MIDSTATE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Wheeler rolls to first region crown; WACO, Bleckley finish strong in final games

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TOP DAWGS: Wheeler County players celebrate with the region championship trophy after Friday’s decisive win over Treutlen to claim it for the first time in their school’s history/LOGAN REYNOLDS, GTLN

Wheeler Co. 58, Treutlen 14

Deciding factor: It started as the defensive battle the Vikings needed for a shot to win, but after a half, turned to the big-play sprint in which Wheeler County had a decided edge. The Bulldogs, who held a lead of only 21-14 at the half, busted out with 37 unanswered points down the stretch to run away with their first region championship in history. Featured rusher Alvin Ricks scored five of the eight touchdowns, and ran for a little over half their 420 yards on the ground. Justin Culver also rushed for triple-digits, joining Jah Dinkins and Malik Madison with additional scores. The Wheeler County defense, all told, held Treutlen to under 100.

Pivotal moment: Treutlen opened hot, as Kavion Peeples went deep off of play action on a fourth down to find Zan Stokes for a 53-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. The Vikings added to their lead as Peanut Tobler rammed in from a few yards not long after. But the Bulldogs would begin their explosion before the first was out with two big-play touchdowns by Ricks, who dusted everyone on an 80-yard run the very next possession. His third came toward the end of a quiet second quarter to put Wheeler County up for the first time ahead of its huge third quarter, which featured four touchdowns and a safety, as Treutlen kicked a bad snap out the back of the end zone, for good measure.

Game ball: Ricks carried 19 times for 205 yards and five touchdowns.

First round: Bulldogs vs. Manchester; Vikings at Mt. Zion (Carrollton), both Nov. 14

MADISON AVENUE: Malik Madison finds a lane to the end zone for one of Wheeler County’s five unanswered touchdowns in the second half that paved the way to Friday’s 58-14 win/LOGAN REYNOLDS, GTLN

Washington Co. 27, ACE Charter 21

Deciding factor: Similar to last year, when they picked off multiple passes to beat ACE in Macon, the Golden Hawks forced a couple of turnovers that were critical to closing out the regular season with a third-straight win. Their defense stepped up to atone for some inopportune giveaways of their own, starting with an ACE interception that cost them a scoring chance after the Gryphons drew first blood on a short touchdown run by Noah Syme. WACO had to wait on the field-position battle to shift its direction, but established a physical between-the-tackles ground game to counter the big-play reliant ACE offense whose key producers were Ace Hatcher (138 yards passing) and Brayden Vincent (with 116 and two subsequent touchdowns rushing). The Hawks struck back after a short punt from the Gryphons’ end zone was returned to near the red zone by Malik Carswell, and Kam Shaw pounded the ball in from 13 yards for a TD. The teams traded scores from there, WACO to go up on a Mack May touchdown pass to Jowonzia Ivey and ACE’s Vincent creasing one from 68, to send it to halftime tied at 14.

Pivotal moment: WACO’s first key takeaway came early in the third as X’zaira Miller pried the ball loose from an ACE receiver after a catch, and recovered to set up Shaw’s second touchdown run from 11 yards. The Gryphons struck back on a 17-yard Vincent touchdown run, then forced a fumble in WACO territory for a shot to break a tie of 21, but were haunted again by Miller as their drive reached scoring range, and he caught a trick play pass that was deflected in the air for an interception. May delivered the game-winning score on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Malik Carswell with less than 90 seconds to go in the ballgame. Shaw hit Hatcher as he threw on a fourth down near midfield to force a final turnover on downs.

Game ball: Miller, whose momentum-changing impact in preceding weeks came in the form of kickoff return touchdowns, stepped up defensively to help tip the game for WACO in this one.

