Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

Central Georgia high school football scouting reports; DeShazier moves from Mount de Sales to Howard

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
Central Georgia high school football scouting reports; DeShazier moves from Mount de Sales to Howard

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

           The rankings are from the Georgia High School Football Daily composite.
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DeShazier moves from Mount de Sales to Howard

          The Mount de Sales all-time passing leader will now transfer that resume to the northern part of the county.
          Zavion DeShazier has transferred to Howard, where he is eligible, living in the Howard zone.
          The junior quarterback posted his decision on Instagram and Twitter on Sunday. Mount de Sales head coach Gray Yates confirmed it on Tuesday.
          Howard head coach Trey Porter confirmed on Thursday that DeShazier was enrolled and eligible for the Huskies’ home game Friday against West Laurens.
          DeShazier set the Mount de Sales passing yards mark during the Cavs’ season-opening loss to Loganville Christian, topping the 3,487 yards of Dexter Williams II, now the starting quarterback at Kennesaw State.
          His passing stats for the season have been wiped clean from the Cavaliers’ MaxPreps page, and social media posts on him setting the school passing record.
DeShazier is off to a slow start, with 146 yards passing for 0-3 Mount de Sales. He has 3,589 yards.

-Michael A. Lough

GHSA
Class 4A
5A No. 7 Houston County, 3-0, at Warner Robins, 2-1
          The Bears have played three distinctly different games so far, from a solid game to a load of points to very low-scoring game, and against 6A, 5A, and 4A.
          Warner Robins is not posting stats publicly, but the Demons are getting good play from big – 6-4, 230 pounds – sophomore quarterback Chandler Dyson. He’ll face a solid defense led by Western Ard, who’s good for nearly 12 tackles a game so far. Houston County QB Ryan Maxwell has 7 TD passes and 1 interception.
          Warner Robins, a 55-44 winner last year, leads the series 18-8-1.

Ola, 2-1/1-1, at Jones County, 2-1/1-1
          The Mustangs bring some balance to Gray, keyed by a running game getting 185 yards a game, with 10 TDs so far. QB Caden Worley has thrown one more pick than score. The Greyhounds are led by Travis Miller and Bruno Hicks, teaming for 362 rushing yards. JR Clark has 10 catches for 113 yards, QB Cason Taylor completing half of his passes for 311 yards, but only 1 TD.

Class AAA
Baldwin, 1-1, at Cross Creek, 1-1
          Baldwin was outscored 50-18 last year after two losses to Perry and Northside, and are ahead of that pace, thanks to a weather-shortened win over Northside. Cross Creek is off a 44-0 hammering by Burke County. The Braves won 51-22 last year.

AA Crisp County, 0-3, at No. 3 Peach County, 3-0
          It wasn’t too long ago that the Cougars were pretty tough, going 9-4 in 2021. But they’re 17-20 since then, including last year’s 35-7 loss to the Trojans.

Mary Persons, 2-0, at Fayette County, 0-2
          The Tigers are looking for their first points of the season after losing 42-0 and 53-0 to McIntosh and Warner Robins. They were outscored 98-7 after two games a year ago, and lost 55-0 to Mary Persons, which had to forfeit the game. That was Fayette County’s only win. The Bulldogs are doubling up opponents with 40-19 first downs, and they’ve held teams to 77 yards passing and 131 yards rushing. Mason Stephens has 13 catches for 190 yards, QB Mac Nelson completing 29 of 37 for 421 yards and 4 TDs.

Spalding, 0-2, at No. 12T Upson-Lee, 2-0
          The Jags were 0-3 entering last year’s meeting, but got a win courtesy of a Lovejoy forfeit after beating Spalding 33-17. The Knights gutted out a 16-13 road win. Spalding finished 5-6, Upson-Lee 8-4. Jy Garmon and Chestin Howard combine for more than 200 yards a game rushing. LB Malachi Character has picked up where he left off, with 22 tackles in two games.

West Laurens, 2-0, at Howard, 1-1, Thompson
          West Laurens made a bigger step than expected last year, and a 28-27 win over Howard was huge. The Huskies have the same 1-1 record, and struggled with Rutland last week. The Raiders lead the series 13-4, but the Huskies have won two of the last three meetings. Ty Cummings went off for 222 yards on 21 carries last week for the Raiders, Branden Brooks adding 106. The Raiders are led by Shannon Adkins and Hunter Castelaw on defense.

Class AA
A/II No. 3 Bowdon, 2-1, at Westside, 1-2, Ed DeFore
          It’s a battle of former West Georgia teammates, Spoon Risper and Richard Fendley Jr., the latter the son of the late Richard Fendley, a longtime coach at Warner Robins. Westside is looking for its fourth win over a ranked team under Risper, who is stepping down after the season. Bowdon has lost to only eight unranked teams since 2019, winning 56-27 last year.

Class A/Division I
ACE Charter, 2-0/2-0, at No. 10 Dodge County, 2-0/2-0
          The Indians don’t have one of the top players in the state – Duke Johnson is at Alabama – but they did last year and got a major battle from the Gryphons in their first meeting before holding on 33-28. Kain Mincey is passing for 224.5 yards a game for the Indians, Bryson Vincent getting 148 yards rushing for the Gryphons. Dodge County’s Kawaski Robinson and ACEC’s William Winters lead their defenses.

Central, 0-3/0-2, at East Laurens, 0-2/0-1
          The Falcons were 1-2 a year ago entering this meeting, but this time, they don’t have a physical loss to Dublin to deal with. East Laurens rolled 49-0 last year in the first meeting with the Chargers, who have similar scoring numbers to a year ago.

