Friday night's Central Georgia high school football roundup: Upsets, first wins as head coach, blowouts, a full night (Saturday final)
Teams: send info to centralgasports@gmail.com by or 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
More to come when you visit first thing in the morning, and with additional info added for the final noon update.
6A
Crisp County 12, Houston County 0
The Cougars scored late in the first quarter, and made it hold up with their second straight shutout. It was the first time the Bears were held scoreless since losing 45-0 to Lee County on Oct. 26, 2018.
5A
Warner Robins 42, Archer 7
Jalen Addie threw for two touchdowns, caught a scoring pass and ran it in for one as the Demons (No. 1/5A) stormed out to a 35-0 halftime lead over the No. 10 team in Class 7A. Archer broke the shutout in the third quarter.
North Gwinnett 44, Jones County 21
The hosts were upset-minded, leading 14-7 after one and 21-9 in the third quarter, only for North Gwinnett (No. 5/7A) to storm back with 35 straight points, including a score in the final minute. The Greyhounds are 0-2 for the first time since 20-16, although one loss was a forfeit. Itâs the first âpureâ 0-2 start since 2011, but also the toughest back-to-back opponents in decades, if not the toughest in program history.
Veterans 35, West Laurens 0
The Warhawks more than clicked, especially on defense, handing the Raiders their worst loss since 42-13 at Mary Persons on Oct. 19, 2018. It was the second shutout in three games for West Laurens, which ended the season losing 31-0 to Blessed Trinity in a 4A quarterfinal.
4A
Harris County 14, Perry 10
Harris County pulled ahead on a short TD run with just over two minutes left, and Perry took over on its 20. Lane Rucker marched the Panthers downfield, converting on two fourth downs along the way. But Harris County brought the pressure and sacked Rucker on fourth and goal from the 9 on the final play.
3A
Mary Persons 26, McDonough 9
Northside 14, Peach County 7
The Eagles pulled off the upset to give Chad Alligood his first win as head coach, Northside surviving its mistakes better than Peach County survived its mistakes. The rebuilding Trojans, who lost a slew of seniors last year, managed just 130 yards in total offense, on nine fewer snaps. Jaylen Cephus went in from the 4 early in the second for the Eagles, who added to the lead midway through the third on Elijiah Robinsonâs 11-yard pass to Brayden Smith. The lead was cut in half with 5:34 left in the game on a 9-yard scoring pass, and then the Trojans were unable to convert a fourth down inside the final minute, ending a threat. A penalty on the drive nullified a long run that put Peach County close to the goal line. Robinson passed for 127 yards and Cephus ran for 61 on 20 tries, Justin Luke catching four passes for 110 yards. Sophomore QB Christian Martin was 15 of 29 for 128 yards,
AA
Wilcox County 21, Bleckley County 20
The Patriots scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass with less than 30 seconds left in the game to pull within one, and added a conversion run to win it. The Royals took a 20-13 lead on a 19-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. Bleckley County was prevented from going 2-0 for the first time since 2006.
Lamar County 49, Crawford County 3
The Trojans are 2-0 for the second straight year, and hadnât scored 40 or more in consecutive games since 2014 (41-27 over Ola and 45-0 over Alcovy), an 8-3-1 season. The game was called with 7:52 left because of lightning. The Eagles took a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, and were only down 14-3 after one. But it was 35-3 at halftime, the Trojans getting four touchdown runs from CJ Allen (2, 52, 17, and 6 yards).JuâCorie Zellner took a screen pass 93 yards for another first-half touchdown.
Dodge County 33, Dublin 20
The Indians broke a six-game losing streak to their former region mates, never trailing and taking the lead for good in the second quarter on a short run and then extending it shortly after that with a long fumble return for a touchdown. Markelle Mitchellâs 52-yard run pulled Dublin within 19-14 late in the second quarter, but a pick-6 that covered nearly the entire field put the Indians up 26-14 a few minutes into the third quarter. A 45-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth put Dodge County up 33-14.
Johnson County 26, East Laurens 0
Putnam County 5, Morgan County 2, OT
Senior Jose Hernandez drilled a 31-yarder in overtime to give the War Eagles the win in the odd game of safeties, and turnovers â Morgan County had nine. Putnam Countyâs first points came only a few minutes into the game, and Morgan County âansweredâ with a safety with less than six minutes left in regulation.
Swainsboro 20, Washington County 14
The game came together on Wednesday when both opponents had COVID-19 issues. And the teams will play again in two weeks at Swainsboro. A safety early in the third put Swainsboro up 14-7, the Golden Hawks tying it with about five minutes left on Dontavius Braswellâs 11-ayrd run. The visitors scored with less than a minute left to win it.
A
gMC 34, Central Talbotton 0
The Bulldogs went from being shut out to shutting out, racking up their first blanking since last yearâs opener, 21-0 over Glascock County, It was their highest point total since thumping ACE 63-0 early in 2018. GMC outgained Central 324-52, and got two touchdown runs and an interception return for a touchdown from Jackson Miller, while QB Tyler Saunders had two touchdown passes.
George Walton 21, Stratford 17
Stratford scored a few minutes in, but the visitors tied it four minutes later. James Michael Reevesâs field goal returned the lead to Stratford for a bit, and the hosts were up 17-14 until the Bulldogs took the lead for good with 1:24 left in the third.
Wesleyan 24, Mount de Sales 0
The Cavs were shut out for the first time since 47-0 to Tattnall on Oct. 7, 2016, falling on the road to an A Private contender.
Pike County at Taylor County, ppd
Tattnall 7, Hawkinsville 3
Hawkinsville got on the board in the final seconds of the third quarter only for the visiting Trojans to break the hosts hearts with a touchdown with 2:20 left in the game. An interception by Justin Walton then sealed the win for head coach John Garrett Abernathy in his Tattnall and head coaching debut.
GISA
John Milledge 43, Brentwood 7
The defending GISA 3A champs put it away early, with a pair of 20-point quarters to get going. They did it without standout RB Amaad Foston, banged up since August with a leg injury. A picture-perfect 70-yard touchdown pass from Grayson Hopkins to Patrick McDonel. Hopkins connected with Marcus Prestwood on another scoring pass soon after.
Gatewood 35, Edmund Burke 0
A 21-point third quarter put it away for the Gators.
Piedmont 40, Central Christian 22
Westfield 35, Trinity Christian 7
A pair of Gavin Vining TD runs gave the Hornets a 14-0 halftime lead, but Westfield scored three times in the third quarter to seal the first win for new head coach Rob Fitzpatrick. TCSâs Sam Johnson returning the second-half kickoff 78 yards woke up the Hornets, who got scoring runs from Cameron Kalmbach and Coleman Williams plus a fumble return for six by Williams in less than four minutes. Westfield outgained TCS 382-119 on offense, all of the Hornets yards coming on the ground. Williams had 96 yards on nine carries, one of four rushers with more than 50 yards. JB Beardon and Brady Greer led the defense.
GAPPS
Fullington vs. Flint River