Busy night ahead
By Kyle Dean/Sports Editor
Turner will play in Hawkinsville tonight, and next week will host the third seed from 1-A.
Fitzgerald will play at Thomasville tonight for the second seed out of Region 1-AA. After an 0-4 start that included close losses to Thomas County Central (13-7), Colquitt County (10-7), Class AAA No. 1 Cairo (10-7), and Class AA No. 5 Brooks County (14-6), the Bulldogs have ripped off five straight wins in the region.
But Fitzgerald has been consistent all season long, only losing to Brooks County by nearly the same score as Thomasville (14-7).
Tift County will make the trek over to Douglas tonight, and will take on their rival -- the Coffee Trojans -- at Jardine Stadium. The game will decide the third seed in Region 1-AAAAA, and the Devils will hope to end a two-game losing streak to the Trojans.
Tift will have to shut down a Trojan offense that is averaging over 325 yards per game in region play. But the Blue Devils are giving up less than 230 yards per game on the defensive side of the ball, and will hope to contain Coffee running back Melvin Loving, who has rushed for over 600 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season.
The first-year Ryan Branch rebuilding project at Berrien has seen the Rebels go from a bottom-feeder to a respected program.
The Rebels will try and double their win total from 2007 to 2008 as Berrien will go over to Camilla to play the Mitchell County Panthers.
Cameron Jones and the other Rebel seniors will play their last game, but fans in Nashville could look to this class as the start of something good for Berrien.
Irwin County will finish their season in a tough way, as the Indians will travel to Rochelle to take on the Wilcox County Patriots.
Irwin has had some trouble this season, compiling a 2-7 record. But the Indians played a tough non-region schedule with the likes of Berrien, Fitzgerald, and Clinch County, and the Indians are building for the future.
Tonight’s picks: Tift over Coffee; Tiftarea over Robert Toombs; Fitzgerald over Thomasville; Wilcox over Irwin; Berrien over Mitchell Co.; Cook over Early County; Worth over Monroe; Turner over Hawkinsville.