In the long-awaited Region 1 showdown between the Thomasville Bulldogs and Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane, which usually decides the region champion and did so again this year, the Bulldogs came out on top with a 15-8 home win.
Thomasville Times-Enterprise editor Pat Donahue covered the game.
Either the Bulldogs or the Cane have claimed Region 1 in six of the past 10 years, with former 1-2A rival Brooks County — now in 1A Public — winning the others.
For the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs (8-1, 4-0), it’s their third region title since coach Zach Grage took over the program in 2016. They have a pattern of winning region every other year, also taking first place in 2017 and 2019. Before Grage arrived, they hadn’t won a region title since 2007.
The No. 2 Cane drop to 7-2, 3-2.
In Region 3, the No. 4 Bleckley County Royals survived the No. 10 Washington County Golden Hawks on the road for a 28-23 win, preserving their undefeated record (9-0, 5-0) and clinching the first region title for a program that began in 1977, though that distinction may warrant an asterisk.
Dave Whitaker of The Bleckley Progress has details of the Royals’ win.
The Golden Hawks (4-3, 2-2) play the No. 6 Dodge County Indians (6-2, 2-2) next week in a game that will decide third place.
The No. 8 Northeast Raiders went on the road and beat the Indians 21-7 to improve to improve to 6-2, 3-1, while dropping the Indians to 5-2, 2-2. The Raiders have all but claimed a No. 2 seed, with Jasper County (0-8, 0-4) and Lamar County (5-4, 2-3) remaining on their schedule.
In Region 4, the No. 7 Putnam County War Eagles earned redemption and beat the Jefferson County Warriors 28-21 to improve to 8-0, 5-0. With only Josey (2-6, 1-4) and Butler (0-8, 0-5) remaining, it would take unforeseen circumstances for War Eagles not win their first region title since 2010.
The War Eagles were undefeated and on their way to a region title last year when Jefferson County beat them 50-12.
“They’re not going to forget that butt-whooping we took last year,” War Eagles coach Shaun Pope said in a September interview. “We’re well aware. We knew we had to get physically stronger, and not just for Jefferson County. We want to compete on a state level...I think we’re stronger mentally and physically and that’s what it’s going to take to compete at a high level.”
The Warriors (5-3, 4-1) see their string of three straight Region 4 titles come to an end.
Here’s how the rest of the top 10 faired:
- The top-ranked Rabun County Wildcats beat Elbert County 45-7 as they close in on an eighth consecutive Region 8 title. Blitz has highlights.
- In Region 2, the No. 5 Jeff Davis Yellow Jackets lost 15-14 to the Swainsboro Tigers, dashing their hopes for an undefeated season and region championship. According to the game’s score tracker on MaxPreps, the Tigers scored the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute remaining.
- The No. 9 Haralson County Rebels beat the Heard County Braves 21-0 in a key Region 5 showdown to improve to 8-1, 3-0, and that may end up being enough to claim their first-ever region championship depending on what happens next week while they’re on bye. If the Braves (4-4, 1-1) can beat the Bremen Blue Devils, the Rebels can celebrate, regardless of whether they beat Bremen in their finale. However, if the Blue Devils (5-3, 1-1) win out over the Braves and Rebels, there could be a potential three-way tie between the Rebels, Blue Devils and Callaway (5-2, 1-1).
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