Coming up: This week’s top high school football games in Middle Georgia

By Michael A. Lough and Ron Seibel

sports@macon.com

September 3, 2016 6:04 PM

Freedom Field is the home stadium for the football teams at Houston County and Veterans. Woody Marshall wmarshall@macon.com

Macon County at Irwin County, Monday

Pushed back because of weather, this offers the GHSA Class 1A state finalist of the past two years against a favorite to be a finalist this year.

Houston County vs. Veterans

The Warhawks come into their Freedom Field debut with the momentum of a road win. But Veterans needs to get some offense going in a big way.

Lanier at Northside

Lanier brings in several D-I prospects on the offensive line and defense, and Northside will have spent a week focusing on all sorts of things after the scare at Westside.

Locust Grove at Jones County

The Wildcats are 2-0 and have outscored opponents 86-21. Jones County should be at close to full health for this Region 4-5A opener after a week off.

Central vs. Southwest (Henderson Stadium)

After wins over Mount de Sales and Howard, Central takes on the first Bibb County team to defeat Westside. Southwest, meanwhile, looks to get some offense going after a 35-6 loss at Manchester.

Howard vs. Rutland (Ed DeFore Sports Complex)

Rutland is looking at a potential 2-1 start under new head coach Mark Daniel, while Howard is looking to avoid an 0-4 start.

Northeast at Twiggs County

A battle between neighbors takes on some urgency for Northeast, which is 0-2 after a pair of comeback efforts fell just short. Twiggs County topped Toombs County in its opener before falling to Cambridge Christian of Tampa, ranked second in FHSAA Class 2A, on Saturday.

Hawkinsville at FPD

A solid test for a pair of 2-0 teams. Hawkinsville needed overtime to beat Bleckley County and beat Wilcox County by six, while FPD had comfortable wins over Howard and Brookstone.

Fitzgerald at Macon County

About 3,500 people live in Montezuma and about 9,000 call Fitzgerald home. Of that 12,500, about half will try to make this game. They could play at a good Class 4A stadium and fill it for this classic.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Coming up: This week’s top high school football games in Middle Georgia."