Northside Eagles, Houston Bears take charge in region with wins
The GHSA region 2-AAAAA title race gained a bit of clarity last week as Northside defeated Jones County on Thursday and Houston County cruised to victory over Warner Robins on Friday in a pair of playoff-impacting games at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.
Northside trailed at the half and struggled offensively for most of the game until cashing in on a pair of costly Jones County errors in the fourth quarter and pulling away for a 36-22 win. The Eagles completed just two passes in the contest, but were led to the victory by the legs of quarterback Tobias Oliver, who rushed for 192 yards on 27 carries, and running back Desean Dinkins, who finished the game with 136 yards on 24 carries.
Maybe surprisingly, it was the ground game of Houston County instead of its prolific aerial attack that also drew the headlines in the Bears’ 34-14 victory over the Demons. Houston County rushed 46 times behind a dominant performance by its offensive line, led by Chris Brinson who tallied 157 yards on 30 attempts.
This weekend will feature another pair of games at McConnell-Talbert as Houston County hosts Lakeside-Evans on Friday and Warner Robins looks to get back on track against Richmond Academy on Saturday. Northside will be on the road against Greenbrier.
Elsewhere in the area, Westfield continues its defense of its back-to-back GISA class-AAA state championships as the Hornets travel to Statesboro to face off with unbeaten Bulloch Academy. Westfield has had two weeks to prepare for the matchup with the Gators after outlasting rival Deerfield-Windsor 28-25 on Sept. 11.
Peach County moved to 2-0 in GHSA region 2-AAA with an easy 41-0 win over Spencer on Friday in Fort Valley. The Trojans will be at home again this Friday night when Rutland comes to town.
Veterans and Perry will finally begin their GHSA region 2-AAAA schedule when the Warhawks visit Baldwin and the Panthers travel to Mary Persons.
Veterans fell 49-7 last week in a tough road game at Valdosta, while Baldwin moved to 3-1 on its season with a 34-19 win against Thomasville. The Braves pulled out a tight 22-19 victory over the Warhawks in 2014.
Perry pulled off the big upset over Macon County two weeks ago, but couldn’t maintain the momentum as Brooks County left the Panther Pit with a 34-7 victory Friday night. The schedule doesn’t get any easier with a trip to Forsyth to play an unbeaten Mary Persons team. The Bulldogs shut out the Panthers 31-0 last season.
This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Northside Eagles, Houston Bears take charge in region with wins ."