Local Sports
Can Wilcoxmake it toEliteEight round of state a second straight year?
Now, there’s just one.
That’s the number of area teams still in the running for a state football championship and by 11 p.m. tonight we’ll know if that representative lives on for at least another week.
Carrying the area banner into the second round of the Georgia High School Association’s Class A playoffs will be Region 2-A champion Wilcox High, which to date has turned back every challenge to its undefeated status.
The 11-0 Patriots, who last year made it all the way to the championship game where they were forced to settle for runner-up honors to Emanuel County Institute, will be hosting Schley County’s 8-3 Region 4-A runner-up Wildcats.
Neither of the teams has met a common opponent to date so from that respect it’s tough to get a read on just what to expect from the combatants.
When it comes to their offensive and defensive averages to date, there’s not an awful lot of difference between the teams. Schley averages 30.6 points per game offensively and 17.7 defensively. Wilcox outscores foes by an average of 39.1-16.2.
Comparison-wise, the biggest difference I see between the teams is strength of schedule as in my book there’s no way the slate faced by the Wildcats is as tough as the one the Patriots have gone up against.
Whereas the only foes Schley tackled while finishing as the Region 4-A runner-up were the three other first-round state playoff delegates from its loop — Brookstone, Chattahoochee County and Greenville. Only Brookstone and Schley are still alive.
Wilcox, on the other hand, faced not only its three fellow region members that made it to state — Turner, Twiggs and Dooly — but also tangled with a couple of others that made it to the big dance — Wilkinson and Seminole. Wilcox, Turner and Wilkinson are still in the hunt for the crown.
Basing my prediction on the basis of both schedule strength and the home field advantage Wilcox has, I’m looking for the Patriots to emerge triumphant by a 34-14 count.
Whichever team actually does come out on top gets a quarterfinal date next week against the victor of another of tonight’s Sweet 16 matchups — Lincoln County vs. Eagles Landing. My guess is the winner of that one will be perennial power Lincoln County by a 27-13 tally.
Other prep playoff winners will be Miller County over Savannah Christian, Turner County over Brookstone, Wilkinson County over Whitefield Academy, ECI over Clinch in Class A, Cairo over Burke County, Carver over Woodward Academy, Baldwin over Shaw and LaGrange over Thomson in Class AAA, Brooks over Jefferson County, Lovett over Jefferson High, Cook over Toombs, Fitzgerald over Henry County and Dublin over T’ville in Class AA, Westside-Macon over Jonesboro, Ware over Mt. Zion and Statesboro over N. Clayton in AAAA and Lowndes over Bradwell Institute, Coffee over Chapel Hill, Newnan over Tift and Northside Warner Robins over Camden in AAAAA.
Looking at the colleges where Georgia has the week off and Georgia Tech played last night, I like LSU over Miss., Ark. over Miss. St., Fla. over The Citadel, Vandy over Tenn., Tex. Tech over Okla., Penn St. over Mich. St., Utah over BYU, Boise St, over Nevada, Ohio St. over Mich., TCU over Air Force, Cincinnati over Pitt, Ore. St. over Ariz., Md. over FSU and N.C. over N.C. State.
Last week, my average for the year continued to head south when I guessed right on just 19 of my high school picks (.731) and 14 of my collegiate choices (.778). The overall weekly showing of 33-11 (.750) knocked four percent points off my report card for the year. It now stands at .793 on the basis of 438 correct choices and 114 incorrect ones.
Harvey Simpson is sports editor of The Dispatch.
- Local Sports
-
-
Crisp beats Turner County 28-0
Rain, it’s been said, is the great equalizer when it comes to a football game. That’s not the way it turned out Friday night, though, when Class A Turner County found itself no match for Class AAA Crisp.
-
Schley County swats Wilcox in softball
ROCHELLE — If there’s one thing you can say about Wilcox High’s Lady Patriots to date it’s that they’ve been consistently inconsistent.
-
Top-ranked Patriots eye better execution
ROCHELLE — Effort and execution have been greatly stressed in this week’s practice sessions as Wilcox High tries to maintain the lofty perches it holds in the early Class A grid polls.
-
Fullington out to avoid upset in Valdosta
PINEHURST — Shocked 18-14 in last Friday’s opener by a John Hancock team that’s on an upswing after years of enduring lean times, Fullington Academy’s Trojans’ goal this week is to not get stunned by another foe that’s struggling of late.
-
Bullington hikes horseshoe club lead
CORDELE — Jean Bullington increased her first place lead to two games during Tuesday’s weekly pitching of the Crisp Horseshoe Club at Turner Park.
-
Dooly to get stiff test from Brookstone
VIENNA — After passing the first of their 10 straight Region 4-A tests when they blanked Greenville High 8-0 at home, Dooly County’s Bobcats go on the road this Friday for another stiff exam.
-
Berrien hands Crisp second straight loss
NASHVILLE — After going unbeaten through its first seven outings of the season, Crisp County High’s Lady Cougars have traveled in an opposite direction in their last two starts.
-
Wildcats get good news on injury report
CORDELE — Beaten and battered during their season-opening loss to Covenant Christian last Friday, Crisp Academy’s Wildcats will make their home field debut in much better physical condition come tomorrow night.
-
Crisp Academy beats Ga. Christian
CORDELE — For an inning and half, it looked like a youthful Georgia Christian team was going to give Crisp Academy all it could handle Tuesday in the Region 2-A GISA softball opener for both schools.
-
Lady Cougars dealt first softball loss
CORDELE — Not that there was ever any realistic chance of it eventually happening, but there’ll be no undefeated fast pitch softball season for Crisp County High’s Lady Cougars.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
