Tiftarea Academy Panthers (5-5) at John Milledge Academy Trojans (10-0)
Series Record: John Milldege leads 1-0
After posting a .500 record a year after winning only two games, and after defeating Westfield for the first time in school history, the Tiftarea Academy Panthers will be trying to continue their run Friday in the first round of the state Class AAA playoffs. However, standing in their way will be a strong John Millledge Academy team that's unbeaten on the year. John Milledge is coached by former Georgia fullback J.T. Wall. In six seasons at the school, Wall is a very impressive 62-12, that includes a 7-4 mark in his first year. This season the only time the Trojans were seriously threatened was last week against Gatewood. A late Trojan rally gave Milledge the region title with a 17-10 win. The only other team that stayed relatively close this season to the Trojans was Pinewood Christian in the season opener, a 31-20 Milledge win. Gatewood and Westfield are the only two common opponents for the Panthers and Trojans. While Milledge beat Gatewood, 17-10, the Panthers fell to the same school, 41-6. Both teams beat Westfield, with Tiftarea garnering a 41-37 victory, and Milledge winning by a 52-0 score. Remarkably this is the first time since 1998 the two teams have met on the football field. That game saw John Milledge emerge with a 10-7 win over Tiftarea in Chula during the state playoffs that season. For Tiftarea to stay in this year's contest, the Panthers will need a huge game from their rushing attack led by Spence Massey, in order to keep the high-powered Trojan offense on the bench.
Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes (7-1) at Early County Bobcats (0-7-1)
Series Record: Fitzgerald leads 11-6
A week after playing perhaps their best game of the year, a 40-7 blowout win over state-ranked Brooks County, the Purple Hurricanes of Fitzgerald play perhaps their most dangerous opponent of the year, the Early County Bobcats. Early will go into Friday night's matchup with nothing to lose, as the Bobcats are winless on the year. A win over the No. 2-ranked team in the state would give Early a big feather in its cap. To guard against this possible trap game, the Hurricanes will need another big game from Oklahoma State commit J.D. King. The senior running back accounted for over 200 yards of offense and four touchdowns in three quarters last Friday against Brooks. On the year King has rushed for 986 yards, only playing a complete game once this season. Besides averaging 8.1 yards per carry and scoring 12 touchdowns on the ground, he also has caught 14 passes for 316 yards and six more touchdowns. He has been the leading receiver for quarterback James Graham. A junior, Graham has thrown for 945 yards, completing 48-of-91 passes. He has thrown for 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. Graham has also rushed for 346 yards on 55 carries. Other leading rushers for Fitzgerald are Damien Devine, 40 carries for 323 yards and eight touchdowns; and Ethan Gordon, 29 carries for 260 yards and four touchdowns. Gordon, Montrell Harris and Lectius Smith have been among Graham's other favorite receivers. Donterious Milsap leads the team in tackles with 65, and also has two sacks on the year. Josh Reliford has 58 total tackles and two interceptions, and Marlon Jackson has 51 total tackles, five sacks and five tackles for loss yardage.
Atkinson County Rebels (2-6) at Irwin County Indians (5-3)
Series Record: Irwin leads 27-7-1
After a three-game losing streak, the Irwin County Indians have bounced back nicely, winning four straight games. Following a 56-7 win over Wilcox last week, the Indians have outscored their last four opponents by a 207-58 combined score. That includes a 52-26 win over Telfair. While the Indians are 4-1 in the Region 2-A standings, their visitors Friday night, the Atkinson County Rebels are 1-4 in the league, 2-6 overall. In what should be a festive occasion at Indian Field, with it being Senior Night, as well as the night before the annual Sweet Potato Festival, it could be a fun night for Irwin. Atkinson's only region win this year is a 16-0 win over Lanier, the same team Irwin set a school record for points for two weeks ago, in a 66-12 victory.
