Hurricane Ian has taken center stage this week, forcing 17 of 20 games involving Northeast Georgia-area teams to move to Thursday. Buford, Gainesville, and Riverside Military Academy kept their games on Friday.
The short week of preparation could make for some interesting developments as every team in the area will be immersed in their region schedules by the end of Friday night.
We’ll begin this week’s notebook there.
A look at the regions
Region 8-7A gets started this week, as does Region 8-2A and both parts of Region 8-A, Division 1 and Division 2. Also throw in the GIAA and GAPPS and it will be an important night around the area..
We’ll know a little more after Thursday and Friday night.
As for the others, North Forsyth is the early front-runner in Region 8-6A with a 2-0 start. The Raiders are off this week but either Gainesville or Lanier, who meet in Sugar Hill on Friday, can join them atop the standings. Jackson County and Habersham Central have a huge showdown in Hoschton to see who can begin securing a possible playoff spot.
Jefferson started off its Region 8-5A schedule with a solid win over Clarke Central and travels to Winder-Barrow with a chance to keep pace with No. 6 and unbeaten Loganville atop the standings. Flowery Branch and Clarke Central, meanwhile, will be fighting for their playoff lives at Falcons Field. The loser will have two losses with the bulk of the schedule still to go in a region that may be the strongest in Class 5A in the first half of the season.
Region 8-4A turned on its head last week as both North Hall and Walnut Grove pulled off upset wins to put four teams sitting at 2-1 in the region behind No. 2 North Oconee. We may get a better picture after this week with several crucial matchups on tap.
Region 7-3A got off to an interesting start as Dawson County, Gilmer and Lumpkin County all opened with wins. Two teams projected to make the playoffs -- Pickens and Wesleyan -- both lost with White County just getting started this week. The Indians can make a huge statement on Thursday with a win over Wesleyan, a team they have never beaten (more to come on that below).
Ridiculous stat of the week: Buford has won 135 straight games vs. unranked opponents at Tom Riden going back to a loss to GAC in 1998. That does not include a pair of forfeit losses at home in 2012 due to an ineligible player.
The Wolves play host to Collins Hill on Friday at Tom Riden to open both teams’ Region 8-7A schedule. The Eagles are the defending Class 7A state champion but are battling some crucial season-ending injuries to some key players. They have not been ranked since the early part of the season.
There’s a good chance the streak will improve to 136 straight, the longest such active streak in the state.
Streak-busting time? Three teams are looking to break losing streaks of 4-or-more against their opponents this week. And all three of them look in prime position to do just that.
Gainesville has never beaten Lanier. The two teams were long-time foes in an earlier version of Region 8-6A and the Longhorns lead the all-time series 6-0. The two teams haven’t met since 2019. But the current Red Elephants may be the best Gainesville team they’ve brought into the series. Gainesville is 5th in Class 6A in scoring (37.0 points/game) and is a huge 35-point favorite on the road.
Jackson County has an even longer losing streak against Habersham Central, who leads their all-time series 8-0. This is their first meeting since 2007. The Panthers defense may be the key in this one. They are only allowing 12.0 points/game in region play and have forced 10 turnovers so far. The Raiders offense has 7 turnovers for the season.
And, Lumpkin County has never beaten Wesleyan in four tries. But the Indians come into their first meeting with the Wolves since 2005 on a historic roll. They are 5-0 for the first time since 1988 and lead Class 3A in defense, giving up just 40 points (8.0 ppg) on the season. They are in the top 5 in Class 3A in offense as well.
THE LINES
As always, there are more than a few interesting lines this week involving Northeast Georgia area teams.
No way! Really?
Jefferson is a 22-point favorite over Winder-Barrow. Not surprising given the history of both programs. But looking at the current numbers of the current teams, it’s definitely much too high.
The reason this one had most of us in the AccessWDUN sports department giving curious looks is mainly because Jefferson’s offense has averaged just 15.6 ppg over its past three games while the Bulldoggs are only giving up14.2 ppg on defense for the season.
The Dragons can be as explosive as anyone in the state. But against the three best defenses they have faced this year -- St. Pius, Oconee County, Clarke Central -- they struggled.
It’s possible we may be saying REALLY!? in a different tone after Thursday but based on where both teams appear to be at this point in time, 22 points is interesting to say the least.
Shocking line of the week
Buford is a 26-point favorite over Collins Hill. That may not seem that unusual on the surface, it being Buford and all. But the Eagles are the defending Class 7A state champions and this is the Region 8-7A opener for both teams.
Yes, Collins Hill is battling some key injuries to several star players, but they are still a quality 7A program expected to make the playoffs. Yes, the Wolves are the defending Class 6A champion, but this will be their third game of the season against another 7A team. They won the first two, but only by an average of 10.5 points.
Curious to know how they came up with that line.
Scattered, smothered...and will cover!
In this part of this new segment we’ll look at some of the more interesting games involving area teams and look at who we think will be almost certain picks to cover the point-spread.
Rabun County (-15) at Fellowship Christian: The Wildcats are in the cover section for a second straight week. They did not cover against Whitefield Academy, as we predicted, and they face another tough private school for a second straight week. The Paladins have won 64 games over the past 6 seasons with 5 quarterfinals appearances. It seems like a lot of points but Rabun County scored 28 last week against a better defense than they’ll see this week. The Wildcats COVER the spread this week!
East Jackson (+11) vs. Banks County: This should be one of the better games of the week. Both programs are experiencing improved seasons on both sides of the ball. It is the Region 8-2A opener for both. But the Eagles have won three straight over the Leopards, who are coming off their first loss of the season. It may come down to the final possession so why not take the points to go with it. Eagles COVER!
White County (+5) vs. Dawson County: The Tigers have dominated the series of late winning 3 of the last 4 and 6 of the last 8 overall, including a close 31-28 win last year in Cleveland. And Dawson County is the favorite on the road in this one. But White County has had two weeks to prepare and is undefeated at home this season. Look for another close game, with the Warriors possibly even winning it outright in another shootout. White County is a different team at home so TAKE THE POINTS! Warriors COVER!
AREA TOP PERFORMERS: With several thrilling defensive battles last week, it was an overall rough week for some of the area’s top offensive players.
However, Rabun County’s Jaden Gibson continues to lead the state’s receiving list with now 776 yards. The Georgia Southern-commit, is now just 527 yards from Stan Rome’s all-time state record of 4,477 yards.
West Roberts of North Forsyth climbed to 3rd in Class 6A in passing with 1,325 yards. He is 5th in 6A in TD passes with 13 TD but also leads 6A with 11 INTs.
The Raiders' Logan Curry also jumped up, moving to 2nd in 6A in receiving with 552 yards and 2nd in TD catches with 6. Habersham Central’s Zeke Whittington climbed to 5th in 6A in receiving with 510 yards.
On the rushing list, Banks County’s Andrew Shockley dropped to 4th in Class 2A with 827 yards after he was held to just 52 yards last week against Commerce, his lowest output of the season.
