By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

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.

🏈 🏈 🏈GIAA 🏈 🏈 🏈
Championships
Friday

7:30 p.m., Class AAA: 1. John Milledge, 11-1 vs. 2. Deerfield-Windsor, 12-0

The battle of the last two state champs features a pair of playmaking quarterbacks, defenses with impact players on all three levels, and sound fundamentals. John Millege’s challenge is keeping D-W quarterback Lance Sceals from having an average game of 245 yards, and almost three touchdowns.

GIAA scouting reports on the AA and AAAA games coming Saturday with stories on both games

🏈 🏈 🏈GHSA 🏈 🏈 🏈
Included: Region/region finish or PSR ranking, and rankings from Georgia HS Football Daily composites, through regular season

Second Round
Friday

Class 5A
2/2 No. 5 Houston County, 10-1, at 5/1 No. 7 Rome, 9-2
The Bears are looking for a program playoff win, and will travel about 170 miles to get it. Houston County has been knocked out by AJC No. 1, No. 10, and No. 4 the past three seasons, twice in this round. Rome has been a so-so playoff team since it finished a 15-0 season in 2017 with a 38-0 win over Warner Robins at McConnell-Talbert in the finale. The Wolves lost 35-7 to Thomas County Central in last year’s second round. Both teams have cracked 50, so clutch fundamental defense and a patient offense that avoids bad turnovers is the key.

CENTRAL GEORGIA’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COVERAGE

This week
🏈 GIAA AAA championship: John Milledge back where it expects to be, going for another trophy
🏈 Maxwell Predictions
🏈 Who’s going to win this week’s gamez?
🏈 Monday Morning Quarterback: There’s a plug or 10 at Flowery Branch that need to be pulled, including in the executive office; Surprises, Loughdmouthings
🏈 Macon Touchdown Club players of the week: Northeast trio
Last week
🏈 Roundup: Lamar County stunned at home; West Laurens, Peach County cruise, Dublin takes region rematch, Hawkinsville holds on; Stratford, John Milledge, Brentwood are GIAA championship game-bound
🏈 Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
🏈 Maxwell Predictions
🏈 Who’s going to win this week’s games
🏈 Monday Morning Quarterback: Worry about coaching candidates a waste of tiem for a month; Loughdmouthings
🏈 Macon Touchdown Club players of the week
🏈 GHSA/GIAA football playoff master

Two weeks ago
🏈 Roundup: High seeds Stratford, FPD, John Milledge, Westfield, Brentwood win by 39.6 points
🏈 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
🏈 GHSA GIAA playoff master schedule/results
🏈 Central Georgia rankings
🏈 First HS football coaching casualty of 2025: Central's Laws on-field successes minimal, but off-field progress notable
🏈 Monday Morning Quarterback: Whoopdeo do, the first college rankings are out, which means a big “soooo what”; Good stat stuff/surprises; Loughdmouthings
🏈 Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

Class 4A
1/2 Warner Robins, 7-4, at 7/1 No. 3 Cartersville, 11-0
The Demons were left for dead after a 61-0 loss at Benedictine followed a 32-10 upset loss to Wayne County, but they’ve gutted out three straight wins, including surprising Ware County 48-44 and then Eastside in the playoff opener. Cartersville quarterback Nate Russell passes for 213.7 yards a game, and will be the focal point of a Demon defense that is off a solid effort in holding Eastside to 14 points.

Class AAA
20. Oconee County at 4. No. 8 West Laurens, 11-0
The Warriors are playing with some house money after winning last week on a 30-yard field goal in the final 10 seconds. They’ll go from a quarterback who passed for nearly 350 yards to a rush attack that averages 330 yards a game. West Laurens showed more balance than usual last week in cruising, taking care of business well in its first home playoff game in awhile. Ty Cummings is 258 yards from 2,500 for the season.

12. No. 6T Peach County, 10-1, at 5. No. 9 Jenkins, 10-1
The Trojans and Warriors are pretty even teams, as noted by the GHSFD composite rankings as opposed to the PSR list. Jenkins hasn’t been challenged much, but had to gut out a 50-45 win to 28th-seeded Whitewater last week, surviving despite 211 passing yards and 257 rushing yards. QB Demetrius Holloway Jr. was 11 of 13 last week and rushed for 101 yards, so the Peach County defense, which has allowed 38, 34, and 28 points in its last three games, has a challenge.

Class A/Division I
12. No. 6 Swainsboro at 4. No. 4 Northeast, 9-2
The run-happy Raiders rolled to a 46-7 win over the Tigers in last year’s first round, and now are more balanced, especially with QB Jordan Wiggins (clavicle, possible return for a state championship date) out and Bam Glover back in charge. The teams are pretty balanced on offense, but Northeast’s D is giving up only 7.6 poitns a game to 22.2 for Swainsboro. The Tigers might have an advantage in a full 48-minute game, since Northeast hasn’t been challenged much in the last six weeks (14-13 loss to Bleckley County and sloppy 29-8 win over East Laurens).

Tell people where the most high school football coverage in Central Georgia is. Names, details, stats=coverage

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Tell people where the most high school football coverage in Central Georgia is. Names, details, stats=coverage 〰️

10. Pepperell, 7-4, at 7. Jasper County, 10-1
The Hurricanes showed no nerves last week in rolling over Gordon Central 44-13, upping their scoring margin to 22.1 points. Other than the 20-7 loss to now-sitting-home Lamar County in Game 10, the Hurricanes haven’t been challenged much, while are consistent, averaging 34.6 points a game, while the Dragons have been in seven games of 14 points or less the difference. Chance Ross went for 178 yards on 15 carries last week, and Jasper County’s defense gave up only 107 rushing yards, but 182 through the air, countered by three interceptions.

9. No. 7 Fitzgerald, 8-3, at 8. No. 9 Dublin, 9-2
This is the 23rd meeting between the powers, and Fitzgerald is one of the few teams that can brag about having a winning record against Dublin and Roger Holmes, who amazingly is only 1-3. But they haven’t played since Fitzgerald’s 42-7 first-round win in 2016. This game won’t take long as two teams run, run, run at each other. Dublin’s depth in the backfield is likely the difference, but neither team can afford a late turnover or defensive lapse in a game where possessions are more meaningful than usual.

14. No. 10 Bleckley County, 9-2, at 3 No. 1 Worth County, 11-0
This is rare air for Worth County, which was 0-10 only back in 2017 and went to the quarterfinals last year, losing 42-38 at home to Fitzgerald, which had survived Bleckely county 28-24 a week earlier and then went on to lose at Northeast a week later. The teams are similiarly balanced, and get more yards passing than running. Joshua Stanley has 6 interceptions for Bleckley County, which has 40 sacks.

Class A/Division II
4/2 Hawkinsville, 9-2, at 8/1 No. 1 Lincoln County, 11-0
The Red Devils righted things nicely after a mid-season two-game losing streak, but have given up a few more points each week since then, from 0, to 7, 14, and 21. Odds are that trend will continue against a team averaging 43.3 points a game, one that scored 37 against No. 7 and 45 against a top-10 team from South Carolina. Lincoln County QB Mekhi Wade has passed for 468 yards and rushed for 330, with 11 rushing TDs and 8 passing. The Red Devils have won 11 games for the second straight season, which hasn’t happened for more than a decade.