Albany High Indians (0-8) at Berrien High Rebels (3-4)
Series Record: Albany leads 7-3
Things don't get much bigger for a football team as things will be Friday night for the Berrien High Rebels. Already having a win over Region 1-AA opponent Early County this season, a win over the Albany High Indians in Nashville would put the Rebels in the state playoffs, no matter what happens to Berrien the following week against Brooks. Berrien was off this past week after falling to Fitzgerald, 42-0, two weeks ago. That game Berrien stay with Fitzgerald for nearly a quarter, before the Hurricanes superior numbers began wearing down the Rebel squad. In fact, Berrien actually led Fitzgerald in rushing after the first half of that game. While Berrien has three wins on the year, the Indians are winless and have not been impressive in the region standings, falling to Albany, Brooks County and Thomasville by a combined 145-19 score. Berrien quarterback Monteo Brooks, who rushed for 50 yards on seven carries against Fitzgerald, will lead his squad into the Homecoming contest.
Turner County Rebels (5-3) at Wilcox County Patriots (1-7)
Series Record: Turner leads 23-14-2
In one of South Georgia's oldest rivalries, the Turner County Rebels and the Wilcox County Patriots will meet up in Rochelle this week. It will be a contest of two teams going in different directions. Wilcox is killing time to prepare for basketball, while Turner still has a possible outside shot at a region title, and the most is fighting for a high seed in upcoming state Class A public school state playoffs. This week, Turner is 17th in the power ratings. If the Rebels can climb into the top 16 Turner would be guaranteed a home playoff game. Last week, Turner defeated Atkinson, 33-9, while Wilcox was falling to Irwin by a 56-7 score. Wilcox's only win this season came against Bleckley County, 33-21.
Worth County Rams (5-3) at Monroe High Tornadoes (2-4)
Series Record: Worth leads 14-10
The Worth County Rams will attempt to keep alive their hopes of a Region 1-AAA title Friday as they travel to Albany to face league foe, Monroe. After a 49-12 win over Dougherty last week, the Rams sit at 2-0 in the league, while Monroe is 0-2. Worth began the year by swapping wins and losses, but since that run, the Rams have run off three wins in a row. The victory over Dougherty saw senior Lee Little almost put the game by himself with two scores in the second quarter. Little scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass, and later intercepted a pass and returned it 68 yards for an other score. Other Rams adding scores included Chris McDaniel, Horace Everson and Malik Dassie. Quarterback Lance Eldridge also had a big game for Worth.
Tift County is off this week as they prepare for a showdown at Camden County. The winner of that game will be in the state playoffs, while the loser will not be guaranteed a playoff spot. Here is how that at-large playoff spot will be determined from the GHSA website.
The Executive Director and the Sport Coordinator will rate the No. 4 team from Region 1 and the No. 5 teams (as determined by regular-season standings) from Regions 2 through 7 (a total of eight teams) using the following method for each game played against a GHSA or out-of-state opponent (GISA and GICAA opponents, and opponents playing a non-region schedule, will not be counted): Win = 10 points plus Opponent’s wins/Opponent’s Games Played x 10 Loss = 0 points plus Opponent’s wins/Opponent’s Games Played x 10 Tie = 5 points plus Opponent’s wins/Opponent’s Games Played x 10 (The team’s rating shall be the total number of rating points divided by the number of games played.)
Should two or more teams be tied with identical ratings after the above method is applied, the following tie-breakers will be used (Note: as soon as one (1) team is ahead of the other tied team(s), the tie-breaker is over and that team shall be the At-Large playoff representative): Tie-Breakers (in order): 1. If the teams played during the regular-season and one team defeated the other tied team or teams, then that school shall be the At-Large representative. 2. The team with the best won-lost percentage against all Georgia 7A teams (including region games). 3. The team with the best won-loss percentage in region play. 4. The team with the best won-loss percentage in all games played (except those excluded above). 5. If a tie still remains, the At-Large playoff team will be selected by having a "draw" in the GHSA office by the Executive Director and the Sports Coordinator.
Cook High is also off this week. The Hornets will attempt to make the state playoffs with a win at Monroe Nov. 4.
This week's Class A Power Ratings:
http://www.ghsa.net/2016-2017-ghsa-power-ratings-football
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