By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

The rankings are from the Georgia High School Football Daily composite.
Come back tonight for Central Georgia’s only live running scoreboard, and Saturday morning for Central Georgia’s most complete - names, stats, details - game-night coverage.

Class 4A
Eagle’s Landing Christian, 2-5/2-4, at Jones County, 5-2/4-2
The Greyhounds are one of four teams at 4-2 in region play, having lost those games by all of 5 points. They win the tiebreaker with two (Hampton and Stockbridge). ELCA’s closest loss is by 14 points, to Eagle’s landing last week. Jones County can still play for the top seed in the finale against Locust Grove.

Class 3A

Baldwin, 2-4/1-3, at Hephzibah, 3-4/2-3
Baldwin is in more of a must-win mode than Hephzibah. Both teams have cracked the 50-point margin twice, and both have done it against Cross Creek (57-6 for Hephzibah and 52-6 for Baldwin, three weeks apart). Both have sound defeats by Harlem (41-7 for Hephzibah and 41-18 for Baldwin). The Braves won 57-0 last year for their 10th straight win in the series, but the Rebels were a less competitive 2-8 team.

No. 5 LaGrange, 6-1/4-1, at Mary Persons, 4-2/2-2
Mary Persons rebounded well from a two-game losing streak, but will need its best game of the season against the Grangers, whose lone loss is 23-7 to Sandy Creek. They’re closest win is 12 points to Trinity Christian, who the Bulldogs beat by 22 last week. Mary Persons has only 884 rushing yards, but 18 touchdowns on the ground. CJ Banks and Sam Harrell have teamed for 95 tackles to lead the defense, Jaylen Stokes first with 9 tackles for loss and Jordan Singleton with 5 interceptions. LaGrange leads the series 4-2, winning 41-28 last year.

No. 8 West Laurens, 6-0/4-0, at Richmond Academy, 3-4/3-2
The Musketeers are likely to provide the Raiders with some competition. They have a losing record, but have scored 49 more points than they’ve allowed. They’ve put up at least 43 points in three of their last four games, the wins. West Laurens is 10 points from the eighth-highest point total in school history, with at least four games left (record is 443 in 13 games in 2019). Ty Cummings has 4,771 career yards, 1,326 yards this season. The Raiders rolled 41-6 last year.

CENTRAL GEORGIA’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COVERAGE

This week

🏈 Roundup
🏈 Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
🏈 Maxwell Predictions
🏈 Who’s going to win this week’s games
🏈 Central Georgia state composite rankings
🏈 Central Georgia rankings
🏈 Monday Morning Quarterback: Notes, reviews, Loughdmouthings
🏈 Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

Last week
🏈 Roundup: HS FB roundup: Northeast nipped at Bleckley County; funky night for County of Houston teams; Jones County win in OT, Westfield in the final seconds; FPD wins showdown, Mount de Sales blanks Tattnall
🏈 Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
🏈 Maxwell Predictions
🏈 Who’s going to win this week’s games
🏈 Central Georgia state composite rankings
🏈 Central Georgia rankings
🏈 Monday Morning Quarterback: Notes, reviews, Loughdmouthings
🏈 Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

Two weeks ago
🏈 Roundup: West Laurens’ Cummings was going, going, going, gone; Warner Robins, Stratford stunned, OT thriller for Upson-Lee, East Laurens upsets ACE; who scored 50?
🏈 Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
🏈 Maxwell Predictions
🏈 Who’s going to win this week’s games
🏈 Central Georgia state composite rankings
🏈 Central Georgia rankings
🏈 Monday Morning Quarterback: The Falcons, well, see … nope, no idea; Loughdmouthings galore (Tech unis, SEC schedule, UAB twit, repping Dodge County, more))e
🏈 Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

Class AA
Rutland, 0-6/0-2, at No. 7 Callaway, 5-2/2-0
Rutland is off two rough Fridays, its worst game in a while followed by a 60-27 loss to No. 3 Morgan County, a game that showed some spark. The Hurricanes are looking to build some momentum to get at least one win over remaining opponents Jeff Davis and Westside.

Westside, 1-6/0-2, at Pike County, 3-4/0-2
The final season for head coach Spoon Risper at Westside is turning out to be historic, and not in a good way in any form or fashion. The Seminoles are likely to set a program record for fewest points scored as well as the worst overall and region record. But they lead the series 5-0, winning four by double figures.

