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Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Middle Georgia quintet dominates GISA first round

All five Middle Georgia GISA schools won their playoff openers giving the area five of the eight quarterfinal playoff teams.

It’s the first time since 2003 that all four Bibb County schools advanced past the first round.

That season, FPD, Mount de Sales and Stratford all lost in the quarterfinals. Only Tattnall Square made it past that round. The Trojans lost to George Walton in the championship game.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Despite playing together on offense for an entire season, Dublin quarterback Rob East and tight end Ben East had yet to have a connection through nine games.

But the sophomore quarterback found his senior tight end for a 20-yard touchdown in the first quarter of the Irish’s 17-10 home loss to Jefferson County on Friday.

Ben East caught the pass with one hand over the middle, and then took a shot from a defender which actually appeared help him bring the ball into his body before running the last 10 yards for the touchdown. The score gave Dublin a 7-0 lead.

REMATCH

No one in Dublin or Folkston will forget the last time Dublin and Charlton County met in a football game.

Some of that is because seemingly every person in both communities made the trip to the Shamrock Bowl. But mostly it’s because Dublin and Charlton tied at 13 for the 2006 GHSA Class AA state championship.

The two teams will meet in the first round of the AA state playoffs Friday.

“Yeah, I guess we have a little history between the two of us,” Dublin head coach Roger Holmes said with a smile. “But last time we were in the Shamrock Bowl. Now we have to go to The Swamp. That’s a big difference.”

NEW LOOK

Although Jones County finished with a .500 record, it may have had a more profound impact than may seem.

Following his team’s loss to Upson-Lee to finish the year, Greyhounds head coach Dwight Jones mentioned the atmosphere surrounding the program had changed.

“We’re no longer a team that is everyone’s whipping boy,” he said.

In 2008, the Greyhounds lost to the top three teams in the region by a combined score of 131-42. This season, the margin was only 41 points in those three games.

The Greyhounds also had their chances to win other crucial region games. They led 27-14 at halftime against Harris County but couldn’t hold on, and they were unable to pull out a tight game against Hardaway.

“Those games are games you have to win if you want to be an upper echelon football team, and we’re in a region that is pretty good,” Jones said.