Today’s interviewee is Michael Lough, founder/editor of The Central Georgia Sports Report. Lough worked for The Macon Telegraph from 1998 to 2017, serving as a columnist, assistant sports editor and general-assignment reporter. He started TCGSR in September of 2017.
1. The big game in central Georgia on Friday is Warner Robins vs. Northside. How do you see that game playing out and why? “I’d be pretty surprised – not fall on the floor shocked, but pretty surprised – if this wasn’t the closest game since 2018, when Warner Robins started this streak with a 39-34 win. A year earlier, the Demons won 28-17. Since then? 39-0, 47-0 and 49-7. Northside’s last win was 55-3 in 2016. And that sure won’t be repeated. Warner Robins has had more staff shakeup this year than in years past, and Jeremy Edwards – now at Houston County – really did an underrated and superb job with quarterback transitions. At some point, the Demons have to be a little more normal. And I think Northside has picked up a bit, too. There was a really good jump from the Jones County game to Peach County, and while I think that’ll carry over, not having Ricardo Jones [ankle injury] hurts, because you need playmakers anywhere and everywhere against Warner Robins. I don’t expect much conversation about a running clock, but I don’t think it’ll quite come down to a two-minute offense. Rivalries, though, make confident predictions look pretty silly.”
2. Another big one around those parts is Jones County vs. Perry. What’s your sense of those two teams. Can either win a state title or make a final, and why? “The defensive young’ns better be nice and rested and fed, because they’re going to be busy. Both teams have weapons in the run and pass game galore, and neither coaching staff is scared to try stuff on a Friday night (and God bless ‘em for that). The best game night atmosphere in Central Georgia should be amped, and everybody tuckered out on the ride home. It’s a little early for state championship projections for most anybody, but both have become established programs and teams to deal with after 10 games.
“The job Kevin Smith has done at Perry is as good as anything anybody in the state has done in several years. The Panthers have literally gotten better every year he’s been there, showing how important the right administration is and how important stability is. After two quarterfinal trips, yeah, a trip to Center Parc Stadium is a legitimate possibility. Jones County is in a similar situation, reaching new program heights each year under Mike Chastain, who took what Justin Rogers started and has run (and passed) with it. If they can get some depth going, no doubt either or both can play a 15th game.”
3. What other teams in the area can go far? Northeast? First Presbyterian? “We’ll find out a whole bunch about Northeast this week against No. 1 Fitzgerald. The Raiders didn’t get to finish the opener against Mary Persons, a 14-12 game when weather took over, so we don’t know about conditioning and finishing just yet, as well as how some new starters and regulars play. Plus, there won’t be many real region tests, so how strong they’ll be for a playoff run is a question. FPD in Greg Moore’s final season and its first year in the ‘new’ GIAA (one letter has changed and that’s about it) could easily send him out with a state title in that association (with 82% of the Class AAA teams making the postseason in two divisions).
“Warner Robins feels down a little, but can play 15, as can Jones County and Perry. Putnam County is the best area team in AA, and Lamar County in all of A, and both the War Eagles and Trojans have some big-time players. Anybody after those teams would be a surprise, as of now, although you can never count out Peach County, even after a pretty down game against Northside last week.”
4. What have you found most interesting through the first two weeks in Central Georgia football? “It’s been funky. Two weeks, two games of at least 110 points. A 16-game losing streak suffered by a Class A team broken on the road against a Class AAA team. ACE gets a new coach, Keith Hatcher, and notable assistant coach, Mark Farriba, and opens the season with 70 points, and then gets solid revenge against GMC on the road. Washington County loses by 42 at home to a team not in the 4A-or-higher top five? Macon County starts off 0-2, and loses at home?
“The first two Friday nights have been pretty suspenseful, and those two games mentioned above headline another week with some notable matchups – Dublin and Lamar County, for one – to go with the usual surprising head-scratchers. I went a putrid 16-10 last week in predictions, so my trust level right now for most of the Central Georgia young’ns isn’t too high. But it makes things pretty fun when you don’t care who wins.”
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