Series Record: Colquitt leads 25-16
The Tift County Blue Devils fell 45-24 in their Region 1-AAAAAAA opener last week at Lowndes High. Things won't get any easier this week for the Devils as perhaps the hottest team in the state, the Colquitt County Packers come into Brodie Field for another league contest. Colquitt will be coming to Tifton fresh off of a 56-10 win over Camden County last week in its' league opener. Quarterback Jay Saunders will lead the Packers. On the year he has completed 114-of-195 passes for 1,559 yards. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes and has been picked off three times. Ty Powell has been his favorite receiver with 31 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns, while Tory Ponder has 27 catches for 382 yards and three scores. Saunders spreads the ball around as six different Packer receivers have double figures in catches. Freshman Daijun Edwards leads Colquitt in rushing with 541 yards on 89 carries with eight touchdowns scored. He had eight carries for 141 yards and three scores against Camden. Ty Leggett has rushed for 388 yards on 58 carries and has scored five touchdowns. Tift quarterback Griffin Collier will give the Packer secondary a stern test. He has passed for 2,240 yards this season, completing 139-of-224 of his passes with 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Rashod Bateman is one of the leading receivers in the state and has caught 47 passes for 711 yards and four touchdowns. Other top receivers for Tift are Cameron Cobb with 32 catches for 397 yards and five touchdowns; Fred Lloyd, 24 catches for 455 yards and four scores; and Brant Watson, 18 catches for 380 yards and six touchdowns. Brenton Jones leads the Devils in rushing with 436 yards on 102 carries. He has also scored five touchdowns. Josh Patrick is Tift's second leading receiver with 224 yards on 50 carries and three scores. Colquitt is on a seven-game winning streak against Tift, and has won 13 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams.
Valwood School Valiants (5-3) at Tiftarea Academy Panthers (5-4)
Series Record: Tiftarea leads 19-12
Fresh off defeating Westfield for the first time in school history, 41-37, last week, the Tiftarea Academy Panthers now turn their attention to the defending state Class AAA champions, the Valiants of Valwood. The big story in the Westfield win was Tiftarea's Spence Massey, who rushed for 383 yards and scored four touchdowns in the contest. It's believed Massey's totals are a state record. In Valwood's last game, the Valiants defeated Deerfield-Windsor, 28-14. Valwood scored four touchdowns in four different ways in that contest. Cam Walker scored on a 99-yard kickoff return; Tai Hatcher scored on a 57-yard pass from quarterback William Clifton; Mark Henderson scored on a halfback pass from Ronnie Wengert; and Colby Thomas scored on a run. The game has no bearing on the league standings as Valwood will go into the postseason as the No. 1 seed out of the region, while Tiftarea is already slotted in at No. 4. However, a win would give the Panthers a big momentum boost entering the postseason.
Brooks County Trojans (6-1) at Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes (6-1)
Series Record: Fitzgerald leads 12-6
The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes lost the Region 1-AA title last year in a 21-17 loss against Brooks as the Trojans posted a goal line stand in the game's final 30 seconds to preserve the win. The two teams have a rematch this week at Jaycee Stadium and both will come in with identical 6-1 overall records, and 2-0 marks in the league. It appears that the two teams will keep a streak alive that has seen both win four region titles in the past 10 seasons that they have both been in the same region. Fitzgerald will be led by JD King, who has rushed for 857 yards on just 102 carries. He has also led Fitzgerald in receiving with 11 catches for 230 yards. He has 14 combined touchdowns on the year. Quarterback James Graham missed one game this year due to injury, but has thrown for 793 yards, completing 41-of 76 passes for 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. Ethan Gordon has also posted big numbers rushing for 241 yards on just 25 carries, while catching nine passes for 176 more yards. Gordon has six combined touchdowns on the year for the Hurricanes. After becoming the starter in the fourth game of the season due to injury, Brooks quarterback Jacolby Brown has completed 35-of-62 passes for 448 yards. Khalid Humphreys has caught 16 passes for 423 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the receivers of the Trojans. The leading rusher is Jonathan White, who has rushed for an even 500 yards on the year. Fitzgerald is ranked No. 2 in the state, while Brooks is ranked between fifth and seventh in the state Class AA polls.
Cook High Hornets (4-4) at Crisp County Cougars (7-0)
Series Record: Tied at 4-4-1
This is a key game in Region 1-AAA this week. Cook is 1-1 in league play, while Crisp is 1-0. The Cougars are unbeaten overall on the year and have been led by linebacker Markaviest Bryant. A 6-foot-5, 231-pound senior, Bryant is drawing attention from a ton of major schools. He has 50 total tackles on the year with 8.5 sacks, 18 tackles for loss yardage, two passes defended and two punts blocked. Cook will try to wear Bryant out with a rushing game led by junior Brandon Doe, who has rushed for 1,657 yards this year on 191 carries with 13 touchdowns. Last week Dougherty held Doe to only 121 yards on the ground, but the junior did catch a 81-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trae Williams. In the 29-20 win over Dougherty, Cook also got points on a 98-yard interception return by Vincent Gray, as well as on a 69-yard interception return by Darius Cleveland. To have any chance against Crisp, however, Cook must cut down on penalties. The Hornets had 14 penalties for 131 yards against Dougherty.
Irwin County Indians (4-3) at Wilcox County Patriots (1-6)
Series Record: Wilcox leads 13-11
Fresh off setting a school record for points in a 66-12 whitewashing of Lanier County, the Irwin County Indians will make the short journey up the road this week for a Region 2-A encounter with the Wilcox County Patriots. After beginning the year with a 1-3 record, Irwin has won three straight games, outscoring their opponents by a 154-51 combined score. Comparatively Wilcox has been outscored in its last three games, 116-20. The last time Wilcox scored more than seven points in a game was in the season's fourth contest, a 27-21 loss to Lanier.
Turner County Rebels (4-3) at Atkinson County Rebels (2-5)
Series Record: Turner leads 10-7-1
There are two games every year in Region 2-A where you can guarantee a winner. One is when the Irwin County Indians take on the Charlton County Indians, and this one where the Turner County Rebels face the Atkinson County Rebels. You may not know which school will win, but you know it will be the Indians in one and the Rebels in the other. Like Irwin County, Turner's only 2-A loss this year is to Clinch County. So to keep alive slim hopes for a league title, Turner must beat Atkinson, Wilcox and Irwin to close to season, and hope Clinch loses twice in its' last three games. Clinch defeated Turner 66-20 last week in Ashburn. The Panthers rushed for 348 yards in the game, and threw for 167 more, totally decimating the Turner Rebel defense. One bright spot in the game for Turner was the play of wide out Tamorrian Terry, who caught five passes for 187 yards. He had touchdown catches of 13, 81 and 35 yards in the contest.
Dougherty High Trojans (2-5) at Worth County Rams (4-3)
Series Record: Worth leads 18-10
In another key Region 1-AAA game, the Worth County Rams will try to remain unbeaten in league play as they host the Trojans in Sylvester for Homecoming. Due to Worth being off last week, both teams' last opponent was Cook. While Dougherty was falling to the Hornets last week, 29-20, Worth defeated Cook two weeks ago by a 37-30 score. That contest saw Worth score 23 points in the fourth quarter to take the victory.
Berrien High is off this week and will return to action Oct. 28 at home against Albany.
For Class A football fans here are this week's power ratings: http://www.ghsa.net/2016-2017-ghsa-power-ratings-football
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