Bibb County will be busy Friday night with high school football action

Bibb County will be a busy place for high school football Friday night with six games going on at basically the same time in the county.

Five of Macon’s six public school teams will be in action, highlighted by Central facing Southwest at Henderon Stadium. Central is 2-0, while Southwest is 1-1.

“I don’t think that this game will make or break us, but we have not beat Central in nine years,” said Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree, whose team lost to Manchester a week ago after a win over Westside in its opening game. “I am excited about the direction of this football team, but we have to continue to win the day every day at practice and just take it one game at a time. Central may be 0-2 but they are the best 0-2 football team around, and that definitely scares me.”

Southwest will be led by quarterback Jordan Slocum, linemen Jerome Denson and Isaiah Goolsby and lightning quick Javoris Smith while Central will counter with quarterback Donald Lamb and receivers Kanuri Williams and Kendarius Murphy.

One of the most interesting games of the week will feature Twiggs County versus Northeast at Thompson Stadium. Northeast head coach Ashley Harden has the Raiders off to a 2-0 start and will face his former team Friday.

“It’s still a struggle for me because I have a very close bond with those kids at Twiggs County, a bond that goes much deeper than just coaching them,” Harden said. “It will be a bittersweet night for me, but in the end, it’s about moving forward and getting a win on Friday night. But yes, it will be a difficult night for me.”

Mount de Sales will look to rebound from a loss to Howard two weeks ago, although the loss did yield some good things for the Cavaliers. Mount de Sales will look for running back Adrian Hardwick to set the tone for an offense that was able to move the ball in the second half against a good Howard defense.

“Despite the outcome, the Howard game was a positive experience for our team,” said Mount de Sales head coach Keith Hatcher, whose team is 1-1. “This week is a big game for us to build on the positive momentum from last week and a very important game for us as we prepare for our region schedule.”

The other games in Bibb County on Friday feature Howard looking for three wins in a row against winless Rutland, Stratford looking to stay undefeated against winless Atkinson County and Tattnall Square looking for its second win against winless East Laurens.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Bibb County will be busy Friday night with high school football action."