First round: Golden Hawks at Dublin, Nov. 14

Bleckley Co. 49, Central Macon 0

Deciding factor: The Royals needed only 31 plays to generate 381 yards of offense, and they dedicated 21 to the passing game, in which the tactical precision of quarterback Brody Fleming was on full display over a pristine performance. He spread the receptions around, with Kelvin Sneed and Octavius Tate scoring twice each on a combined five receptions for 155 yards. Gage Harris also caught a 70-yard bomb for a fifth. The lights-out Bleckley defense handed out credit for 23 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and seven sacks. Landry Nobles led defenders with 12 total tackles, five for loss and a sack. Patrick Roberts had 11, two and one. Jireh Campbell had nine and three for loss.

Pivotal moment: The game was headed Bleckley’s direction from the get-go, but its trajectory offered a chance to get senior defensive tackle Tug Pasby in on two scores in the first half. He plowed his way in for a 4-yard rushing touchdown near the end of the first, and lined up in the backfield for what looked like a chance at another late in the second, but turned out to be a trick-play jump pass to Roberts from 3-yards out to assist in building a 42-0 Bleckley lead by the break.

Game ball: Fleming was 15-of-20 for 324 yards and five touchdowns to nearly match a season-best against Washington County Sept. 19. The performance helped the junior break a school single-season record in passing yards, with 2,224.

First round: Royals vs. Jeff Davis, Nov. 14

Wilcox Co. 56, Montgomery Co. 6

Deciding factor: Whether in the battle for big plays or field position, the Eagles were thoroughly overwhelmed in the finale to their 1-9 regular season, as Wilcox County’s defense held them to negative net rushing yardage and forced three turnovers. Melvin McAdoo, Deacon McDuffie, Billy Evans and others were in on key offensive plays that helped the visitors break the game open quickly out of the gate.

Pivotal moment: The Patriots forced a fumble in between their early touchdowns for one of their multiple takeovers on a short field that helped them score first-half touchdowns nearly at will. Kameron Cooper’s punt return touchdown early in quarter 2 helped intensify a rout that was already 30 points deep.

Game ball: A MoCo bright spot was the performance of quarterback Rilynn Dees, who completed 22 of 32 passes for 195 yards and the Eagles’ only touchdown on a connection with Kenya Tate. Dees also rushed for 11 yards on four carries.

Best of the rest…

Fitzgerald 35, Jeff Davis 21: R.J. Simms barreled into the end zone to finish off a drive out of halftime and give the Yellow Jackets a 21-14 lead. But Jeff Davis couldn’t catch Victor Copeland, who rushed 11 times for four touchdowns and 208 of Fitzgerald’s 348 yards, or slow down the Purple Hurricane on any of three scoring drives that consumed a majority of the game’s remaining time. The Jackets, rushing for 339 as a team on 42 carries, with 127 on 16 by Mark Durden, were forced to punt on the key possessions in between, with their lone touchdowns on a run by Ian Griffin and pass from Durden to Jacob Laney back in the first half. (First round matchups: Fitzgerald vs. ACE, Jeff Davis at Bleckley Co.)

MATHIS MAGIC: M.J. Mathis catches a bomb to flip the field, just ahead of his first of two touchdown receptions in Friday’s 34-28 win to secure Houston County its first home playoff game in a decade/CLAY BROWN, Houston Home Journal

Houston Co. 34, Lee Co. 28: M.J. Mathis came down with some crucial catches, five of them for 131 and two touchdowns, as Ryan Maxwell completed 11 of 22 for 175 and two scores to help the Bears maintain at least six points out of their original lead of 13 built up early in the second quarter. The HoCo defense made plays to prevent enough of the big ones by a Lee County passing game led by Marcus Snipes’ 14 completions for 391 yards, and two touchdowns. Dueling punts, turnovers and giveaways on downs in a single-score game populated a key segment of the third and fourth quarters until Austin Stinson broke a 75-yard touchdown run that provided the Bears some key breathing room late. Abundant penalties scuttled many earlier drives, but HoCo successfully moved the chains to run out the clock after a final Lee County score to halve the lead with three minutes left. The win ensures the Bears will play at home in the first round for the first time under head coach Jeremy Edwards. (First round: HoCo vs. Creekview, Nov. 14)

Click here the full read on HoCo’s big win, courtesy of Clay Brown and the Houston Home Journal.

