Northeast Georgia-area teams will hold their final scrimmage tune ups on Thursday and Friday.
More than a dozen area teams -- 17 to be exact -- will be in action around the area and state. (See schedule below.)
Perhaps the most intriguing will be Gainesville heading over to Milton on Thursday. The Red Elephants are coming off a Class 6A state runner-up finish in 2022. The Eagles made the Class 7A semifinals, falling to eventual state champion Mill Creek.
Gainesville coach Josh Niblett said they are heading to the perennial north Fulton powerhouse, who lost in the 7A finals in 2021, with competition in mind.
“We have things to work on like everybody. But what I do want to see is our guys competing,” Niblett said. “I want them to play fast, play physical; show some toughness with an edge. I also want to see us finish drives.”
Gainesville returns some key experienced talent but also will be integrating some new personnel and does have some questions to answer, especially on defense, where they are replacing eight starters.
“We treat (scrimmages) like they’re Game 1 on the schedule,” Niblett said. “We won’t be looking for any one thing or at any particular group. We’ll be watching the entire team.”
New Jackson County head coach Korey Mobbs said he and his staff will be looking to see a renewed sense of confidence from the Panthers. They head to cross-county rival East Jackson on Thursday.
“We’ve made that a focus in the summer, to build the confidence of this group,” Mobbs said. “They’ve made some strides over the spring and summer.”
Mobbs knows this group was close in 2022, despite a 3-7 record. The Panthers were 0-5 in games decided by 11 points or less and 0-4 in games decided by 7 points or less in 2022. They led in the second half in two of their four Region 8-6A losses.
“Finishing drives has been another big focus for us. We’re looking forward to the scrimmage so we can go against a different opponent and see what progress we’ve made,” Mobbs said.
East Jackson’s Cameron Pettus, who guided the Eagles to their first playoffs since 2009 last season, also will be looking for how his team handles outside competition.
“We have some things we need to work on and look at but we’re also watching to see how (the kids) handle themselves against a team that is probably bigger, faster, and stronger than they are,” Pettus said. “It will be a good challenge for us heading into the season.”
Banks County and Lumpkin County will duel on Friday in Dahlonega. Leopards head coach Jay Reid is also looking to see what kind of progress his team has made over the summer.
Reid has seen a massive increase in the numbers and is still evaluating what they have heading into 2023.
“We have 62 in the system, which is the most we’ve had in many years. Just great to see the interest coming back,” he said. “We’ve had a really good summer and we’re excited about getting going. Lumpkin will be a tough scrimmage for us but we want to challenge the guys. Just looking to see how they handle things on the field.”
Lumpkin County’s Heath Webb, who led the Indians to their best season since 1976 and first-ever home playoff game, has a few new pieces in place and wants that one last evaluation before next week’s season-opener.
"Number one is to get out of it healthy," Webb said. "I want to see how our guys operate offensively and defensively the way they've been coached. I don't want our guys to start getting outside themselves just because it's Friday night, and there's an opponent in our stadium."
Jefferson will entertain Marist at Memorial Stadium on Friday. Coach Travis Noland said it will help them prepare against a solid rushing attack with St. Pius on the schedule in Week 3 and other primarily running teams later in the season.
“They are always tough and run a very disciplined offense so this will be good for the guys that haven’t seen something like that to get a feel for it,” he said. “But we'll be looking at lots of areas right now that we still have some questions about.”
Another interesting scrimmage matchup will have Rabun County, a perennial powerhouse, heading to Bowden, who won the Class A Division 2 state title in 2022. The Wildcats will be unleashing sophomore quarterback Ty Truelove and a plethora of young talent on offense and should get a stern road test before next week's season-opener at home against Haralson County.
(Bo Wilson contributed to this story.)
SCRIMMAGE SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, AUG. 10
Cherokee Bluff at Morgan County
Gainesville at Milton
Jackson County at East Jackson
FRIDAY, AUG. 11
Banks County at Lumpkin County
Commerce at Holy Innocents’
Jones County at Buford
Lakeview Academy at Lake Oconee Academy
Marist at Jefferson
Rabun County at Bowdon
Stone Mountain at Johnson
Union County at Chestatee
West Hall at Oglethorpe County
White County at East Forsyth
