Our Georgia high school Week 10 Pick-6 predictions lead into the final weeks of the 2023 regular season, and we now are starting to see teams really jockey for those playoff seeds. Whether it’s a team simply fighting to make it into the postseason or trying to secure one of the top two playoff seeds for a home playoff game, these final couple of weeks are going to determine who’s in and who’s out.
Our lineup of Georgia high school Week 10 games are some of the best yet – and the toughest for which to make predictions! Just about every game I have selected for this week’s Pick-6 is a coin toss. We start with Camden County at Valdosta, which promises to be a great game. Coach Jeff Herron’s Wildcats are recovering from a tough loss to Colquitt County, while Valdosta is coming off a region win at Richmond Hill. In Region 1-7A, it’s survival of the fittest, with one team out of the five region members to be left out in the cold.
Carrollton is hosting Westlake in what should be an offensive barrage of talent from both teams, with the Trojans averaging 45 points per game and Westlake averaging 41. Houston County will try to hand Thomas County Central its first loss of the year in what will be the Yellow Jackets’ first real test of the season. Jeremy Edwards is in his second season as the Bears head coach, and he will try to keep his Bears offense rolling against the Yellow Jackets.
Four more great games complete our Georgia high school Week 10 predictions, including Cedar Grove and coach John Adams trying to find their groove against the defending state champion Patriots of Sandy Creek and head coach Darius Smiley. Vidalia is trying to win perhaps its biggest game in years in taking on the Pirates of Appling County, and the same can be said of Wayne County as the Yellow Jackets try to take down Benedictine. What a lineup of games as the underdogs try to capture big wins across the board. Let’s see how I do!
Camden at Valdosta
You may remember last season, when Valdosta traveled to Kingsland to take on the Camden County Wildcats. Valdosta was undefeated with an 8-0 record a Top-10 ranking in Class 7A. Coach Shelton Felton’s Wildcats were also 2-0 in Region 1-7A, and a win over Camden would set up a showdown the following week against Colquitt County for the region championship in the final week of the regular season.
But Jeff Herron is known as one of the state’s best high school football coaches for a reason, and the veteran leader’s game plan worked perfectly against Valdosta’s vaunted defense while his team took advantage of the visiting Wildcats’ miscues and claimed a 17-14 upset victory. Fast-forward to this year: Both teams enter the game with identical 6-2 records, and where it matters, both are 1-1 in region play. It’s a big one: The winner gets the upper hand in the region, and the mighty Colquitt County Packers await Valdosta, making this one that much more important. Our Georgia high school Week 10 predictions say Camden makes it two in a row …
Phil’s Pick: Camden 21, Valdosta 17
Westlake at Carrollton
With apologies to Dylan Raiola, Prentiss Air Noland, AJ Hill, Jeremy Hecklinski, and the other great quarterbacks in the state, I have seen the best QB in Georgia, and his name is Julian “JuJu” Lewis. He’s no dual threat, but what he is is the coolest dude on the field, with eyes in the back of his head. Just an incredible quarterback, period.
Of course, the Carrollton Trojans are not just a one man show – oh no, they have many weapons, including maybe the high school equivalent of Brock Bowers in their own tight end, senior Jordan White, and RB Kimauri Farmer is their go-to workhorse who seems to get stronger as the game moves along.
Westlake has shown it can play with just about anybody, as its 6-1 record will attest. One of the matchups to watch will be Lewis, who has yet to throw an interception this season, against a Lions defense that features three safeties with at least 2 picks already: Christian Peterson, Sebastian Wimbush, and Tyler McKinstry. Carrollton can wrap up the region’s No. 1 seed with a win, but Westlake would like to ruin that script. Can they?
Phil’s Pick: Carrollton 44, Westlake 38
Thomas County Central at Houston County
For the Yellow Jackets, their regular season is really two games: this one against Houston County and next week against Lee County. With one of the state’s easiest schedules so far, including games against Class 4A, 3A, and 1A teams, plus Godby of Florida, TCC will now play the two toughest games on its schedule in back-to-back weeks.
If the Yellow Jackets can win them, they deserve the credit. But Houston County will bring in one of the state’s best offensive teams, one that’s been tested against the likes of Lee County, Perry, and Warner Robins. AJ Hill is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in Georgia, in addition to being one of the best, period. There will be tons of talent on both sides in this one. It’s going to be a great game.
Phil’s Pick: Houston County 35, Thomas County Central 33
Appling County at Vidalia
What had looked liked an Appling vs. Pierce County showdown – again – for the region’s top seed just a couple of weeks ago has taken a bit of a different turn following a Pirates upset at home at the hands of Toombs County. Now, in addition to the Pirates and Bears, you have Toombs County and Vidalia trying to carve out their piece of the pie all of a sudden. That’s why this game has become an important matchup for both teams.
You can bet the Toombs staff has watched the game film of Toombs County’s 31-28 victory from October 6 in the hopes that they too can pull out a win. But to do that, they’ll have to slow down the two-headed monster of junior Trent Griner and senior Jamarion Williams, both of whom have over 500 yards rushing. Vidalia may have the defense to do it. They boast one of the stingiest units in Class 2A, allowing just 13.3 points per game so far. They are 3-0 in the region, and an upset would put them in the driver’s seat with Pierce County and Toombs County still left to play.
Phil’s Pick: Appling County 14, Vidalia 8
Sandy Creek at Cedar Grove
These teams represent the Class 3A state champions over the last two seasons, with Sandy Creek defeating the Saints last year, albeit on a controversial goal line scoring play, and Cedar Grove winning the title in 2021 over Carver Atlanta. The Saints also won the state championship in 2019, 2018, and 2016.
This year has been anything but a state title-type season for coach John Adams’ team, with a defense that has uncharacteristically given up tons of points while struggling to a 3-5 record. Still, Cedar Grove can take care of business with another region win against the Patriots this week, then a win next week against Carver. That would give the Saints the top seed in Region 5-3A, then teams better look out. Despite everything that has happened so far, you can throw all of it out the window once the playoffs roll in.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because Sandy Creek is the 3A state champion until someone else takes it away from them, and you can bet coach Darius Smiley isn’t going to let that happen easily, if at all. The Pats have a 6-2 record and are playing pretty good football. A win against Cedar Grove would squeeze this region race even tighter. It’s a big one for both teams, but there’s room for just one winner, and our Georgia high school Week 10 predictions say that is …
Phil’s Pick: Sandy Creek 33, Cedar Grove 21
Benedictine at Wayne County
We conclude our Georgia high school Week 10 predictions in Jesup, where it’s safe to say Jaybo Shaw has brought the Yellow Jackets a long way since their 51-7 loss to Benedictine two seasons ago. Of course, a lot more has changed since that 2021 season that saw Wayne County finish 0-10 while scoring just 72 points. But is Wayne County that close to being able to actually upset the Cadets of Danny Britt? In Shaw’s first season as head coach last year, he led Wayne County to 10 wins against just three losses. One of those defeats was a 21-point loss to Benedictine, 31-10.
Yes, that is progress, and the Yellow Jackets have some serious talent with RB Matt Fuller, a South Carolina commit, and Jah Ross, a standout two-way player. They’ll have their hands full trying to stop the 8-0 freight train that is Benedictine, and while Britt is the engineer, the men driving that train on the field are QB Luke Kromenhoek on offense, and Bryce Baker who will likely see time on both sides of the ball. Can the Yellow Jackets fans rally their team to an upset in this one? I mean, it has been that kind of year …
Phil’s Pick: Benedictine 30, Wayne County 14
