Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

HS FB 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?

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
HS FB 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?

🏈 Any update will be around 11 a.m. Saturday, based on new information contributions from teams over night.

Thanks to FPD, ACE Charter, Jasper County, and Central Fellowship for submitting postgame information Friday night.

🏈 Teams: Please email game information – stats (offense and defense), names, big plays, etc. –each week to centralgasports@gmail.com by 2 a.m. Saturday morning for inclusion into Central Georgia’s only comprehensive roundup, or by 10:30 a.m. Saturday for addition to the roundup. Monitoring who inputs into MaxPreps on Friday night helps.

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Class 5A

Houston County 49, Veterans 10 (Click here for more)
All the scoring game in the first half as the Bears won their sixth straight, and sixth out of seven at home in the past two seasons. Houston County, which won 56-0 last year, led 35-0 before Veterans got a field goal about four minutes into the second quarter.

Coffee 28, Northside 7 (Click here for more)
Northside battled Coffee, trailing 14-7 after a quarter, a blocked punt and return by the Trojans breaking the tie. The Trojans added a passing TD midway through the second quarter and the Eagles couldn’t get any more scoring, to remain winless. Coffee won 41-0 last year.

Class 4A
Perry 38, New Hampstead 24 (Click here for more)
          The Panthers evened their overall record at 3-3 in picking up a win in the region opener.

Jones County 46, Stockbridge 42
          The Greyhounds blocked a punt for a touchdown late in the first quarter to break a 7-7 tie, and led the rest of the way, holding off Stockbridge’s answers to Jones County scoring until a Tiger rushing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter put Stockbridge up 42-40. But Jones County got a rushing touchdown in the final minute to win.

Wayne County 32, Warner Robins 10 (Click here for more)
          The Yellow Jackets pulled off the upset of the night, knocking off Warner Robins handily less than two weeks after a coaching change. Athletics director Justin McDonald took over just less than two weeks ago, and Wayne County responded with its first win of the season and highest point total since a 35-10 win over Southeast Bulloch late in the 2023 season. The win broke a 16-game losing streak – excluding a forfeit win last year by Appling County, preventing an 0-10 season 0.

Class 3A
West Laurens 70, Baldwin 55 (Click here for more)
          Ty Cummings was set to break the program yardage for rushing yards and touchdowns, but he did a whole lot more than that. The Georgia Southern commit was historical, with 615 yards - a state record, subject to film review of stats) and eight rushing touchdowns to lead the Raiders to their first 6-0 start.

Cummings needed 85 yards to pass Darius Bradford on the Raiders’ all-time list, and he did that a second or two into his second touchdown, a run of 91 yards to go after his first score of 59 yards. The senior added scores – on which he was hardly touched by defenders – of 75, 53, 59, 59, 86, and 78 yards, for a staggering 560 yards on touchdowns alone out of the Raiders predictable – but on this night, unstoppable, thanks to the offensive line – single-wing running offense.

          Who knew that the Raiders would need six of those scores to win? Baldwin gutted out the Cummings onslaught and kept answering. A 21-0 lead became a 28-7 lead, and then down to 28-20. The Raiders led 42-20 at halftime, and Baldwin cut it to 42-34. It was 56-34 early in the fourth quarter, and the teams combined for 36 points in the fourth quarter.

Aquinas 51, Howard 28
          Aquinas broke a 14-14 tie early in the second quarter, and added two scores before halftime, including a pick-6 inside the final minute of the second quarter for a 35-14 lead at intermission.

Upson-Lee 17, Mary Persons 14, OT
          The game went to overtime for the second straight year, the Knights winning 22-20 in three overtimes last year, courtesy of a failed conversion. This time, they won on sophomore Tristen Boyt’s field goal – his first of the season - n overtime, after Mary Persons called an icing timeout. That came after Upson-Lee missed a field goal in the final minute. It was tied at 7 after three quarters, Upson-Lee taking the lead almost three minutes into the fourth and the Bulldogs tying it barely a minute later.

Class AA
Jackson 44, Rutland 0 (Click here for full story)
          The Red Devils recorded one of the surprising margins of victory of the night, handing Rutland its worst loss of the season, by 20 points. Jackson broke a four-game losing streak with its biggest win since 49-6 over Sumter County in 2021.

Morgan County 56, Westside 14
          A year after holding off the Seminoles in the final minute, Morgan County was in control from the start en rout eto handing Westside its worst loss to a Georgia team since 55-14 to Perry in 2023

Class A/Division I

East Laurens 28, ACE 14
          ACE scored first, but the Falcons responded with three unanswered touchdowns en route to their biggest win under
second-year head coach Jesse Hicks and to breaking a two-game losing streak. The Gryphons scored on a 73-yard pass from Ace Hatcher to Noah Syme less than five minutes into the game, the Falcons answering on a 71-yard pass from Jason Giles to Major Floyd five minutes later. East Laurens took the lead in the final minute of the quarter on a 46-yard pass to Floyd. They gained some control in the final 35 seconds of the half on 2-yard run from Sky Snead. Hatcher connected with William Winters from 15 yards with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter, but East Laurens’ defense sealed it after that, aided by an ACE fumble. East Laurens had six  more rushing and 20 more passing yards. Syme caught 5 passes for 119 yards.

