Six weeks of the Georgia high school football regular season have come and gone, with six weeks of it still to come.
So, what have we learned during the first half of the 2018 campaign in Southwest Georgia? Keep reading to find out.
Lee County and Pelham dominant: Both of these teams might be in different classifications, but the GHSA Class 6A Lee County Trojans and the Class 1A Pelham Hornets are not only unbeaten at 5-0 but also have been dominant in winning their respective games, especially when comes to allowing very few points if any.
So far, the defending Class 6A state champions Trojans have outscored their opponents 214-16 in their five wins, while pitching two shutouts along the way. As for the Hornets, they held their first four opponents scoreless in their first four games, outscoring them 226-0. However, in last week’s win over the Miller County Pirates, the Hornets finally gave up their first points for 2018, allowing several touchdowns in a 63-20 rout over the Region 1-1A rivals from Colquitt.
Lee County has one more non-region game this season after taking last week off, with the Trojans traveling to Thomson to take on the Class 4A Bulldogs, while Pelham will put its undefeated season on the line again against Stewart County at home this week.
A tale of three teams: While the Lee County’s and Pelham’s of the world have cruised to fast 5-0 starts so far, Albany’s three GHSA teams have had their ups-and-downs in 2018.
The Monroe Tornadoes currently hold the best overall record among the city’s three squads at 3-3, followed by the Westover Patriots at 2-3, rounded out by the winless Dougherty Trojans at 0-5 overall.
But, in the race for the mythical City of Albany championship, Westover currently has the advantage in that department, as the Patriots defeated Monroe 26-6 on August 31. The loss to the Patriots started a three-game losing streak for the Tornadoes, a streak that was snapped with a close 20-15 win over Dougherty at Hugh Mills Stadium last week.
Last Thursday, Westover (1-2 in GHSA Region 1-4A) fell behind early against the visiting Cairo Syrupmakers (3-2, 3-0), but rallied late before losing 27-25. The Patriots trailed 27-3 going into the fourth quarter before scoring 22 unanswered points. Still, Cairo managed to seal the win after stopping Westover with an interception on the two-point conversion attempt.
Dougherty and Westover have this week off, while Monroe travels to Brunswick for their final non-region game of the season before taking next week off. The Tornadoes will open Region 1-3A play at Crisp County on October 12.
How do the region races stack up? While some regions within the Southwest Georgia Network coverage area won’t begin the region schedule for at least another week or two, at least two of them have already well into league action heading into the last week of September. Here’s how some of these races stack up going into Week 7.
Region 1-6A: While Lee County is still 5-0 going into their game against Thomson this week, the team that the Trojans from Leesburg beat to win the Class 6A title last year, the Coffee Trojans, is 6-0 so far this year. Both teams will square off in Douglas on November 2 in what could be a battle for the region crown.
Region 1-4A: Carver (Columbus)-(5-0 overall, 3-0 in region play) is currently tied with Cairo for first place in this nine-team league, with Americus-Sumter (2-3, 2-1) dropping into sole possession of third place after falling to Hardaway 23-20 last week. Meanwhile, Columbus (2-2, 1-1) fell into fourth place all by itself after losing to Carver 44-28, while Westover finds itself in a four-way tie for fifth place after the loss to Cairo at 1-2.
For those Region 1-4A fans that are already looking ahead to a potential showdown for the region championship, Cairo plays host to Carver on October 19. Don’t be surprised if both teams are still unbeaten in region play by the time they finally square off at West Thomas Stadium.
Region 1-3A: The Crisp County Cougars, as well as the Monroe Tornadoes, both share this region’s best overall records at 3-3, with the Cook Hornets sitting at 2-4, while the Worth County Rams sit at 1-4. Two weeks ago, the Rams won their first game since November 11, 2016, as they outlasted Rutland 22-16. The win over the Macon-based Hurricanes snapped a 15-game losing streak dating back to that second Friday in November. The Rams defeated Southeast Bulloch in the first round of the GHSA Class 3A playoffs that night, before being eliminated by Greater Atlanta Christian in the second round.
With just four teams in Region 1-3A, only three of these teams will be assured of a playoff berth, with the fourth-place team being thrown into a pool of seven fifth-place teams from Region 2-8 for the at-large playoff berth. Having said that, every game will count when region play starts on October 12.
Region 1-1A: Pelham (5-0, 4-0) and Mitchell County (4-1, 4-0) are currently tied for the lead in this league heading into the final week of September. Just like Lee County and Coffee in Region 1-6A, both the Hornets and Eagles could find themselves on a potential collision course for the Region 1-1A crown to close out the regular season on November 2.
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