Two outstanding quarterbacks will be at the forefront when No. 9 Hart County and Oconee County, both 7-0, meet Friday in Watkinsville.
Hart County quarterback Cameron Fouch has completed 77 of 120 passes for 1,360 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also run for three touchdowns and led a Hart offense that averages 39.4 points.
Oconee County quarterback Zeb Noland, who has completed 52 of 96 yards for 1,053 yards. The Warriors also county on sophomore running back Christian Casey, who has 792 yards and four touchdowns.
Hart also has a solid running game with Keenan Dillon (382 yards, five TDs) and Trey Clarke (360 yards, five TDs).The Hart running game averages 6.4 yards and has produced 20 touchdowns.
The winner will be tied for first place in Region 8-AAA with undefeated Jefferson, which is idle this week. Jefferson finishes the season with Hart and Oconee.
Hart leads the series 14-3, including the last 13. Hart won 44-14 in 2013.
Other games of interest this week:
Southeast Bulloch at Jenkins: Jenkins is trying to change the perception about football in Savannah. Long considered a gridiron wasteland, the Warriors could take a big step this week toward winning their subregion and clinching a first-round playoff game.
Jenkins hosts Southeast Bulloch on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, with the winner taking first place in Region 1-AAA Div. B. The Warriors (5-2) have won five straight games and are looking to make the postseason for the first time since 2010 when they went 8-3.
Jenkins is led by freshman quarterback Javonte Middleton, who has thrown for 559 yards and seven touchdowns. Middleton has completed 34 of 59, with four interceptions. He has also rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns.
The Warriors have been able to run the ball effectively with juniors Arkeem Byrd (430 yards, seven TDs) and Chris Brinson (335 yards, four TDs) carrying the load. Brinson also leads the team with 57 tackles.
Southeast Bulloch has won the only two meetings between the two schools, the last in 2001.
Cook at Dodge County: Cook (6-2) could win the Region 1-AAA Div. A championship with a win over No. 10 Dodge County (7-0) in Eastman. Cook has won six straight games and has already beaten Pierce County, which has one region loss. Dodge finishes the regular season next week at Pierce. Cook won the only meeting between the two schools in the second round of the 2007 playoffs.
Both teams prefer to run the ball. Dodge features four solid runners in Roscoe Wilcox (457 yards), quarterback Landon Martin (321 yards), Gerard Davis (317 yards) and Keith Glover (294 yards). Cook runs a hybrid Wing-T behind quarterback Connor Hilliard and running backs Jalen Bennett, Jay Smith, Tavian Allen and Dejon DeBerry.
Fannin County at West Hall: Fannin County (5-3) is the next to test Region 7-AAA leader West Hall (6-1) and its stellar defense, which has allowed only 65 points and has three shutouts.
Fannin comes with an oustanding passing game. Quarterback Brad Davis has thrown for 1,387 yards and eight touchdowns and has five receivers with more than 200 yards, including sophomore Cooper Earls with 26 catches for a 15-yard average. Tyler Beaver leads the rushing attack with 553 yards and three touchdowns and also has 14 catches for 318 yards.
West Hall prefers to keep it on the ground. The Spartans average 219 yards per game on the ground and has six players with more than 100 yards. The leaders are senior Tyquan Statham (452 yards, three TDs) and junior Kwon WIlliams (415 yards, seven TDs). Sophomore quarterback Jacob Satterfield has only thrown for 255 yards, but has proven to be a good decision-maker and manager of the offense.
The series is tied 3-3, with West Hall winning 49-7 last year.
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