Bleckley County 50, Jefferson County 0
          The Royals led 29-0 after one, en route to their second 50-point game of the year and biggest margin of victory since last year’s 56-0 win over Central. Marty Beck opened the game with an 80-yard kickoff return, and the Royals added their second score about three minutes later on Brody Fleming’s pass to Connar Cairney.

Washington County 46, Central 6

Dodge County 41, Southwest 6

Lamar County 35, McNair 22

Social Circle 38, Putnam County 28
          Putnam County took a 21-7 halftime lead, but Social Circle won the fourth quarter 24-0. The Redskins passed for 240 yards and ran for 165.

Jasper County 50, Utopian Academy 8

          The Hurricanes hit the 50-point mark for the first time since last year’s 63-0 win over Utopian, winning by 42 for the second straight week. It was 43-0 at halftime, the Hurricanes scoring on the first play, a pass from wideout MJ Maddox to Nolan Dean. After recovering the onside kick, they scored four plays later on JT Thomas’ long run. He connected with Evan Pitts for a 3-yard score and 22-0 first-quarter lead. Thomas added a 51-yard TD run, and Chance Ross had two second-quarter scores. Cam Farley recovered two fumbles and Zaiden Brown had an interception.

Class A/Division II

Crawford County 47, Central-Talbotton 6

Johnson County 37, Hancock Central 8

GMC Prep 28, Twiggs County 18
          GMC won its second game while keeping Twiggs County winless.

Wheeler County 36, Hawkinsville 18
          The Red Devils pulled within 23-18 in the third quarter, on a fumble return for a touchdown but Wheeler County made it 1n 11-point game with four minutes left, after a Hawkinsville fumble, clinching the Red Devils’ first loss.

Schley County 17, Macon County 0
          Macon County was shut out for the first time since 53-0 to Manchester three seasons ago, thanks to a 193-yard rushing night on 33 carries by Schley County, which added a pick-6/

Wilkinson County 56, Glascock County 32
          The Warriors rolled, as expected, to their first win,

GIAA

Class 4A/3A

Bulloch 52, Tattnall 13
          The Trojans tied it at 7 with four minutes left in the first quarter and then trailed 14-13 early in the second quarter, but Bulloch scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and blew it open in the fourth quarter after a 10-point third.

Piedmont 57, AA Heritage 14

FPD 42, Mount de Sales 7 (Click here for full story)
          Major Simmons ran for a touchdown and passed for four – three to Brady McHugh – as FPD pulled away from Mount de Sales in the second half. The Cavs answered the Vikings’ touchdown on the game-opening drive, but struggled to reach the red zone despite moving the ball. FPD blocked a field goal try in the final seconds of the second quarter to preserve a 21-7 halftime lead. Marcus Wilson ran for 135 yards on 25 carries for the Cavs, while Simmons rushed for 103 yards and passed for 253 on a 9-for-10 night, 152 of those yards to McHugh.

Westfield 29, Pinewood 10 (Click here for more)

John Milledge 51, Stratford 13 (Click here for more)
          The Trojans turned in one of the surprise margins of victory of the night, stomping previously undefeated Stratford, and doing the stomping early. A long pass from Lewis Cheney to Asa Wall set up Javaris Hurt’s 8-yard run four minutes into the game, the Trojans needing only four minutes until Cheney’s 45-yard TD pass to Wall for a 14-0 lead. John Milledge led 21-0 after one and 35-0 at halftime. Stratford was held to less than 28 points for the first time this season, and gave up at least 34 points for the second time. The 38 point margin is the biggest loss for Stratford under second-year head coach Paul Carroll by 22 points.

Class AA

Gatewood 48, Augusta Prep 16
          Gatewood had scored only 64 points before rolling to its second straight win

Brentwood 50, Briarwood 20
          The War Eagles led 21-0 after a quarter and 43-0 at halftime in their

Central Fellowship 27, Trinity Christian 14 (Click here for more)
          The Crusaders lost do-everything Wade Register to an injury and couldn’t recover. Jakob Sahli did run for 145 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown, but CFCA got a 60-yard touchdown catch and run from TJ  Coley and 65-yard scoring run from Dayne Blanks, taking advantage of Register missing in the middle of the defense. The Lancers survived despite the absence of Judson Walls to injury.