Hart County coach William DeVane understands the rivalry between Hart County and Elbert County. He’s seen it up close and personal since 1987 when he first joined the staff at Hart County.
“It’s very typical of a lot of small-town rivalries,” DeVane said. “I lot of people live in Hartwell and work in Elberton and a lot of people live in Elberton and work in Hartwell. They go to church together, they know each other, they’re kin to each other.”
And on Friday night all those bonds will go out the window.
The two Region 8-AAA teams have played every year since 1956, with the exception of 1994-95. Their predecessors, Hartwell and Elberton, began playing each other in 1921, making it one of the state’s oldest rivalries.
Elbert County holds a 31-27 series lead and won last year’s game 23-21. The Blue Devils have won three of the last four meetings.
If Hart hopes to reverse the trend, the Bulldogs will have to do it on the road. But DeVane’s team may be a slight favorite, as they’re coming off a 74-12 win over Oglethorpe County, which set a school scoring record. Plus, Elbert will be without quarterback Mecole Hardman, who is having surgery to repair a meniscus, and could be out for a while. His replacement is sophomore Turner Banks.
Hart is led by quarterback Cameron Fouch, a 6-0, 180-pound senior, who does a nice job running the team’s pistol offense. He throws well and runs effectively, but relies mainly on his stable of four outstanding backs: Keenan Dillon, Antwan Hazzard, Trey Clark and Trae Stowers. Junior Anthony Turner gives the Dogs a tall target with good hands.
In other interesting games this weekend:
Dodge County (4-0) at Tattnall County (3-1): Region 1-AAA Div. A has some pretty good teams and this game will go toward determining who goes to the playoffs and who gets to keep homefield advantage.
Dodge is led by quarterback Landon Martin and running back Roscoe Wilcox and average 33 points per game. Tattnall, which lost to Appling County last week, has an outstanding running back in Desmond Mitchell.
The two teams haven’t played since 2007 and Dodge has won the only two previous meetings.
Sonoraville (3-1) at Adairsville (3-0): Both teams look like they could be bound for the playoffs, but both still have dates with No. 2-ranked Calhoun. No. 9 Adairsville is 7-1 against Sonoraville and has won the last five meetings.
After losing its first game to Model, Sonoraville has won three straight and scored no fewer than 35 points in any of the wins. Dylan Dixon ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s win over Coahulla Creek.
Adairsville’s offense is led by quarterback Marcus Childers and running back Sidnee Johnson. The Tigers will try to build on their big win over then-ranked Ringgold two weeks ago.
Sonoraville is trying to make the playoffs for the second straight year under coach Jim Kremer took over as head coach after spending last season as defensive coordinator.
Calhoun (4-0) at Ringgold (3-1): No. 2 Calhoun has overpowered everyone since struggling to beat rival Dalton the first week. The Yellow Jackets have 22 seniors who have provided good leadership as the school moved up a level of competition into Class AAA.
The Yellow Jackets are led by quarterback Kaelan Riley and the one-two running back punch of Cole Jackson and Olico Dennis, who scored three times last week. Ringgold bounced back from its loss to Adairsville by dominating Gordon Central.
The two teams haven’t played since 1985. Calhoun leads the series 15-10-2.
Franklin County (1-2) at Banks County (3-1): In this Region 7 game, Banks County will try to unleash the running back duo of Trevae Cain and Demetrius Walker; they combined for 240 yards against East Jackson. Quarterback Griffin Goodwin has shown poise for a sophomore and is an accurate passer.
Franklin has played a more demanding schedule and picked up its first win last week. The Lions are replaced a lot of key starters from last year, but are considered a playoff contender behind a line led by tackle Will Bryant and Drew Akin.
