HS football notebook: A look at some polls; Houston County's big O; who ranks where in state stats?

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Some interesting poll-watching notes

          From the Maxwell Computer Ratings to the Georgia High School Football Daily composite rankings, there are some notables.
          The top five Central Georgia strengths of schedules:
          19. Houston County, 30. Jones County; 48. Perry, 62. West Laurens, 62, 65. Northside.
          The best schedule among GIAA schools: 236. Westfield. …
          Windsor is No. 30 among Central Georgia teams, putting all classes together, ahead of the likes of Upson-Lee, Southwest, Rutland, Tattnall, and Hawkinsville, among others.
          Now, the Knights’ strength of schedule is 400th out of 463 teams. There are five teams with worse strengths of schedule. …
          As per Maxwell, currently the toughest region in the state is 2-6A, and it’s hard to argue. That’s Coffee, Thomas County Central, Houston County, Northside, Veterans, Tift County, and Lee County.
          The next Central Georgia region is 2-4A (Baldwin, Howard, Mary Persons, Peach County, Spalding, Troup, Upson-Lee, and Westside) is No. 12.
          Troup, Peach County, and Mary Persons are in the top 8 of the GHSFB Daily’s composite rankings.
          And 2-5A (Eagles Landing, Jones County, Locust Grove, Ola, Perry, Union Grove, and Warner Robins) is next at No. 17.

Bears and points and records

          Central Georgia teams are part of eight of the top 22 highest-scoring games, 120 points or more, according to the Georgia HS Football Historians Association/Georgia HS Football Daily:
139 – Central (Carrollton) def. Houston County 73-66 (2026)
134 – Macon County def. Pacelli 70-64 (2004)
131 – Union County def. Putnam County 74-57 (2019)
127 – Perry def. New Hampstead 80-47 (2024)
125 – West Laurens def. Baldwin 70-55 (2025)
125 – West Laurens def. Baldwin 70-55 (2025)
123 – ACE Charter def. Crawford County 70-53 (2022)
121 – Hawkinsville def. Treutlen 77-44 (2022)

            Houston County almost added to the list again in the Bears 61-51 loss to Westlake on Sept. 18.
     The Bears are tied for seventh in the state in scoring at 50 points a game, and are 2-2.

Still searching
          The good news: Only five Central Georgia teams are still winless.
          The bad news: Area teams are still winless.
          Upson-Lee, Southwest, Piedmont, Crawford County, and Central Fellowship are seeking that first win.
          This week’s best odds to break through: Crawford County is at 0-4 Marion County, and Southwest battles 2-2 Central, while Central Fellowship hosts 0-5 Westminster.

Still perfect
          We’re nearing the end of September, and nine teams are still perfect.
          Peach County, ACE Charter, Bleckley County,  Taylor County, Macon County, and John Milledge are still sporting a goose egg in the loss column.

Stat stuff
          Central Georgia has a chunk of players among the state’s leaders in a variety of stat categories.
          Reminder: MaxPreps information is based solely on information provided and input by teams. Several Central Georgia don’t either don’t post any information on their players’ stats, or don’t regularly update stats.
          Some coaches only submit leaders to the weekly list compiled by the AJC/Georgia HS Football Daily.
          But as per MaxPreps as of noon Wednesday:
Houston County’s Austin Stinson has cruised past the 1,000-yard rushing mark, and he’s second in the state with 1,169 yards, 15 behind Pierce County’s Jae’veon Williams.
          Macon County’s Noah Parker is next with 667 yards, good for 17th.
          Baldwin’s Kam Patterson is 10th with 1,159 yards, a little ahead of Westfield’s Brock Johnson, 12th with 1,117 yards. Jordan Wiggins of Northeast is 17th with 1,068 yards.
          Stone St. Clair of Westfield is the top area target, at No. 12 with 475 yards, Houston County’s Jeffery Thomas two spots back with 473 yards.
          Carter Black of Westfield tops the tackles list at No. 22 with 10.6 a game.
          Cody Mitchell of Westside is tied for the state lead with five interceptions, with Taylor County’s Kendarius Richardson and John Milledge’s Brayden Faulkner in the group with three.
          Thomas Russel of Westside and Aaron Jefferson of Stratford are tied for sixth with six sacks. John Milledge’s Asa Wall is fourth with 18 touchdowns, one ahead of Houston County’s Stinson.