Private No. 1 Irwin County (2-1) at Class 7A Tift County (3-1)
(Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily)
These are bordering county schools separated by the Alapaha River. They played last season for the first time in 15 years, and Irwin intercepted five passes, returning two for touchdowns. Irwin went on to win its second straight Class A Public championship. This season, Irwin lost its opener in overtime to Fitzgerald despite a 324-124 edge in total yards, then routed Monroe and Wilkinson County. Against Wilkinson, Irwin blocked four punts in the first half. Nemo McCoy blocked two of them. The Tift game precedes Irwin’s Region 2-A Public opener with No. 2 Brooks County on Sept. 24. Tift County is under a new coach, Noel Dean, who won multiple state titles in Michigan, retired, then came back to test out south Georgia football. The Blue Devils started 3-0 against a weak schedule, then lost 24-7 last week to Appling County, the No. 6 team in Class 3A. Led by AJC Super 11 DL Tyre West, Tift is strong on defense. It has forced 16 turnovers, but the offense struggled to block and was held to minus-10 yards in the second half last week. Irwin County won last season 35-20.
Public No. 5 Clinch County (2-1) at Class 3A No. 3 Pierce County (2-1)
(Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily)
These two schools, located about 40 miles apart in south Georgia, haven’t faced each other in 10 years. Clinch County has won 12 of the 15 previous meetings. However, Pierce County is enjoying its best run in program history (37-3 over the past three seasons) and comes in as the defending Class 3A champion. The Bears, who have dealt with injury problems early in the season, lost to Class 6A No. 7 Brunswick 20-13 in the opener but have posted consecutive shutouts against Wayne County and Claxton. RB/LB Donelius Johnson is the Bears’ leading rusher with 175 yards, including 139 against Claxton, and tied for the team lead in tackles with 22. Clinch County was outscored 59-6 in losses to Macon County and Appling County but bounced back with a 40-14 victory over then-No. 6 Pelham last week. Demonte Massey blocked two punts, returned an interception 8 yards for a touchdown and made six tackles. Amazi Williams ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns. The Panthers have reached the semifinals or beyond for six consecutive seasons. Clinch won the last meeting, 14-13, in 2011.
Private No. 8 Wesleyan (2-1) at Private No. 4 Prince Avenue Christian (3-1)
(Preview courtesy of Georgia High School Football Daily)
Prince Avenue Christian beat Wesleyan twice in 2020, once during the regular season (52-26) and again in the semifinals (50-6). State player of the year Brock Vandagriff passed for 606 yards in the two games, but he’s at Georgia now. Sophomore Aaron Philo controls the offense now, and the Wolverines’ offense hasn’t missed a beat. Philo is 83-of-123 passing for a state-best 1,379 yards with 15 touchdowns. Bailey Stockton, Ethan Christian, Josh Britt and Elijah DeWitt all have at least 10 receptions and 222 yards. All four are juniors. The Wolverines average 378.8 yards passing and 64.5 rushing. Prince Avenue’s only loss came against No. 3 Calvary Day, 21-13 in the opener. Wesleyan is more balanced offensively, averaging 154 yards passing and 125.3 rushing. Senior QB Jett Miller is 46-of-68 passing for 443 yards, and junior Will Tucker has rushed for 230 yards. The Wolves’ loss came against Class 5A No. 10 Decatur 13-6 on Aug. 27. Prince Avenue is second in scoring (47.5 points per game) in A Private, while Wesleyan is No. 4 in defense (6.67 ppg).
Other games of note:
Private No. 1 Trinity Christian (4-0) vs. Landmark Christian (2-2)
Private No. 2 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (1-2) vs. Class 5A Blessed Trinity (2-2)
Private No. 3 Calvary Day (3-0) at First Presbyterian Day (2-1)
Public No. 2 Brooks County (1-1) at Mitchell County (2-1)
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