By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

The top running back in Bibb County public school history is gone.

One of the top five running backs in Bibb County public school history is gone.

All-state picks on the offensive line and linebacker? Ditto.

A few transfers here there? Overcoming a winless season?

And the final season for the dean of local coaches?

There were indeed a few storylines Tuesday night at the Bibb County Public School Media Day at the Harry Thompson Complex on Shurling Drive.

Northeast is carrying the county banner, coming off a 12-3 season, record crowd at home against Fitzgerald in the semifinal, and a trip to the GHSA Class A/Division I state championship game.

That was then, with record-setting running back Nick Woodford leading the way for a Raiders team that was, in fact, about more than just his exploits.

This is now, and defense may lead the way.

“We’re returning a lot of guys,” head coach Jeremy Wiggins said. “We got a lot of experience last year. I would put a lot of my money on my defense to be real good at it.”

Tuesday was also the first time the county shared information on its Gridiron Classic, in its second year and moving from Fort Valley State to Thompson Stadium.

Central faces Dougherty and Bleckley County takes on Rutland at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14, with Southwest facing Macon County and Westside taking on Howard at the same times on Friday, Aug. 15.

It led to Howard head coach Trey Porter keeping a little mum, with Westside head coach Spoon Risper 15 feet away.

“There’s new faces,” Porter said. “My appointment for Week One is here, so I can’t say everything.”

**Bam Glover says “shhh” to a question about what positions he’ll play**
*Photo/videos: Michael A. Lough/Central Georgia Sports Report*

The two had a battle a year ago at FVSU in Porter’s debut amid a weekend of wretched weather, games delayed by hours because of lightning.

Howard won’t have to deal with Westside’s KD Iverson, who scored the winning touchdown in overtime and ran for 237 yards.

And the Huskies will be a steadier team this year, for a variety of reasons, one being that his team will be more prepared for some complex philosophies.

“I didn't dumb down a lot because with high school kids is about operation,” said Porter, who has a chunk of college experience. “I came from the college level, and I wasn't going to water it down for them. So, those guys being able to learn that system, now they’re in it for another year, (so) that's going to be a big improvement.”

Having a full staff will make a big difference, too.

It’s the beginning of the end at Westside for Risper, who announced last month that his 17th year as the Seminoles’ head coach would be his last. But he was talking only about football, and life without Iverson, who cracked the 2,000-yard mark last year.

“We used to be super balanced for the last, say, 10 years,” Risper said. “We always averaged about 1,900 yards rushing, 2,000 yards passing. We don't have Kadarius anymore, so now we’ve got to coach. We just can't call the play and say, "Hey, he'll make it happen." We got to coach this year.”

The Seminoles were close to the biggest win in Risper’s career when Westside took top-seeded Rockmart to the limit in a 37-30 second-round Class AA playoff loss. That was Westside’s second close call of the season against a ranked team, the Seminoles barely missing their second top-10 win under Risper when the lost 35-32 to No. 2 Morgan County earlier en route to a 6-6 record.

Four of the other five Bibb County coaches and their programs – Westside and Northeast have played only twice, in 1998-99 - won’t miss Risper at Westside on Friday night.

Risper’s Seminoles are 15-0 against Rutland, 14-0 against Central (the Chargers had to forfeit an on-field win in 2020 for an ineligible player), 11-2 against Howard, and 7-2 against Southwest.

That’s a 47-4 mark against the local public schools.

Howard – in the opener – and Rutland are the only teams that get a chance in 2025 to change that.

Northeast is likely to remain atop the Bibb County mountain. The Raiders have won at least one playoff game in four of the last five seasons, and their run of five straight winning seasons is the third-best stretch in county public school history, and the top active run.

The Raiders have done well as an underdog and against ranked teams under Wiggins, going 9-12 against teams in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s top 10.

Losing Woodford, linebacker Santana Balkcom and lineman/kicker Jakwon Woodford, among others, will leave a mark. But Wiggins has a full quarterback room, including returning starter Reginald Glover, who will be moving around on offense.

Allegedly, because Glover grinned and remained mum and made a “shhhh” gesture with a big smile.

“You’ll have to come to the game and see,” Wiggins said slyly. But Glover, who threw for 1,245 yards and ran for 1,317 yards while accounting for 32 touchdowns, will be all over the field on offense for the Raiders.

County teams went 26-42 last year, Northeast’s epic run to the semifinals accounting for 46 percent of those wins. It was a drop from 32-31 in 2023.

Central and Rutland both went 0-10, the first time in program history for the Chargers and third winless season in Hurricanes’ history.

The Chargers took an off-season hit with the transfer of tight end/linebacker and power-4 prospect Joshua Pettigrew – nephew of former Central and Georgia standout and NFLer Tony Gilbert – to Houston County and quarterback Justin Releford to Westside.

Central’s Jarrett Laws and Rutland’s Anthony Williams both talked of increased confidence from a culture change, some of which comes from players taking the right approach to hating losing.

“It’s cliche to say, but I think it’s the whole team as far as their culture (improved),” Laws said. “In the three years that I’ve been here, this is the first year where I feel like I’m going into a season and the kids and I speak the same language.”

Players who preferred Williams’ predecessor are gone, and the Hurricanes appear to be buying in to a harder approach.

“We’ve been trying to change the mindset,” said the former Georgia Southern player. “This is the first season we’ve had a coach for every position. A lot of the pushback has kind of subsided.

“Guys are taking the coaching, dealing with it and understanding our point of view.”

Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree has to decide among three quarterbacks, none of whom share his last name or bloodlines. Son Chase was the Patriots quarterback as a sophomore two years ago, but he’s a full-time basketball player now.

“We have three guys (Jamarion Leghorn, Jonathan Hurley, and Ajavion Wilson) that we’re trying to get ready to play football,” said Dupree, who has 17 starters back from the 4-7 team. “These are three new guys that wer’e trying to get ready to play and compete on Friday night, especially I that region that we’re in with Northeast University over there.

“I need to put all three of them into one, and I think we’d be all right.”