Peach County rolling into game with Kendrick

Peach County is getting on a familiar roll, winning its past four games after a season-opening loss to Warner Robins.

The Trojans are coming off of a 25-14 win over Central, which puts them at the top of GHSA Region 2-AAA with a 4-0 record. On Friday, the Trojans look to stretch their winning streak to five against Kendrick.

“I thought that overall we played a pretty solid game against Central,” said Trojans head coach Chad Campbell, who has lost two offensive linemen this year to season-ending injuries. “We were able to run for around 300 yards, and despite a few busted coverages, we were able to limit Central’s offense for most of the game. We have had to move some people around on the line after losing Bryce Mackey and Tavian Belton for the year, but the pieces to the puzzle are starting to clear up more each weekend.

“We go a lot of years and never lose anyone for the year, but this year we have been hit a little harder with injuries.”

Kendrick is 2-3 and is coming off of a 42-0 loss to Westside and is 1-2 in the region.

“I try not to worry about who we are playing and just focus on what we need to do to get better as a football team,“ Campbell said. “We are halfway through the football season, and we need to make sure we are executing like we have played six this year. Kendrick tries to spread the field and get the ball into their athletes’ hands, and we need to be ready. Our kids aren’t dumb; they know we have to play it one game at a time, and we can’t look ahead to the big games that we have on our schedule. Right now Kendrick is the next big game.“

Peach County is a different team with senior quarterback Tyrique McGhee on the field. McGhee was injured in the season opener against Warner Robins and missed the team’s game with Perry, but he is healthy now.

He has thrown for 483 yards and rushed for another 203. James Jackson is the leading rusher with 343 yards.

The defense, led by twins Kyle and Kevin Nixon, who have 60 and 53 tackles, respectively, has given up only 32 points in the past five games after giving up 44 in the opener.

“Kyle has played on the offensive line for us, safety, inside linebacker and pretty much anywhere else we have had to plug him in to,” Campbell said. “We are very lucky to have both of those guys and they are very important to our football team. When they were in the eighth grade, I could barely tell them apart, but I do pretty good with them now. It helps that Kevin is about 20 pounds bigger.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Peach County rolling into game with Kendrick ."