Five northeast Georgia area teams are in the top 10 in offense and four are in the top 10 in defense in their respective classifications heading into Friday night's action around the state.
Buford (Class 6A), Gainesville (5A), Cherokee Bluff (3A), and Lakeview Academy (GIAA) all are in both in their respective classifications.
Buford is 10th in scoring (36.1 points/game) in offense in 6A and 5th in defense (13.3 ppg). Gainesville is 10th in offense (36.5 ppg) and 6th in defense (14.8 ppg) in 5A.
In Class 3A, Cherokee Bluff is 3rd in offense (37.6 ppg) and 6th in defense (14.0 ppg). Lumpkin County is 6th in offense at 36.0 ppg heading into tonight’s games.
In the GIAA, Lakeview Academy is10th in scoring (32.6 ppg) and 6th in defense at 10.9 ppg on the season so far.
STATE LEADERS
Heading into the final three weeks of the season, the races for the state’s yardage leaders are tightening up, as least for the passing and receiving titles.
One northeast Georgia area passer still leads his classification with six others in the top three as they try and chase down the leaders. Seven area players have now climbed into the top 50 in rushing. Four are in the top 25 in passing, with one still leading his classification. Only two are in the top 25 in receiving.
(All stats are provided by Georgia High School Football Daily.)
White County’s Tripp Nix is still managing to hold onto the passing lead in Class 3A with 1,716 yards, which is good for 16th in the state overall heading into the Warriors’ matchup with GAC tonight. He leads Cherokee Bluff’s Brooks Brien (1,631 yards), who moved into 2nd in 3A temporarily and 22nd overall after last night’s win over Oconee County.
Gainesville’s Kharim Hughley is 7th overall with 1,860 yards but just 3rd in a pass-happy Class 5A. Habersham Central’s Paris Wilbanks has now climbed into the top 25 with 1,594 yards and is 7th in 5A.
West Hall’s Elijah Hayes is still 2nd in Class 3A in rushing but has now fallen more than 300 yards behind classification leader Bryian Duncan Jr. (1,440 yards) of Cairo, who is 2nd in the state overall. Hayes is 10th overall in the state.
Class A Division 1’s Zayden Cook of Chattooga has piled up a whopping 1,959 yards to lead the state.
Commerce’s Tysean Wiggins is still 2nd in A D1 and 12th overall in the state with 1,113 yards. Rabun County’s Reid Giles has moved up to 13th overall and 3rd in A D1 with 1,090 yards.
Towns County’s Dustin Barrett has moved all the way up to 33rd in the state with 914 yards. Benjamin Plemons of Chestatee is 37th with 880 yards, East Jackson’s Drew Richardson is 41st with 865 yards, and East Hall’s Jamarcus Harrison has jumped into the top 50 with 823 yards.
In receiving, Habersham Central’s Zeke Whittingham dropped a spot to 12th overall with 772 yards, which is good for just 5th in the wide-open Class 5A.
Cherokee Bluff’s K.T. Thompson is now 18th overall with 731 yards, and 2nd in 3A, 255 behind Cody Bryan of Heritage-Ringgold, who is 2nd in the state and leads Class 3A with 986 yards.
