FRIDAY NIGHT SCOREBOARD: Bleckley squeaks by East Laurens, Dublin clinches region at Vidalia

Region 2-AA’s top teams had different experiences on the road, as Bleckley County wound up in a dogfight at East Laurens and Dublin enjoyed a comparatively straightforward victory at Vidalia, in the Heart of Georgia’s week 11 high school football action. There was plenty more mayhem at large in other places on the area football map where Appling County pulled off a shocking upset of No. 1 Toombs County and Swainsboro put up an unexpected 50 on Dodge County.

A busy start to the weekend included some state tournament softball, where West Laurens’ run in Columbus encountered a setback against North Hall in the winner’s bracket semifinal.

Here’s a look at all of Friday’s results. Full coverage will follow online and in print early next week…

Bleckley Co. 21, East Laurens 14

The Royals got a good pre-Halloween scare out of East Laurens, which grabbed early leads with touchdown passes from Skyler Snead to Major Floyd and J.J. Wright in the first half to make this the most competitive game in the rivalry since 2016. Bleckley responded to both with drives to score on short carries by Zyion Love, who’d punch in a third to finally put the visitors on top for the first time early in the third quarter. Though the Falcons prevented any further addition with stands to force a fumble and a punt, they spent the remainder of the second half in their own territory until a last-chance drive from inside their own 10 reached scoring range with only minutes to go. But trouble ensued upon entering the red zone, where a bad snap and two lost-yardage plays set up a fourth and nearly 40, on which their final shot was knocked incomplete.

Dublin 48, Vidalia 6

The Irish had no issue locking up their 20th region championship in school history, as they scored four touchdowns and forced one turnover in each half. Jamarcus Knight and Ryland Yates rushed for two scores each to lead another strong rushing effort that also included TDs by Dontavious Cannon and Jaydon McRae. McRae picked a pass and Knight recovered a first-half fumble. Yates also threw to Will Wallace for a touchdown. 

Riverside Military 44, Trinity 9

Witt Byrd connected on a 29-yard field goal to get the Crusaders first on the board, and Mason Lane rushed for a touchdown to help them re-take the lead after a Riverside score in response toward the end of an active first quarter. But the Eagles would dominate the second, third and fourth, following with the game’s last five touchdowns to run away with senior night at Cleve Warnock Field. J.J. Blackwell rushed for 247 yards and a pair of RMA touchdowns, and also ran back a punt 64 yards for the night’s final score. Jude Evans rushed for 55 and and threw for 57 for Trinity’s offensive lead.

Softball: North Hall 13, West Laurens 5

The Raiders once again put together a late comeback, drawing within four twice on a pair of Maggie Shea Lord home runs, as well as RBIs by Chandler Malone and Paisley Powell during the fifth and sixth innings. But North Hall, which would out-hit West Laurens 13-8, kept scoring to keep its lead out of reach. The Trojans advance to the final round in need of only one more win to capture the state championship, while the Raiders – who would require three consecutive wins in order to do the same – will have to face familiar state tournament foe Heritage in an elimination game to start their uphill climb Saturday morning.

Other area finals…

Johnson Co. 48, GMC 3

Treutlen 41, Hawkinsville 7

McIntosh Co. Academy 12, Montgomery Co. 0

Swainsboro 52, Dodge Co. 13

Wheeler Co. 42, Telfair Co. 25

Wilkinson Co. 12, Hancock Central 8

Washington Co. 48, Butler 0

Jeff Davis 41, Berrien 20

Peach Co. 52, Baldwin 24

Troup 42, Howard 14

Houston Co. 56, Northside 35

Northeast Macon 47, Pike Co. 7

Appling Co. 11, Toombs Co. 7

Jones Co. 51, Warner Robins 14

Tift Co. 31, Veterans 17

Peach Co. 52, Baldwin 24

ECI 36, Portal 28

Turner Co. 38, Dooly Co. 23

Stratford 54, Tattnall Square 13

Perry 58, Eagles Landing 6

Mary Persons 38, Spalding 7

Lamar Co. 31, Rutland 0

Jackson 23, Southwest Macon 8

THURSDAY: Upson-Lee 16, Westside Macon 8

THURSDAY: Callaway 42, Central Macon 6