Class A/Division I
No. 9 Lamar County, 6-0/2-0, at Utopian Academy, 1-6/0-3
The Trojans’ youngsters will get plenty of action against a team that has been shut out three times this year and give up 150 points in its last three games.

Putnam County, 4-3/2-1, at Towers, 3-3/0-2
The War Eagles can solidify their playoff chances with a win against a team ranked several spots ahead of them in the postseason rankings. Towers is playing for a shot at a first-round home game.

Class A/Division II
Atkinson County, 6-1, at Crawford County, 4-3
The Eagles step out of region play for a quality test, and a good night of execution, win or lose, can steer them in the right direction for huge region games against Taylor County and Chattahoochee County. Crawford County needs at least one win to stay alive for a playoff spot.

Central-Talbotton, 0-4/0-2, at Taylor County, 4-2/2-0
It’s not likely to be a trap game for Taylor County, which is on a four-game winning streak and leads the region alone. The Vikings are eyeing their first region title since 1997-98 when they went 23-3 over those two seasons. Taylor County leads the series 34-7, hasn’t lost since 1995, and has allowed only 61 points in the last 10 meetings.

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Hancock Central, 2-5/0-2, at GMC Prep, 3-4/2-0
GMC is amid its first three-game winning streak since the historic 10-1 season in 2021, and is pretty much a win away from clinching its sixth postseason trip in the last 50 seasons. Hancock Central is in a battle for the final playoff spot, but will be favored in its last two region games.

Telfair County, 2-5/1-2, at Hawkinsville, 4-2/0-2
The Red Devils went from ranked to on the verge of missing the playoffs. The Trojans are in similar straits, and both are one two-game losing streaks. Wilcox County beat Telfair County 35-16 a week before topping Hawkinsville 28-23. The Trojans won 36-14 last year en route to a 9-3 season.

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Twiggs County, 0-7/0-2, at Glascock County, 1-6/0-2
This is the Cobras’ best chance to avoid their fifth winless season this century.

Wilkinson County, 2-5/2-0, at No. 4 Johnson County, 7-0/2-0
On paper, it’s a battle of region contenders, but Johnson County has won three straight region championships. The Trojans haven’t lost a 5-A/II game since the region started, a span of 17 games. But the last two wins over Wilkinson County have been by 20-12 and 21-12.

GIAA
Class 4A/3A
John Milledge, 5-1/1-0, at FPD, 6-2/2-0
The Trojans come to town with above-average late-season health, which the Vikings can’t quite claim. The winner can claim the “region title” but since both are in different playoff classifications and that title has no impact, they both have an eye on weeks from now and the postseason.

Piedmont, 4-2/1-2, at Riverside Prep, 2-5/0-4
The sixth-place Cougars haven’t lost two straight all season, and need wins to squeeze into the AAA playoffs. They’re rebounding from a 27-0 loss to George Walton to end a four-game homestand. Piedmont won 34-6 last year.

Tattnall, 0-7/0-1, at Stratford, 5-2/0-2
The Eagles are amid a two-game losing streak, as well as a another week of practice that wasn’t as smooth as hoped for. The largest margin in the series, which Tattnall leads 33-26, is Stratford’s 45-0 win in the 1993 quarterfinals. The Eagles will work on some things on offense, but without WR/DB Jett Johnston, who suffered a high ankle sprain last week in the 21-10 loss to FPD. RB Tyler Stephens has 1,155 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns for the Eagles.

Westfield, 5-2/1-0, at Calvary Christian, 5-2/0-2
The Hornets have responded well to a two-game losing streak, knocking off FPD, Pinewood, and Strong Rock. Westfield rolled Calvary Christian 41-0 a year ago, part of CC’s 1-9 season.

Class AA
Briarwood, 4-3/1-1, at Gatewood, 3-4/2-0
The Gators are back on track with a three-game winning straek, while the Buccanneers have lost three of their last four.

Heritage-Newnan, 1-6, at Central Fellowship, 3-4/0-1
CFCA is on a win-loss-win-loss-win stretch it’ll try to fix against Heritage, which is hitting something of a stride on offense.

Trinity Christian, 5-2, at Southland, 5-2
TCS lost multi-position standout Wade Register during last week’s 27-14 upset by Central Fellowship. Southland is riding a five-game winning streak, four of the wins by at least 22 points.

Windsor, 2-5, at Flint River, 4-2/1-0
Flint River rolled 48-7 in last year’s meeting en route to a 9-1 season. Windsor has three games to top last year’s win total of three.

8-man

Grace Christian at Covenant

John Hancock at St. Mary’s