No. 9 Dublin, 1-1/1-0, at Washington County, 1-2/1-1
          The Golden Hawks are reeling from last week’s 32-0 loss to Northeast, their worst loss since falling to Dublin 49-0 last year, a week after losing 42-9 to Northeast. The Irish cruised past Southwest 48-6. The Golden Hawks will have to slow down Travis Bostic, getting 143.5 yards a game so far, Dublin’s wing-T still developing some skill players.

No. 5 Northeast, 2-1/2-0, at Jefferson County, 0-3/0-2
          The record is the same, but Jefferson County has been much more competitive so far, against Washington County and ACE in particular. Northeast is outscoring opponents by 12 points a game, about the same as last year at this point.

Putnam County, 1-2  at Haralson County, 3-0
          Omarian Butts is getting nearly 100 yads a game o the ground for Putnam County, which has been outscored 46-14 and 46-16 in its last two games. The War Eagles won 28-3 last year.

AA Rutland, 0-2, at No. 11 Lamar County, 2-0
          Rutland is better than last year, and Lamar County is in transition to a balanced offense with much more passing. But the Trojans are scoring a little more each week than a year ago. The held Jackson to minus-13 yards rushing last week.

Class A/Division II
GMC Prep, 0-3, at Taylor County, 0-2
          The Vikings are being outscored by 9 points a game, to 22 for the Bulldogs. Taylor County won 32-0 last year.

Hancock Central, 1-2, at AA Josey, 0-3
          The records were the same as a year ago when Hancock Central rolled to a 76-6 win for a 7-3 lead in the series.

Macon County, 0-3, at No. 6 Manchester, 0-2
          These two teams being winless a few games into the season is quite the rarity. The Bulldogs are trying to avoid 0-4 for the first time since 2011, and the Blue Devils haven’t been 0-3 since 2007.

GIAA 4A Stratford, 2-0, at Wilkinson County, 0-3
          The Eagles will bring some balance to their former GHSA region rival. Tyler Stephens has 318 yards and 4 TDs, and Tucker Johnston is completing 63.3 percent for 395 yards, with 4 TDs and no interceptions. Stratford has won all seven meetings, including 28-12 last year.

Wheeler County, 2-0, at Twiggs County, 0-2
          The Cobras look to break a 6-game losing streak against a team that won 49-14 last year in Alamo.

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GIAA
Class 4A/3A
FPD, 3-0, at Brookstone, 3-0
          Showdown time in north Columbus with the top two teams in GIAA, as per the Maxwell Ratings in the Georgia High School Football Daily. The Vikings have won three straight – including 44-24 in the 2023 4A state championship – and lead 7-5. They’re unlikely to repeat last year’s single-digit battle on a rainy, sloppy evening. The Vikings ride two-way standouts Major Simmons and Brady McHugh, but they’re balanced with playmakers all over the field, and one of the state’s top kickers in Dominic Economopoulos. Brookstone counters with Dillon Terry (127 ypg rushing) and Broughton Branch (204.3 ypg passing).

John Milledge, 2-0, at GHSA A/I Athens Academy, 2-1
          The Spartans rolled 47-14 last year in a rare GHSA meeting for John Milledge, which had handled Savannah Christian in 2020-21. John Milledge has spread around the yards and scoring, similar to its massive run that ended in 2023. Athens Academy finished 10-1 last year and hasn’t had a losing season since 2014.

Tattnall, 0-3, at Calvary Christian, 2-0
          Avoiding the first 0-4 start since, well, Barney Hester’s first final season at Tattnall in 2012, is the Trojans goal. The Knights went 1-9 last year after five straight non-losing seasons, and knocked off Mount de Sales 34-14 last week.

Terrell, 1-1, at Mount de Sales, 0-3
          The Cavs are adjusting to the loss this week of quarterback Zavion DeShazier, who has transferred to Howard. He’s carried the offense load for two-plus seasons, and now comes the transition against a team that won this meeting 24-14 last year en route to a 6-5 season.

Class AA/A
Augusta Prep, 1-2, at Trinity Christian, 2-1
          Avoiding a letdown is a key for the Crusaders, who knocked off Edmund Burke 3-0 on the road last week, breaking a 14-game home winning streak. TCS won 40-14 last year and leads it 3-0.

Flint River, 2-0, at CFCA, 1-2
          The Lancers finally got all phases in gear last week in their 32-26 comeback win over St. Andrew’s. They’ll try to repeat flip last year’s 37-7 loss to the Class A Wildcats, now coached by the well-traveled Mark Wilson, who has been at Lamar County and Taylor County among his eight stops.

Gatewood, 0-3, at Southland, 1-2
          The Gators haven’t been 0-4 since 2014, the second year of Jeff Ratliff in charge, Gatewood finishing 3-9 that season. Gatewood won 16-13 last year at home, and leads the series 3-2.

GHSA A/II Lake Oconee, 1-2, at Brentwood, 3-0
          The War Eagles are giving up less than 6 points a game, while the total points scored in the Titans’ three games is 52 points. So a defensive battle is expected, likely a change from last year’s 35-34 Brentwood win.

4A Lakeview, 1-2, at Windsor, 1-2
          The teams didn’t play last year, Windsor’s first since returning to 11-man play. The Lions went 9-2, losing to 3A champ Deerfield-Windsor in the first round.

8-man
Covenant, 2-1, at Westwood, 3-0
          Covenant has outscored opponents 92-47.

David Emanuel, 3-0, at John Hancock, 0-2

Idle: Veterans, Northside, Perry, Jasper County, Hawkinsville, Crawford County, Westfield, Piedmont