Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

Central Georgia HS football rankings; notebook

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
Central Georgia HS football rankings; notebook

By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
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          Ever so slowly, Mother Nature gets nicer.

          And yet the home stretch warms things up on Friday night.

          This year has been pretty interesting, with certainly more movement on a regular basis on both polls, and with more teams able to make a case for a ranking.

          Makes Friday night mighty interesting when you don’t care who wins.

          Remember: The statewide computer poll so many consult – and of which we peruse and post on here every week – is moderately narrow in its parameters.

          No, Howard is not among the top five Division I teams in Central Georgia. Is 2-4 Perry better than 5-2 Warner Robins and 4-2 Veterans?

          Is Stratford better than Veterans and Macon County?

          There are many “maybe” debates in the polls, but a few human polls – very few, like this one – are completely objective and take in a lot of information.

          Thus, some ties. There aren’t that many purely concrete conclusions. The broadcast bozos, web wankers, and social media morons must do the daily/weekly GOAT debates, and so many other debates with little professionalism or context.

          We have all that here, plus – here’s a thought – a little explanation why.

          A note: Central Georgia’s toughest schedules per classification, as per the latest Maxwell ratings: Mary Persons, No. 1 in 4A; , Jones County, No. 2 in 5A and Dublin No. 2 in AA;  Houston County, No. 6 in 6A; Taylor County, No. 17 in A; Northeast, No. 20 in 3A.

          Within the GIAA, nope, it’s not a real conversation. But overall, Westfield checks in at No. 240 with the toughest GIAA schedule in the state among Central Georgia schools.

          This week, our  potential poll-shakers: Jones County-Perry; Baldwin-Troup¸ ACE-Bleckley County, Swainsboro-Dublin, Macon County-Schley County, Jasper County-Social Circle.

Division I (Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 13 teams)

5. Mary Persons
          The Bulldogs have played two of the top three teams in 4A down to the wire in back to back weeks. That’s a pretty hefty statement.

4. Baldwin
          The Braves haven’t been 5-1 since 2011, so this is a sign that Baldwin is getting better at being smarter and more disciplined, good things to go with the good players they’ve had.

3. Jones County
          The Greyhounds are finding quite the groove, and chemistry, and need to keep on fine-tuning some details and avoid any slipups. The defense is humming, but we can’t talk much about defense since, well, there’s no defensive stats on MaxPreps.

2. Houston County
          Even giving up 28 points to Tift County, a defense can make improvements. Powerhouse Thomas County Central is  next, and the Bears have no chance to make it a three-quarter game without said improvements. Still doesn’t mean they should be ranked any lower.

Notebook

Wilkinson County falls on Monday
          Last Friday’s Johnson County-Wilkinson County game was moved to Monday, although the info wasn’t  roundly shared by school officials.
          Nor was the result, a 61-16 (MaxPrep) or 47-6 (State High School Football Historians) win by top-ranked Johnson County, which improved to 6-0 and 2-0 while Wilkinson County fell to 2-4 and 1-1. 

Games moved to Thursday
          As of early Wednesday afternoon, some Central Georgia football games have been moved to Thursday.
          Northside’s trip to Brodie Field and Tift County is now at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, a late Tuesday afternoon post citing “suspected inclement weather,” likely the tropical depression that’s unlikely to give Georgia anything but some rain on Saturday and Sunday.
          The game with Central and Northeast is now at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Thompson. It was moved on Monday, but there was no announcement until Tuesday afternoon.
Friday’s kickoff for Macon County’s visit to Schley County is moved up to 5 p.m. on Friday.

3:30 p.m. Wednesday update

6 p.m.
Central at Northeast (Thompson)
Washington County at Hephzibah (originally set for Thursday)
7 p.m.
Westside at Peach County
ACE Charter at Bleckley County
7:30 p.m.
Northside at Tift County
Thomas County Central at Houston County
Veterans at Lee County
Hawkinsville at Wilcox County
Central Fellowship at Tiftarea

As per assorted weather sources early Wednesday afternoon, Central Georgia will get fairly routine showers on Friday, and more rain on Saturday.

GHSA punishes Grayson after postgame brawl with Florida team

1. Peach County
          Of  course the Trojans are going to be challenged, as they were by Mary Persons last week. They have two huge games left, back to back, Baldwin and Troup, and let’s see if Howard can have them still sweating a bit at halftime.

Division II (Classes 3A, AA, A, GIAA, 33 teams

10. Jasper County
          The Hurricanes are have quite a nice year in transition with new head coach Dondrial Pinkins, and that’s notable, Jasper County going 10-2 last year and having momentum under Ashley Henderson.

9. ACE Charter
          The Gryphons just didn’t have it against East Laurens. The main issue currently is improving the passing game, which thus diversifies the offense, which thus helps keep QB Ace Hatcher healthy.

8. Taylor County
          Odds are the Vikings are more hacked off than bumned out after losing by 1 to Macon County. Not that Central-Talbotton needs any more bad news. The 6-A race will change weekly from here on out.

7. Dodge County
          The Indians are on a  roll, outscoring their last two opponents 93-25. Now comes East Laurens off of an upset at ACE.

6. Stratford
          The Eagles have cracked 45 points nine times in 31 games under Paul Carroll. Not bad for an old-school black and blue linebacker from Hardaway and Georgia Southern. That showdown with John Milledge looks tastier by the week.

5. Macon County
          Last week was another example of how well Macon County is taking care of business with the new staff of new head coach Spoon Risper, whose 5-0 starts were few and far between at Westside. But a lack of  balance on offense is something to watch.

4.  John Milledge
          Maaaaan, that Oct. 23 regular-season finale at Stratford is really worth going to. Because as far as the 18-game winning streak the Trojans will have by then …

3. Bleckley County
          Beating Swainsboro – albeit a somewhat down Swainsboro – by 25 after that crushing 27-21 loss to Dublin is a nice statement by the Royals, but there will be challenges the next few weeks.

2. Dublin
          A week off after a burly win over Bleckley County? Hard to say if that’s good or bad. But again, note that 21 points is the most anybody’s scored on Dublin, and very, very few teams in Central Georgia alone can say that.

1. Northeast
          Those who saw the early 19-7 deficit to Rutland certainly couldn’t take that seriously. The Raiders have a simple formula for a deep playoff run: no overconfidence, get a non-Jordan-Wiggins run game going, fewer should-know-better penalties, and composure.