Monday Morning Quarterback: polls, Central Georgians top state stats, who makes the Dome this year? Where do area teams rank statewide?
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Updated after Monday night’s games, swapping No. 4 Washington County and No. 5 Dodge County after the Indians’ 20-6 win over the Golden Hawks.
Top 5
Division I
1.Warner Robins
Warner Robins has scored 40 points or more in six games this year and in nine of the last 16 games, and is averaging 40.4 points a game.
2. Northside
Lee County held on in its toughest test of the year, last Friday at The Mac. It was a 10-point game for 17 minutes in the second half.
3. Jones County
A week off after a tough loss to Dutchtown should have the Greyhound ready to take care of the next two games and perhaps play for a region title against Stockbridge on Nov. 2.
4. Mary Persons
All of Region 2-4A was off.
5. Howard
And Howard is in 2-4A. They stay at No. 5, a smidge ahead of Veterans.
Top 10
Division II (3A-2A-A-other)
(Will be updated after Monday’s Washington County-Dodge County and Crawford County-Dooly County games)
1. Peach County
The Trojans set a team record for points in a half in the rout of Rutland.
2. Westside
After dispensing this week with Kendrick, things get interesting for the Seminoles with Pike County and Peach County.
3. Dublin
The Irish took all the suspense out of a trip to Macon against Southwest, handing the Patriots their first same-classification shutout since Oct. 21, 2016 (WACO, 21-0).
4. Washington County
The delay may get the Golden Hawks a little anxious, but a Monday game is likely to hurt the home crowd tonight at Dodge County.
5. Dodge County
An extra few days may allow the Indians to get healthier in the backfield, which they’ll need against Washington County, which can start a scorefest. And the atmosphere will doubtfully be near what it would have been on Friday night.
(After the WACO-Dodge game:
4. Dodge County
That was a quality response at home, especially by the defense in holding the Golden Hawks to six points.
5. Washington County
No longer undefeated, the Golden Hawks may find things to fix that are of greater benefit in the big picture.
6. Dooly County
The Bobcats take on a team Monday night struggling on defense, and then have Taylor County on Friday.
7. Tattnall
A high quality win, and one that ended Mount de Sales undefeated season and got the on-a-roll Trojans into the playoff picture.
8. Mount de Sales
First loss aside, the Cavs are still on pace for their most wins since 2011. Now, to respond to that loss.
9. John Milledge
JMA just keeps on keepin’ on, dispatching of a decent GICAA team.
10. Hancock Central
Aquinas hasn’t been pushed much this year, and Hancock Central pushed, with its best outing against Aquinas since winning in 2006.
MMQB
Around Central Georgia
Superb stats
Central Georgians are doing quite the job maintaining their stats status among the state leaders, with No. 1 and 5 in passing yards, No. 1 in receiving yards, No. 5 in total points, No. 4 in total TDs.
Again, all MaxPreps stat “rankings” aren’t 100 percent legitimate because of the large number of schools that don’t input stats, in Central Georgia and throughout the state, as well as nationally, and teams that are slow to update stats on the site.
Of the 40-ish GHSA and GISA schools covered by The Sports Report, about half put in no stats to MaxPreps or do so sporadically.
Nevertheless, Central Georgia is all over the stats, and in the top 20.
Warner Robins’ Marcayll Jones has a big lead in receiving yards with 1,318, which has him second nationally. His 54 receptions are third in the state.. The odd stat? He only has two TD catches of the 28 thrown by QB Dylan Fromm.
Perry’s Davion Ross is seventh with 721 yards, on 47 catches, which is fifth.
Passing yards: 1. Dylan Fromm, Warner Robins, 2,606; 5. Lane Rucker, Perry, 2067; 18. J.T. Hartage, Mary Persons, 1,440; 19. Hunter Costlow, Jones County, 1,429. Of those four, Hartage is first with a 70.4 percent completion rate.
MaxPreps doesn’t have a tight enough minimum to adequately list completion percentages in order, stating leaders must play in at least two games, so scores of players who have completed their only one or two passes get ranked.
Fromm is first with 28 touchdown passes and Costlow 12th with 19.
The area is lean in rushing yards, not surprisingly, with teams either throwing the ball or running an offense with multiple ball-carrying options.
