This is Part-2 of our Eight Greats Around the State, as we preview eight intriguing Georgia High School Football games throughout the state. Down in Rochelle, Wilcox will host Bleckley County. This game features one of the state’s top linebackers (Martez Thrower – Wilcox County), against one of the nation’s top offensive linemen (Amarius Mims – Bleckley County). Greater Atlanta Christian is coming off a shutout victory last week and will host the Lovett Lions. Can Lovett replace the offensive production at quarterback from a season ago and knock off the rival Spartans?
The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes host the defending Class-A Public Champions, Irwin County. Irwin got the best of Fitzgerald last season; will the Indians return enough firepower to top the Purple Hurricanes again? Finally, the Rabun County Wildcats host the Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines in Tiger on Friday. This game will be nationally televised as it features two of the top quarterback prospects in the country in Gunner Stockton of Rabun County (South Carolina commit) and Brock Vandagriff of Prince Avenue (Georgia commit). This should be a dandy.
As always, thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment and share! Best of luck to all of the teams around the state competing this weekend.
The Skinny
Coach Rob Stowe and the Wilcox County Patriots will kick off their season as they host Bleckley County. Wilcox County is coming of one of their best seasons since 2012. A year ago, the Patriots averaged 35.5 points per game while their defense allowed 13 points per game. They will be replacing some key starters including Desmond Tisdol and Noah Hollingsworth. While The Patriots are breaking in a new quarterback, they do return running back Justin Moore and hard hitting linebacker and Kentucky commit Martez Thrower. We expect to see Thrower line up on both sides of the ball on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Bleckley County knocked off West Laurens last Friday as they scored 27 unanswered pointes to come from behind and earn the victory. Jahvon Butler and Chuckie Stephens combined for 163 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns for the Royals. Bleckley County sports a pair of D-1 prospects along the offensive and defensive line in Amarius Moms and Willie Harris. Both appeared on preseason All-State teams and Mims was also named to the USA Today 2020 All-USA preseason team as well as a member of the AJC Super 11. As with most games, we suspect this one will be won at the line of scrimmage. We give a slight edge to the Royals there. We expect for the Patriots to be competitive this week and expect them to be playing football well into December, but we like Bleckley County this week by a touchdown.
The Skinny
The Greater Atlanta Christian Spartans beat 7A Denmark in the Corky Kell Classic last week to open the season. The Spartans offense was sparked by quarterback Deymon Fleming’s two touchdown passes. He completed passes to six different receivers, with Brooks Miller catching 7 passes for 70 yards. The Spartan defense intercepted six passes last week including 3 from Saiku White. They also forced three fumbles and recovered two for a total of eight takeaways. Greater Atlanta Christian held Denmark to 190 yards of total offense.
The Lovett Lions enter the season needing to replace a lot of experience in the backfield. The Lions graduated their starting quarterback and leading running back from a year ago. The Lions return three of their top four receivers from a year ago in Logan Givens, Collin Goldberg and Charlie Hoke. Lovett also has a future star at offensive line in sophomore Grant Ewing. On defense, the Lions return their top tackler from a year ago, Stevie Bracey. The secondary will be anchored by Collin Goldberg who led the team with 5 interceptions last season. Last year, the Lions averaged 25 passing attempts per game. Not that we expect to see them throw the ball 25 times, but Lovett must be wary of the Spartan secondary. We like Greater Atlanta Christian by 8.
The Skinny
Last week, the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes got their first win over Cairo since 1980. (The two teams have only played five times since the 1980 game.) Chance Gamble made plays all over the field. He lined up on offense at quarterback and scored on a rushing TD, at receiver he caught a touchdown pass. If that wasn’t enough, he returned punts and also blocked a field goal. The Purple Hurricanes defense tightened up in the second half of last week’s game. Limiting Cairo to just a fourth quarter field goal as they hung on for the win.
Meanwhile, the Irwin County Indians are coming off of a state title victory in 2019. A familiar face will be missing from the Irwin County sideline as Coach Buddy Nobles lost his battle with cancer in the offseason. The Indians will also be looking to replace the production of D.J. Lundy, (now playing at Florida State). There should be plenty of offensive weapons for Coach Casey Soliday as Gabriel and Garland Benyard return along with Kam Ward. The Indians will be breaking in a new quarterback and will need to find answers at wide receiver, but there are still reasons for the fans in Ocilla to feel optimistic about this season. Last season, Irwin County blew out Fitzgerald. We expect this game to be closer. We believe Fitzgerald has a slight edge because they do have a game under their belt, but we believe Irwin still have enough talent to compete at a high level. Irwin County by 4.
The Skinny
The Rabun County Wildcats got off to a fast start last week shutting out Ridgeland last week. South Carolina commit Gunner Stockton threw for 153 yards, rushed for 81 and accounted for 4 total TDs in the victory. Lang Windham also added 148 yards and a rushing TD. Stockton completed passes to six different Wildcat receivers with junior Tate Ramey catching two TD passes. The Rabun County defense tallied four sacks and two interceptions as they kept Ridgeland in check.
The Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines also sport a top ranked quarterback, Brock Vandagriff. He led the way for the Wolverines last week in a win over Calvary Day, passing for 246 yards and 4-TDs while rushing for another 93 yards. Vandagriff also completed passes to six different receivers, with Landon Owens catching a team high 5 passes while Logan Johnson recorded a team high 82 yards. Four different Wolverine receivers found paydirt. Defensively, linebacker Davis Ridings lead the team in total tackles and also recorded a sack and an interception. The Wolverines defense intercepted Calvary Day three times in last Friday’s contest. This nationally televised game will feature two of the top quarterbacks in the state. We expect this to be a great duel between both programs. No disrespect to either defense, but we believe the scoreboard operator will be busy up in Tiger on Friday night. This game should be a classic, but we like the home team in a thriller by 3. (Perhaps on a game winning drive with time winding down.)