become clearer as we enter the final stretch of the regular season. Our first preview features Irwin County versus Wilcox County. The Indians have not lost a regular season region game since 2016. The Patriots are a formidable opponent, but can they derail the Indians perfect season? In Region 2-2A, Kade Youmans, the defending region player of the year, leads the Swainsboro Tigers into Vidalia with a chance to get one step closer to repeating as region champs. But don’t expect the Indians to just lay down for Swainsboro. Vidalia has a pretty stingy defense, but will it be enough this week? The Marist War Eagles go on the road to take on Flowery Branch. The War Eagles are in the middle of a 3 game gauntlet in which they face the top teams in the region. They will have their hands full with the Flowery Branch rushing attack. But can the Falcons defense keep the War Eagles in check? Finally, the Jefferson Dragons are looking to stay in sole possession of 1st place in Region 8-3A. Monroe Area got the best of Jefferson last season, but the Dragons are red hot and don’t show any signs of slowing down. Will the Dragons get revenge this week? As always, please feel free to share and comment.
Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
Irwin County and Wilcox County face off for the 28th time this Friday night down in Ocilla. This series has been one of streaks and currently Irwin County has a six game win streak over Wilcox. The Indians might boast one of the best backfields in the state. Players such as Kam Ward, Gabriel Benyard and Garland Benyard have picked up the slack during DJ Lundy’s absence. However, with the return of Lundy, this group is looking like a team of destiny. The defense has only surrendered 22 points all season, with three shutouts. That’s an average of 3.6 points per game. Yikes!!!
The Wilcox County Patriots represent the biggest test for Irwin County left in the season. The Patriots come into the game with only one loss, a 6-point setback to Clinch County. (A game that Wilcox lead by 12 points at one point.) They are led by Desmond Tisdol, who makes just as many plays on offense as he does on defense. Quarterback Noah Hollingsworth is not a one trick pony, as he can beat the defense with his arm and his legs making the Patriots much more challenging to gameplan for. The Patriots are allowing 9 points per game themselves with four shutouts to their credit. We definitely expect this game to be closer than last year’s matchup. But we think Irwin County is just too deep. We like the Indians by two touchdowns at home.
The Skinny
The Swainsboro Tigers and Vidalia Indians will meet for the 74th time this Friday night. The teams first met back in 1925. Last year, the Tigers edged the Indians and claimed their first region title since 2010. Vidalia dropped their first game of the season to 3A Appling County, but since then has won six straight. They are averaging 25.4 points per game on offense and allowing 13.4 points per game on defense.
The Swainsboro Tigers are also riding high coming into this week. The only blemish on their record was a Week-3 setback to Dublin. In the 5 games since that loss, Swainsboro has outscored their opponents 194-26. Swainsboro has been pretty balanced on offense this season. Kade Youmans has passed for 1,186 yards and 17-TDs, while the team has rushed for almost 1,200 yards on the season. The Tigers are averaging 34.8 points per game on offense while the defense is allowing 10.7 points. We have a feeling this game will be low scoring with two stingy defenses going toe to toe. We like Swainsboro to edge Vidalia this week by 4, perhaps with some late game heroics by the defending region player of the year.
The Skinny
The Marist War Eagles will travel to Flowery Branch to take on the Flowery Branch Falcons. This might be one of the toughest regions in Class AAAA with the likes of these two teams, Blessed Trinity and Denmark sitting atop the region. Flowery Branch was edged last week in overtime by Blessed Trinity. We have mentioned before how the Falcons have had to reinvent themselves after losing starting quarterback Elijah Gainey in the scrimmage back in August. The Falcons boast one of the best defenses in the region, allowing only 9.7 points per game, while averaging 33.1 points per game on offense. Jaizen Ellingham has been the bellcow for the offense, rushing for over 670 yards and 12-TDs.
Meanwhile the War Eagles are again looking like a serious contender for the state title this season. Under coach Allen Chadwick, the War Eagles have not missed the postseason. Connor Cigelske led the way again in last week’s victory with 121 yards passing, 135 yards rushing and 1-TD. Lincoln Parker added two rushing TDs as well along with 73 rushing yards. The Marist defense is allowing only 7.7 points per game with 3 shutouts to their credit. Last week, they kept the high-flying Denmark Danes in check and even scored a defensive touchdown. That’s enough to convince us that Marist should win this game convincingly. We like the War Eagles by 17.
The Skinny
The Jefferson Dragons are looking for their first region title in 3 years. Standing in their way is last season’s region champ, the Monroe Area Hurricanes. The Canes dropped a region game to Morgan County, so this is a must win for them to force a three-way tie atop the region. They are lead by dual threat quarterback Selation Straughter Jr. who has passed for 1,141 yards, rushed for 621 yards and accounted for 13-TDs. Danarius Hendricks leads the Canes in receiving with 30 receptions for 446 yards. Monroe Area is averaging just over 28 points per game, while the defense is allowing only 12.8 points per game.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson Dragons seem like a team on a mission. After falling to 4A Oconee County in week one by 1-point, the Dragons have reeled off six straight wins. Only one of those has been close. ( A 5-point victory over Hart County.) In region play, the Dragons are averaging 54.7 points per game, while their defense is allowing only 12 points per game. The Dragons have done most of their damage on the ground. Malaki Starks leads the team in rushing with 436 yards and 5-TDs, but quarterback Colby Clark has also rushed for 434 yards, passed for 373 and has accounted for 17-TDs. As a team, the Dragons have rushed for over 2,400 yards. We believe Monroe Area will get points on the board this week, but not enough to outscore Jefferson. We like the Dragons by 13.