Lumpkin County football coach Heath Webb talks about his team's rematch with Oconee County in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
OCONEE COUNTY (8-2) at LUMPKIN COUNTY (7-1)
Records: Warriors (5-6, No. 2 seed Region 8-3A); Indians (11-0, No. 1 seed Region 7-3A)
Last week: Oconee County beat Douglass, 28-14; Lumpkin County beat Gordon Lee, 52-6
Where: The Burial Grounds, Dahlonega
Radio: www.northgeorgiasportslink.com
Time: 7:30 p.m.
The Statisticals: Oconee County leads series 2-1. The Warriors won 49-21 in 2022 in the 1st round of the playoffs. Last year’s game was not as close as the score indicated, as Oconee County led 49-0 at halftime. But both teams are vastly different this season. Oconee graduated the bulk of a team that made the Final 4. The Indians have used that rough loss as motivation this season. And things have flipped for both teams. Lumpkin is near the top of every statistical category in Class 3A, while the Warriors are in the bottom half and have been outscored 267-261 on the season. But the Warriors have won 4 of their last 6 after a 1-4 start to the season. Lumpkin is 8th in defense (173, 15.73 ppg), while the Warriors are just 26th on offense (261, 23.73 ppg).
What to watch for: The Indians offense vs. the Oconee County defense. Lumpkin is 2nd in offense behind the classification’s top rusher, Mason Sullens (1,849 yards, 10 100-yard games, 29 TD). As a team, they are averaging over 350 yards/game. They have scored 30 or more in every game this season. Oconee, meanwhile, is 30th in defense (267, 24.27 ppg) out of 50 3A teams. But after giving up 174 points (34.8 ppg) over their first 5 games, the Warriors have surrendered just 93 points (15.5 ppg) over their past 6 games.