Northside 36, Veterans 22: The Eagles avoided what would have been only their second winless season (a first coming near the dawn of the program in 1965) with a dominant showing led by the three touchdown passes of quarterback Wyatt Henson. Northside’s defense also forced a safety and converted a special teams fumble into a 30-0 halftime lead. Veterans revived its hopes in the game with back-to-back scoring drives ending in Trey Byrd touchdown passes to open the third, but a long drive in response, for Henson’s final TD strike early in the fourth, sealed the season-ending win.

Peach Co. 42, Monroe 34: Ashton Barton rushed for a hat trick on 117 yards, with Samuel Sands adding nine completions for 113 and another Trojan score. But Peach County had to rely on some key defensive plays for the difference as Monroe rallied to nearly eliminate its 35-14 lead after halftime. The cushion created by first-quarter interceptions, one a pick-six by Deandre Stinson to open the scoring and another by Bryson Hughley to set up a Barton touchdown to make it 14-0, stood the test of three rushing scores by Ethan Albritton, and one each passing and rushing by Keyon Thomas, who threw for 231 yards. The Golden Tornadoes recovered one onside kick to assist in the comeback, but their last couple with under a minute left both failed. (First round: Peach Co. vs. Cherokee Bluff)

The Albany Herald’s Joe Whitfield has more from the game here in his weekly football roundup.

Screven Co. 22, ECI 21: The Gamecocks came from behind to clinch the region 3-Low A title on DeMarko Ward’s 14-yard touchdown carry with three minutes to go. ECI was intercepted by Slate Thompson at the Screven County 28 on its drive to potentially answer with under a minute to go. The Bulldogs outgained Screven 267-197 in total yardage, with Jackson Kennedy completing 14 passes for 132. (First round: Screven Co. vs. Glascock Co.; ECI vs. GMC)

Toombs Co. 52, Savannah Christian 24: The Bulldogs gave up the game’s first 10 points, but reeled off 31 in a row to take control and run away with the 3-High A championship. Joseph Owens threw for touchdowns to Gavin Fletcher and Justice Wilds on 45 yards. Justin Powell rushed 15 times for 177 yards and three scores. Donterrius Mincey scored another TD and had the bulk of the rest of Toombs’ 253 rushing yards. Slade McDonald ran back a kickoff 52 yards for another key score. (First round: Toombs Co. vs. Temple)

NO BETTER FEELING: Warner Robins head coach Shane Sams embraces Demarquis Cooper (15) after his game-sealing pick in the Demons’ 33-26 win at Perry/MICHAEL HARDISON JR, for the Houston Home Journal

Warner Robins 33, Perry 26: DeMarcus Cooper’s pick-six put the polish on a Demon win that originally hinged on a stonewalled two-point try to preserve their slight lead of 27-26 following a touchdown run by Perry’s Decorrion Daniels. Chandler Dyson threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third to help lead the Demons to the late edge in the back-and-forth game that completed a comeback from outside the region’s top four to the runner-up spot, and clinched a home game (vs. Eastside) in the first round. Perry, seeded fourth, draws defending state champion North Oconee.

Windsor 35, Augusta Prep 8: “Santa,” the Knights Santiago Medina, came a couple months early and joined a team of Windsor playmakers in helping deliver a play-in round win. Medina had 124 yards from scrimmage on three catches and three carries, plus an interception and multiple long punts. Heath Woodard was 23-of-34 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns, finding Dalton Sims twice for 71 yards and two scores and Dawson Sims six times for 55. Blayne Bennett, who caught Woodard’s third touchdown pass, recorded 12 total tackles, with four for loss and a sack, to lead the way for a Windsor defense that forced three turnovers.

For more from the game by the Macon Melody’s Micah Johnston, click here.