Series Record: Parkview leads 3-0
For the first time since 1999, the Parkview High Panthers and the Tift County Blue Devils will meet on the football field. Parkview defeated the Devils, 21-7, in 1997 for the state championship. the Panthers then won regular season meetings in 1998 and 1999. Both teams played schools from Lowndes County last week and suffered their first losses. Parkview fell by a 35-34 score at home against Lowndes, while Valdosta defeated Tift County at Brodie Field, 42-13. At the Big Orange Jungle, Lowndes jumped out to a 35-14 lead. Parkview almost came all the way back to win the game however scoring 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. However, a botched extra point snap on the period's third score allowed the Vikings to hold on for the win. Parkview quarterback Caleb Mitchell led the offense, going 24-for-45 passing for 234 yards. Justin Long had eight catches for 53 yards, and Miles Marshall added four catches for 64 more yards. Deion Slade had a 100 yards of combined offense, receiving and rushing. In the Tift-Valdosta matchup, the Devils took the opening kickoff and drove 69 yards to the Valdosta 11. But the momentum ended when Valdosta's Jacque Berrian intercepted a Griffin Collier pass and raced 97 yards for a touchdown. Tift never recovered as Valdosta rolled to the win. Tift's two scores came on a 22-yard run by Josh Patrick (set up by a 73-yard Brenton Jones kickoff return) and an 80-yard pass from Collier to Fred Lloyd. Collier was 18-for-34 passing for 225 yards in the game. Valdosta had 311 yards of offense in the game, and Tift had 296.
Terrell Academy Eagles (1-3) at Tiftarea Academy Panthers (2-2)
Series Record: Terrell leads 15-10
After an off week, the Tiftarea Panthers return to the Panther Pit this week to face the Terrell Academy Eagles. Tiftarea will try to rebound after a 41-6 loss to Gatewood, while the Eagles will be coming off their first win of the year, 41-27 over Southland. A win by Tiftarea would give the Panthers one more victory than the team had during the entire 2015 season.
Irwin County Indians (1-2) at Clinch County Panthers (2-1)
Series Record: Irwin leads 20-19-1
For the 22nd time in Georgia high school football history, two teams that played each other for the state title the previous season will meet the following year in a regular season matchup. Clinch avenged a 28-12 loss in the 2015 regular season to Irwin, by defeating the Indians 24-7 at the Georgia Dome for the 2015 Class A public school state title. Irwin will be coming into the game having struggled against Fitzgerald and Macon County, losing by a combined 113-34 score. Clinch's only loss came in its' last game, 35-21 to Class AA power Brooks County. The Trojans slowed down the potent Clinch rushing game and forced the Panthers to pass, and Clinch responded by going 2-for-13 through the air. Panther QB Charles McClelland has rushed for 429 yards on just 50 carries, while Shannon Young has 179 on the ground. Young rushed for over 1,500 yards last year for the Panthers. Cartavion Benyard, Jay Ashley, Ziaire Andrews and Nathan Tucker will be among the leaders for Irwin.
Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes (2-0) at Rockdale County Bulldogs (1-2)
Series Record: First meeting
Everyone knew the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes would have an excellent team in 2016. That made scheduling difficult as the Class AA Purple Hurricanes are about to undergo a stretch of three straight games against opponents in AAAAAAA. The first of those games will be this week as Fitzgerald makes the long journey to Conyers to face Rockdale County. A member of 8-AAAAAAA, Rockdale's only win came over Berkmar, 51-7, in the season opener. Scheduling has also caused Fitzgerald to undergo its' two open weeks already this season, but the Canes have been impressive in two wins, 56-19 over Irwin County and 70-42 over Macon County. JD King has 275 yards rushing on just 26 carries in those two games. The Oklahoma State commit has also scored six touchdowns. The Fitzgerald offensive line helped the Canes roll up 581 yards of offense against Macon. That work allowed the unit to win the Georgia High School Football Daily's Offensive Line of the Week. The unit consists of Carl Smith, Kyle Burkhart, Chandler Hough, Dartavious Brantley, Kobe Burch, Jason Poe, David Echeverria and Lecitus Smith.
Berrien High Rebels (2-1) at Cook High Hornets (0-3)
Series Record: Cook leads 44-14-4
For the first time in many years, this annual border brawl will feature the Berrien High Rebels with a better record than the Cook High Hornets. After a 42-7 loss to Irwin to begin the year, Coach Bill Cribb's Berrien squad has rolled off wins over Lanier County and Bacon County, Cook is winless having suffered losses to Brooks, Tift and Brunswick. Berrien also has going for it, the last meeting between the schools in Adel, a 2014 21-14 Berrien victory.
Worth County Rams (2-2) at Thomasville High Bulldogs (0-2)
Series Record: Thomasville leads 11-6
After a 48-7 loss to Thomas County Central to begin the 2016 season, the Worth County Rams will be back in Thomas County this week to face the Thomasville High Bulldogs. Thomasville has had an interesting season having only played two games as a contest with Monroe was cancelled due to Hurricane Hermine. In those games, the Bulldogs have lost to Cairo, 23-12, and Thomas County Central, 16-14. However, all of the Cairo points were scored by the Syrupmaker defense, while the high powered Jackets could only put up 16 points against Thomasville. Worth County lost to TCC to begin the year but bounced back to beat Turner County. Then there was a loss to Veterans, before defeating Early County, 28-0, last week in Sylvester.
Telfair County Trojans (1-1) at Turner County Rebels (1-2)
Series Record: Turner leads 6-2
Turner County will begin the Region 2-A slate with a visit from neighboring Telfair County. Coach Ben Simmons' Turner team is 1-2 on the year with a win over Dougherty followed by losses to Worth County and Crisp County. Meanwhile, Telfair is 1-1 on the year with a win over Savannah and a loss to Toombs County. A third game for the Trojans, against Bacon County, was cancelled due to Hermine.
Sponsored by:
