It’s Week 8 of the Georgia high school season and region play has arrived in full force across the state. If the second half of the season is as unpredictable as the first – which consisted of mostly non-region games – then we’re all in for a real treat as fans. This week the ITG Next Game of the Week takes us to East Coweta, where the Indians host Carrollton in the region opener for both teams. There’s a lot of talent on display in this one, and we’ll have every snap for you to enjoy.
The game billed as the Winnersville Classic will be played at the home of the team with the most overall wins in the country, Valdosta High. The Wildcats are hoping their home field advantage can be the difference in this true classic of a rivalry. In another huge rivalry, the Houston County Bears try to get back to their winning ways against Northside Warner Robins in Middle Georgia.
It looks like coach Jonathan DeLay and his Thomasville squad may be heating up for a huge second-half run, just like last season when the Bulldogs reeled off eight wins in their final nine games. Other big Georgia high school Week 8 games include Lanier County trying to rediscover its magic against Clinch County, and Harrison taking the red-hot Hoyas to McEachern, which is playing 100% better in the last four games after a rocky start to the season. Can I repeat my feat of getting five out of six picks right once again in Georgia high school football Week 8? We’ll know around 10:00 on Friday night!
ITG Next Game of the Week
Carrollton at East Coweta
The ITG Next Game of the Week makes a return trip to Sharpsburg and East Coweta High School for this matchup between the Indians of head coach John Small and the Carrollton Trojans, led by head coach Joey King. Some of the luster of this much-anticipated matchup was dulled two weeks ago with East Coweta’s loss to the Lambert Longhorns in a 23-22 upset.
Speaking of upsets, East Coweta would love to pull one off by defeating the Trojans, who are led by sophomore quarterback phenom Julian JJ Lewis. It would be a mistake to overlook the quarterback on the other side of the field, though, as East Coweta has a pretty solid signal caller itself in junior Cohen Peeples. In the Indians’ first six games, Peeples threw for 1,161 yards and 12 TDs and rushed for 6 scores.
This Georgia high school Week 8 matchup means everything to two programs who both are coming off a bye week looking to get the upper hand in Region 2-7A. Can this band of Indians defeat the visiting Trojans?
Phil’s Pick: Carrollton 34, East Coweta 31
Lowndes at Valdosta
The Winnersville Classic always promises a ton of anticipation and excitement before and during the game. The teams’ overall records mean nothing in this crosstown rivalry, but the fact that this is the region opener for both makes it oh-so-important. The Vikings and Wildcats also are looking for a much-needed boost of confidence after each team suffered a tough loss in its last outing.
Lowndes has actually dropped two in a row after starting the year off with three straight wins. Valdosta has bookend losses around four wins. They Wildcats suffered a season-opening defeat at Ohio’s Massillon High and lost their most recent game, a road contest at McEachern they were favored to win. Valdosta made several costly mistakes and turnovers in that 28-7 decision. Both teams are in need of a win, and there’s not a bigger game to get one in than the Winnersville Classic.
Phil’s Pick: Valdosta 28, Lowndes 21
Harrison at McEachern
Both of these teams are red-hot as they enter their region opener in this matchup at Cantrell Stadium. They’re well-rested after bye weeks following big wins the week before. The Indians took down the visiting Valdosta Wildcats 28-7 in the ITG Next Game of the Week at Cantrell Stadium to notch their second straight win after starting the season on an 0-4 slide. Coach Kareem Reid’s team will try to keep the momentum going in this one as they host the Hoyas, but it won’t be easy.
Harrison enters the game undefeated at 6-0, and the Hoyas have done it largely behind a defense that has allowed just 53 points through those first six games. They are led by ATH Xavier Hill, who has lined up at QB, RB, and WR so far this season. The Indians are led on offense by RB Jaymeon “JJ” Campbell and QB Jaydon Kinney. Defensively, CB/safety Daniel James and LB Andrew Ruffin are that unit’s leaders. All four players were instrumental in the win over Valdosta and will be counted on to knock off the Hoyas. Can they come up with win number 3 while handing Harrison its first loss of the year? Yes.
Phil’s Pick: McEachern 35, Harrison 22
Houston County at Northside Warner Robins
Houston County has enjoyed second-year head coach Jeremy Edwards’ wide-open offensive approach, and with a great quarterback in AJ Hill to work with, it’s been quite a ride for Bears fans so far. Last week, HoCo welcomed Lee County to Freedom Field, and in a back-and-forth game, the visiting Trojans emerged as the winner. That was the Bears’ region opener; now they have to get ready for region game No. 2 against Northside Warner Robins, which kicked off its region schedule last week against Tift County at Brodie Field in Tifton, picking up the win in overtime.
This Georgia high school Week 8 game will give us one of the top position matchups in the state with Hill and the Houston County receivers going against Northside safety Ricardo Jones. What make this so interesting is Jones is an interception machine, with 15 career picks, while Hill is one of the most accurate passers in the state with just 1 INT in 118 attempts this season. He has a completion percentage of 75%, so who gets the better of the other? It’s gonna be fun to watch either way…
Phil’s Pick: Houston County 40, Northside WR 35
Clinch County at Lanier County
Despite a tough loss last week, Lanier head coach Kurt Williams has done a great job rallying his Bulldogs to the greatest start in school history: a 4-1 record and their first-ever Top-25 ranking. Now, with their region opener against Clinch County next up, Williams and his team really have a chance to prove they are to be taken seriously. Last season, despite finishing 6-6 overall and advancing to the second round of the playoffs, Lanier lost this matchup with Don Tison’s Clinch County team 35-0.
Lanier is led by BJ Jones and Nehemiah Davis, and quarterback Drake Wolford also has contributed to the Bulldogs’ fast start. Speaking of coach Tison, he and his team are accustomed to winning, so this is old hat for the Panthers. But with perhaps the largest crowd to ever witness a game at Lanier County expected, the energy will be off the charts for this one. Can that be enough to give Lanier its biggest win in school history to go along with all of the other history-making firsts? With the type of year it has been in Georgia high school football this season, I’m tempted …
Phil’s Pick: Clinch County 18, Lanier County 16
Thomasville at Carver Columbus
Will the real Thomasville Bulldogs and Carver Tigers please step forward? It has been tough trying to understand and predict these two teams, especially after each finished 2022 with nine wins and a trip to the 3A quarterfinals. For Thomasville, with most of that team’s starters returning, many were predicting the Bulldogs to be rolling toward a deep 3A playoff run at this point in the season. Things started off with a bang, a 22-point win over Brooks County. Then a 38-point loss to Thomas County Central was followed by a stunning 24-3 loss against Cairo. A third straight loss would come against Bainbridge before a win over a struggling Tift County team brought the Thomasville’s record to 2-3 after five games. Last week, Thomasville hosted Monroe for homecoming and came away with a 34-14 win.
On the other side, you have Carver, which also started off strong with two straight victories. Since then, the Tigers has gone 1-3, with a three-game losing streak stopped courtesy of a 40-0 win over Columbus last week. It’s been almost identical starts to the season for head coaches Jonathon Delay and Pierre Coffey. With each team trying to pick up a region win in Week 8 of the Georgia high school season, who will get it?
Phil’s Pick: Thomasville 35, Carver Columbus 21
