There were plenty of good victories in Week 2 of the high school season, but none may be as meaningful as the one at Tri-Cities. The Bulldogs beat Morrow 17-7 to give coach Rodney Hackney his first win in his second tour of duty with the program, this time as the head coach.
Hackney began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Tri-Cities in 1995 when Greg McCrary ran the program. He liked it enough to stick around and is currently in his 20th season as a head coach.
“I wasn’t getting paid, but I learned a lot,” Hackney told GPB’s Sam Crenshaw. “I circled back at Riverdale. I have double circled back to Tri-Cities. Being back here is a real full circle.”
It’s worth noting that Coach Hack doesn’t pick the schools were winning is easy. In addition to two stints at Riverdale, he’s been the head coach at Osborne, Lithonia and North Clayton, as well as Mays and Washington. In his second term at Riverdale, which lasted five seasons, Hackney’s teams went 34-19-1 and won two region championships.
Tri-Cities has had difficulty winning football games since 2015, the last winning season for the Bulldogs under coach Kenneth Miller. Since then the program has endured two winless season and gone 9-59. Tri-Cities was 1-9 in 2022.
Hackney knows it won’t be easy. But he likes the effort being put forward by his young team, which has only four seniors on the roster.
Tri-Cities hosts Redan this week, another team in a rebuild mode. The Raiders brought in successful Southwest DeKalb coach Damien Wimes to help turn things around.
Looks like The Branch is back
After last year’s disappointing three-win season, the Falcons have been impressive in both of its non-region games to start the season. On Friday coach Jason Tester’s team defeated St. Pius 31-13.
The Flowery Branch offense has put up 69 points in its first two games. It took the Falcons four games to reach that total in 2022. Josh Oliver threw for 158 yards and two touchdown passes and ran for another one. Malik Dryden ran 20 times for 137 yards and one touchdown.
A big night for Jones County
Jones County had no trouble moving up in weight class to knock off Class 7A Dacula 44-19. Quarterback Judd Anderson completed 10 of 15 passes for 175 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns. Zion Ragins caught four of the passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns and Jaivon Solomon caught five balls for 50 yards and one touchdown. Jaylen Dekle ran for 110 yards and one touchdown for the Greyhounds (1-1).
Northgate makes a statement
The Vikings improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2016 by beating Starr’s Mill 24-21. Not only did that snap a four-game losing streak against Starr’s Mill, it also marked the first time Northgate had scored against the Panthers since its last victory in 2018.
Evan Garrett had his second 100-yard rushing game, carrying 14 times for 122 yards and a 14-yard touchdown. Cade Bates had a sack, forced a fumble a blocked a field goal. Linebacker Braxtyn Davies had seven solo tackles and eight assists.
Northgate will have its hands full this week against a talented Villa Rica team that’s still looking for its first win.
Nice bounce back for Kell
The Longhorns rebounded for their lopsided loss to Class 7A Parkview in the Corky Kell Classic to gain a measure of revenge with a 41-29 victory over rival Allatoona. Tyriq Green and Quinterrius Gipson both ran for 121 yards and one touchdown and quarterback Kemari Nix threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 70 yards. Kyle Vaka caught eight passes for 169 yards and one touchdown. On defense, junior lineman Tyshawn Natt had 13 tackles, seven tackles for loss and four sacks.
First-time winners at Loganville, Statesboro
Loganville coach Gene Cathcart picked up his first win with the Red Devils with a 42-8 victory over Discovery. Sophomore quarterback Brody Hannah completed 13 of 23 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Ahmed Souare caught six passes for 113 yards and all three scores. Sophomore Luke Culbertson made 10 tackles and Dylan Britt came up with two sacks.
Statesboro made a winner out of Matt Dobson by beating Southeast Bulloch 12-7 in the second annual Erk Russell Classic at Paulson Stadium. Bruce Yawn threw a pair of touchdowns, a 84-yard screen to Josh Howard and a 30-yarder to Kyan McCollum.
About the Author
