With the final month of the regular season now here, teams around the state and northeast Georgia are digging deep as they try and make playoff pushes in their respective regions.
For teams in the AccessWDUN coverage area, all 14 games on tap Friday night are key region showdowns. While none will officially clinch a playoff spot, several teams can put themselves in position to do so next week with wins on Friday. Others, however, could see their playoff plans demolished with losses.
With that in mind, there are three huge games to watch Friday night that will help shape the stretch drive in three area regions. Jefferson will play host to Morgan County in Region 8-3A, Rabun County will hit the road against Elbert County at The Granite Bowl in Region 8-2A, and Commerce will play host to Hebron Christian in Subregion B of Region 8-A.
MORGAN COUNTY at JEFFERSON (REGION 8-3A)
For the Class 3A ninth-ranked Dragons (5-1, 3-0 Region 8-3A) and the Bulldogs (6-1, 3-0 Region 8-3A) it will be the second consecutive week of two region unbeatens battling for first place. Jefferson is coming off a nail-biting 28-23 win over No. 7 Hart County last week. Morgan County whipped Franklin County 35-16.
Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart chuckled about what seems a never-ending weekly battle for the top spot.
“Well, all winning a big game like last week does is just make the next one even bigger,” Cathcart said. “Morgan has been the top dog in this region for several years until last year. I’m sure they’re ready to get back there.”
Morgan County leads the overall series 11-7 but Jefferson took a 35-14 victory in 2018 in Madison. This will only be the fourth meeting between the two teams since 1969 but the Dragons have won all three since the series resumed in 2014.
Exploring just the stats, the Dragons look to have a big advantage. They are one of the most dominant teams in Class 3A sitting fourth in scoring (254, 42.3 points per game) and fourth in defense allowing just 64 points (10.8 ppg). The Morgan County defense is not in the top 25 in Class 3A (26th, allowing 18.5 ppg) while the offense is just 18th in Class 3A scoring 189 points (27.0 ppg).
None of that matters to Cathcart.
“(Morgan County) have a ton of athletes and are really playing at a high level right now,” he said. “Their quarterback [Sr. Trenton Folds, 55-of-90, 832 yards, 11 TD, 4 INT] is really, really good. He has one of the strongest arms I have ever seen in high school football. He could be the difference in this game.”
The Jefferson option offense has been steamrolling teams of late averaging 327 yards on the ground behind senior QB Colby Clark, do-everything sophomore Malaki Starks, junior Kolton Jones, and Tre Reece. All four have over 200 yards each on the season.
Regardless of the outcome, Cathcart says the region will take a more solid form after Friday.
“There’s no doubt we’ll all know more after this week about how the region is going to end up,” he said. “We’re excited about the opportunity but there is still a long ways to go. It’s a fun time right now.”
RABUN COUNTY at ELBERT COUNTY (REGION 8-2A)
This is the second week of a round-robin between the top four teams -- Rabun County, Union County, Elbert County, Banks County -- and will give the winner a possible share of first place at worst. Banks County travels to Union County Friday night as well.
A key element in this one could be The Granite Bowl atmosphere. The Blue Devils (3-3, 2-1 Region 8-2A) are tough at home. They are 10-3 at The Granite Bowl since the 2017 season, which is more than half of their overall wins over that period.
“That won’t make it easier for sure,” Rabun County coach Jaybo Shaw said. “That is one of the great atmospheres around the state. Anytime you get to play in an environment like that it’s exciting. We’re looking forward to it.”
The fifth-ranked Wildcats (6-0, 3-0 Region 8-2A) continue to batter their opponents and will put a trio of big streaks on the line. Rabun County has won 37 straight region games, 15 straight regular season games, and has won 24 consecutive regular season road games going back to a 50-14 loss to Jefferson in 2014.
But none of that matters to Shaw.
“Elbert County always has athleticism and last year’s game [a 45-14 win by the Wildcats in Tiger] was not indicative of how close that game really was, just like last week’s game for them against Union County [a 35-14 loss that was tied at 14 with 13 minutes left] was much, much closer than it finished. We’re expecting a tough battle. We’ll have to play our best game of the season.”
A potent Rabun County offense is once again near the top in scoring in Class 2A (6th, 272 points, 48.0 ppg) and in defense (7th, 74 points, 12.3 ppg). The Blue Devils are in the middle of the pack in Class 2A sitting 22nd in both offense (193, 32.1 ppg) and defense (123, 20.5 ppg) in Class 2A.
The key will be if the Blue Devils can find a way to slow down Rabun sophomore QB Gunner Stockton, who is averaging 268 yards passing and 93 yards rushing with a combined 30 TDs on the season, 20 passing (just 3 INTs) and 10 rushing.
“I think the turnover battle will be big,” Shaw said. “Elbert had three turnovers in the fourth quarter last week and I don’t expect them to make those same mistakes. We’ll need to make tackles in open space, and really just execute in all three phases."
HEBRON CHRISTIAN at COMMERCE (REGION 8-A, Subregion B)
The Tigers (5-1, 1-0 Region 8-A, Subregion B) have been one of the more consistently dominant teams in 8-A over the years but will face a Lions team (4-2, 2-0 Region 8-A, Subregion B) that is surging at the right time.
In fact, Commerce coach Michael Brown has been more than impressed with Hebron during its current four-game win streak, its longest since a six-game streak in 2010.
“This may be their best team ever,” Brown said. “They have a D-I quarterback, a receiver that is top-notch, a D-lineman and a linebacker that also are getting attention. They have a lot of talent and will be tough.”
While Commerce has never lost to the Lions in seven all-time meetings, the last two games in the series have been decided by just 6 total points. The Lions took down ranked team George Walton last month and played Class A Public No. 1-ranked Clinch County close before falling 46-28 on the road in their season-opener.
Hebron has averaged 38.7 ppg during its current four-game win streak, all against Region 8-A teams, and have yielded just 14.5 ppg on defense over that span. However, the Tigers' triple-option has been potent averaging 42 ppg, which is 6th-best in Class A, while the defense has yielded just 94 points (15.6 ppg). But 40 of those came in their only loss to Class 4A No. 7 Hart County.
Brown said it will come down to which team can exert their will the best.
“We’re going to do what we do, which is run our offense. We have to run the ball and try to run the clock,” he said. “I’m sure they’re going to try and throw the ball but they also can run it. But they’re also playing good defense as well.
“Anytime you play a quality opponent you find out what you’re doing well and what you need to work on. We feel good about where we are right now.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/10/842120/games-to-watch-3-huge-showdowns-will-shape-area-regions-in-week-9