Huge South Georgia showdown highlights Class AAAA Friday slate

There’s a giant rivalry showdown with massive playoff implications Friday in South Georgia.

No. 5 Thomas County travels to No. 8 Cairo in a game that likely will decide the winner of Region 1-AAAA, Sub-region B. The top seed out of Region 1 ultimately will be determined by region play-in games, but the loser of Friday’s game would all but be eliminated from a chance at the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

That’s especially bad news since the 3-seed out of Region 1 will be placed in the same quadrant of the Class AAAA playoff bracket as No. 1 Buford and No. 3 Griffin, the defending champion. But Thomas County Central coach Bill Shaver isn’t worried about any of that, he says.

“You don’t ever look at that,” Shaver said. “Our focus right now is that we want to beat Cairo. By doing that, it’s going to make you the odds-on favorite to be the sub-region champ. And the sub-region champ then plays for the region championship.”

Thomas County Central has won the last three meetings with Cairo and leads the all-time series 23-17-1. Both teams have played stellar defense leading up to the matchup of ranked teams. The Yellow Jackets (5-1, 2-0 Region 1-AAAA) are allowing only 11.8 points per game. The Syrupmakers (5-1, 1-0 Region 1-AAAA) are allowing only 8.5 points per game.

But Shaver believes which team’s offense has the most success—or doesn’t commit the crucial error—will determine Friday’s winner.

“The key to the game is going to be whose offense can make enough plays or not make a killer play that causes their team to lose,” Shaver said. “Which offense is going to find their spot to make enough plays to win or to make a bad play to give a team short field, that could be the difference.”

Thomas County Central began the season with only one returning starter on offense. Quarterback Eli Taylor has add a passing element to the Yellow Jackets’ offense in his first year as the starter

“We’re throwing the ball a lot more than we have in previous years,” Shaver said. “We’ve sort of found our niche, but the big thing is that our defense has created a lot of turnovers to give us some short fields.”

The defense is led by a pair of star defensive ends in Matthew Prather and Austin Bryant, who is committed to Clemson, have combined for 18 sacks and 25 tackles for loss. Safety Earnest Harris has five interceptions.

Friday notes

Marist looks to bounce back from suffering its first loss of the season when it travels to Grady tonight. The two Atlanta schools have not met since 1956, according to Georgia High School Historians Association. The War Eagles (6-1, 4-1 Region 6-AAAA) was held to a season-low nine points in last week’s loss to St. Pius X. Grady (3-3, 2-2 Region 6-AAAA) has lost two straight under first-year coach Earthwind Moreland.