CORDELE — Crisp County racked up another win Friday night against AA opponent Spencer on homecoming. This week the Cougars will face another AA team, this time a tougher opponent in Brooks County.

The matchup can be considered Crisp County’s toughest matchup so far this season and maybe even most challenging game they’ll play until the playoffs.

Brooks County is a consensus top ten team and has one of the best, if not the best defense at the AA classification.

The Trojans are averaging not only an AA classification state-best 3.5 points per game, but they have the lowest scoring defense in the entire state including all classifications.

“There are two things that come to mind when you talk about a Brooks County team,” said Head Coach Brad Harber. “They’re very fast on both sides of the ball and they’re very physical.”

Harber compares the Cougars earlier game against Americus to what players and fans should expect in terms of physicality for all four quarters.

If history serves as a reminder to Crisp County, the Cougars barely escaped last year with a 16-14 win at home. This time, they’ll travel to Quitman and face a team that has won 13 straight home games by an average of 26 points, including six shutouts.

“This is a good test for our team on the road,” Harber said. “You never know how the playoffs will be and at some point you figure you’ll be on the road for one of these games. It prepares you for down the line to have a really great team on your schedule.”

Both teams are in their final game in the out of region schedule, with Brooks County playing in one of the toughest regions in AA, Crisp County is the opposite.

The Cougars final four games, split between home and away games, all are against opponents with a below .500 record. Looking deeper into it, the four teams remaining on the schedule have won a combined two games, while losing sixteen (2-16).

Fans on Friday night can expect it to be full of defense and the key will be which offense can break through.