Mary Persons’ Quen Wilson is 30th with 845 yards, and he’s fourth in total touchdowns and fifth in total points. The only other truly safe bets to get 1,000 yards on the ground in the regular season are Westside’s Tyshaun Freeman (No. 37, 821 yards), Northside’s Jadin Daniels (No. 42, 790), and perhaps Bleckley County’s Nykeem Farrow (No. 44, 782).
Defensive stats are harder to come by, naturally, with even less input.
Jones County’s Britton Jones is 22nd with 82 tackles, and teammate Ja’Darien Boykin is 30th with seven sacks. Dooly County’s Malik Burns is ninth with 19 tackles for loss.
Interceptions are what they are, many players having the same number. Wesleyan’s Trent Bartley is the only player with seven. Northside’s Kentrez Anthony is in the group with five, while Howard’s Lorenzo Hargrove, Mary Persons’ Desmond Williams, Northside’s Tubby McCall, and Northeast’s JaCoby Hill and D’Icey Hopkins all have four.
Looking to the state championship?
Only a few Central Georgia teams each year are legitimate candidates to make The Dome (and hey, the finals are still in the state’s dome).
This year, things are pretty lean for a change.
Peach County and Warner Robins made it last year, and odds are against a repeat. Both lost superb kickers, although Peach County has somewhat replaced Mitchell Fineran. Special teams in general have been a regular hiccup for Warner Robins, which owes the kicking game – and Eli Mashburn – as much as anything for last year’s dream season.
Hiccups in special teams catch up with you in a big hurry in the postseason.
All of the area’s higher-ranked teams have fairly clear issues that get in the way, and that’s not counting how the brackets will fall and what opponents – in some cases, yes, private and open-enrollment schools – are in the way.
The Demons are big on offense, good on defense, but iffy in that third area. And, of course, there’s that season-ending game we didn’t think would be that huge. Now, that game at The Mac with Veterans could have mammoth seeding implications.
Northside as a second or third seed could get two wins – and you hate to say “easily” but the Eagles could romp - but the question then is if the offense can do enough to pull off a third-round upset. In that balanced region, they could finish second, third, or fourth.
Mary Persons has the offense and special teams, but defense is the question mark. But the Bulldogs have done well against the pass with Peach County and Upson-Lee. The defense will have to win a game or two, so to speak, in the postseason for a serious Dome run.
Peach County’s passing game is up to par, but the Trojans’ ground attack isn’t near what it usually is, and playing keepaway is big in the playoffs.
A nonexistent passing game will do in Washington County, Dublin, and Dodge County. Dublin, however, is most likely to find an air attack, but the Irish will have to find some confidence by passing successfully against a playoff-caliber team, starting this week with Northeast and very much so against Washington County.
There’s not a Class A team, public or private, in Central Georgia that’s a safe bet to get far, since odds are against anybody finishing in the top eight in the rankings and getting a bye. Outside of Mount de Sales and probably Dooly County, the area Class A playoff teams will be on the road for the first round.
Still undefeated
Mount de Sales fell to Tattnall, leaving Mary Persons, Washington County, and John Milledge left.
Still looking
Twiggs County and Rutland don’t have many chances left.
How does Central Georgia fare statewide?
The Maxwell Ratings uses pretty much only a computer program for its rankings and predictions each week. It doesn’t know about injuries, players, coaches, certain home-field advantages, etc. It’s part of www.ghsfh.org.
So, what is Central Georgia’s top 10 last week based on those rankings?
(422 schools listed, overall ranking and rating included, and what last week’s ranking was is to the right)
13. Warner Robins 77.01 13
15. Mary Persons 73.93 14
29. Jones County 67.42 29
38. Peach County 64.05 38
39. Northside 63.65 36
52.Dublin 58.48 63
61. Washington Co. 56.97 64
66. Dodge County 55.69 70
71. Veterans 54.66 80
93. Upson-Lee 50.50 96
97. Howard 50.34 93
100. West Laurens 50.05 98
115. Baldwin 47.42 136
125. Westside 45.16 125
145. Perry 41.98 146
159. Houston County 38.76 166
223. Southwest 30.09 215
231. Northeast 29.44 223
235. Central 28.57 231
236. Bleckley County 28.19 250