Sunday Morning Quarterback: What we learned
By MICHAEL A. LOUGH and RON SEIBEL
sports@macon.com
All even in the rivalry: With its 38-32 win Friday, Southwest evened the all-time series with Northeast at 23 wins apiece. Southwest picked up its first back-to-back victory over Northeast since 1999.
BarneyBall takes to the air: Barney Hester’s football teams at Tattnall Square were known for hitting opponents hard with the option game and misdirection. This year, Hester’s team has opened up the passing game. Through two games, Howard has passed the ball for nearly 500 yards, or two-thirds of the Huskies’ passing total from all of last season. Howard is 2-0 for the second time in three years and will be looking for its first 3-0 start Friday against Central.
Big start for Central’s defense: Central’s 31-0 win over Wilkinson County marked the first time in 14 years that the Chargers opened the season with a shutout victory. Central beat Central-Talbotton 43-0 back in 2001. The Central defense held two opposing offenses scoreless last year: Southwest (37-0) and Kendrick (14-2).
Some D in Dublin: Dublin has had a defense-heavy start to the season, winning 3-0 at Laney and thumping Johnson County 31-0. The Irish last had consecutive shutouts in 2013, 41-0 over East Laurens and 53-0 over Josey. And they last time they opened the season with shutouts was in 2005’s 11-1 season.
Stratford names a quarterback: After competing with returning backup Noah Hill during the preseason, senior move-in Sim Patrick claimed the starting quarterback’s job for the Eagles’ season opener at Savannah Country Day. Patrick, who played quarterback at Holy Innocents’ last year, accounted for 154 yards of total offense and threw for two touchdowns in a 41-33 victory.
Paging the 1980s: The first 10 minutes were pretty brutal for Warner Robins at Peach County, but the next 38 were a trip down memory lane. The Demons, with a large offensive line doing work, ran the ball more than 60 times against the Trojans and got a huge performance from backup tailback Javian Bradford-Jackson, taking over for injured Terry Harris. The Demons ran 21 more third-quarter plays than Peach County.Somewhere, former head coach Robert Davis smiled.
Rebuilding was warned: It was pretty clear that of the three Middle Georgia teams that reached state championship games, Washington County and Hawkinsville might be were in for down seasons after losing a slew of key long-time starters. Washington County lost its first season opener since falling 28-0 to Baldwin in 2007, and Hawkinsville hadn’t been shut out early in the 2012 season.
Youthful Mary Persons stands tall: Inexperienced Mary Persons overcame two second-half fumbles, giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown and a lost fumble in the first overtime before winning in double overtime. The Bulldogs managed 171 rushing yards against a defensive front that features four-star defensive lineman Michail Carter, while the Mary Persons defense and four-star junior defensive lineman Malik Herring held Jackson to 2 yards on the ground.