Our Georgia High School Week 7 Pick-6 takes a look at games on September 29, and they’re some good ones. Region play is starting for some teams around the state, including a few of our Pick-6 teams. Appling County is playing well, and so is Pierce County as the two teams meet up in the region opener for both. Brooks County, coached by Maurice Freeman, is visiting the Bainbridge Bearcats of Jeff Littleton. It’s a non-region matchup, but still, Freeman and the Trojans could use a mid-season shot in the arm, and nothing would be better than a victory over the home Bearcats at Centennial Field in the Port City.
Wayne County visits Burke County, where first-year head coach Franklin Stephens has the Bears playing well. This is the region opener for the Region 3-4A rivals, and a victory gives the winner a head start in the race for securing home field advantage as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed. Remember there’s also Benedictine to worry about in the region, too.
Other matchups in our Georgia High School Week 7 Pick-6 include last year’s Class 4A state runner-up Cedartown, which takes on Central Carroll in a big region matchup. These teams finished as the top two seeds in Region 7-4A a year ago; this year the Bulldogs have struggled to start the season in non-region play, so it’s a great opportunity for Central Carroll to take the lead in the early region race.
Buford and Collins Hill will battle at Collins Hill, and how big it would be for Drew Swick to open region play with a win over the mighty Wolves. Finally, there’s a matchup of two of Middle Georgia’s finest head coaches and their programs as Westside hosts Perry in a key Region 2-4A battle. Perry just recently started winning consistently, thanks to the arrival of Kevin Smith and the changes he brought in culture and mindset. His Panthers take on a team that has only known winning – and nothing else. Coach Shedrick Risper has never had a losing season in his career at Westside, and he doesn’t expect to start now. But, at least on this night, one of those winning coaches will be on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Hmmm …
Appling County at Pierce County
These teams are usually battling it out for the No. 1 seed in Region 3-2A when they meet up, and although their Georgia High School Week 7 game will actually be the region opener for both, you can bet the winner in this one will have a decided advantage as they play the remainder of the 2023 season. Both teams are playing well coming in, with Appling County 3-1 after enjoying a bye week. The Pirates’ only loss in 2023 was to the defending Class 5A state champion Ware County Gators in the season opener.
Pierce County is having a phenomenal season so far, with a perfect 5-0 record coming into the game. Despite losing their top rusher and the heart and soul of their offense, DJ Bell, Pierce has still found plenty of scoring firepower. The Bears are averaging over 45 points per game with junior QB Caden McGatha leading the rushing and passing attack.
In the 2021 matchup of these two teams, it was the ITG Next Game of the Week, and a driving rainstorm grounded both offenses. Pierce County would rely on Bell’s 3 rushing TDs as the difference in this one. The Bears would win 20-0 and clinch the Region 1-3A regular-season title. The winner of this one will certainly have the upper hand in the race for the No. 1 seed in Region 3-2A.
Phil’s Pick: Appling County 21, Pierce County 14
Bainbridge vs Brooks County
The Brooks County Trojans have gotten off to a slow start to the 2023 season with just one win so far through their first four games. To be fair, each of those losses were to bigger schools: 3A Thomasville, 4A Wayne County, and 6A Thomas County Central. But Brooks has beaten those same teams and other schools of similar size throughout Maurice Freeman’s tenure at the school.
The Bearcats of Jeff Littleton are coming off a dominating 35-21 win over the Ware County Gators last week in a game that saw them control the time of possession by almost 3 to 1 (34:03 for Bainbridge compared to just 13:57 for Ware County). Once again Keenan Phillips and Antavious Murphy had a big night, with Murphy’s 13 catches setting the school record for most receptions in a game. Brooks County has three-year RB Chris Cole, but a lot of youth surrounds him. You can bet both Brooks County and Bainbridge will be in the mix once region play begins.
Phil’s Pick: Bainbridge 34, Brooks County 14
Wayne County at Burke County
Two veteran coaches find themselves on opposite sidelines in this Georgia High School Week 7 contest as Jaybo Shaw leads his Wayne County squad against the Burke County Bears and head coach Franklin Stephens. Although this is his first year as head coach at Burke County, Stephens is certainly no stranger to the school. He played for and graduated from Burke County in 1991, before returning there to start his coaching career as an assistant in 1996. Since then Stephens has been the head coach at Ware County, Lamar County, and for 16 seasons at Tucker. He most recently was head coach at McEachern before arriving at Burke County in the past offseason.
Shaw came to Wayne County after leaving Rabun County, where he won 35 games with the Wildcats. He has also done a stellar job at Wayne County, leading the Jackets to 10 wins last year, and he has the team off to a 4-1 start this year. Burke County is undefeated so far under Stephens. Wayne County is led by standout LB Matt Fuller, while Burke County is led by junior RB A’meere Williams. It should be fun watching these two battle it out.
Phil’s Pick: Wayne County 21, Burke County 16
Perry at Westside Macon
This Week 7 game features two Middle Georgia high school football coaches who have somewhat quietly built dominant programs in the shadows of more traditional programs. Shedrick “Spoon” Risper is in his 14th season at Westside Macon, and he surpassed 100 career wins last season. He has his team undefeated at 4-0 coming into this matchup against Perry and head coach Kevin Smith. The Seminoles will be rested for this one after enjoying a bye week.
The Panthers are 4-1 after a win last week against another Macon school, Howard. Perry has won four games in a row after dropping its season opener against Class 6A powerhouse Houston County. Both teams have senior quarterbacks: Colter Ginn leads the Panthers offense while Jessie Bell leads the Seminoles. This has the potential to become a great rivalry game if these two coaches can keep their team on the schedule.
Phil’s Pick: Perry 27, Westside 21
Buford at Collins Hill
Collins Hill continues what may very well be the toughest schedule in the state as it battles yet another favorite to win the state title – some say the favorite to win it all – the Buford Wolves. The Eagles are in the second year of a rebuilding mode after rolling to the 7A state title in 2021. Drew Swick was promoted to head coach following the resignation of Lenny Gregory after the 2022 season. He’s a young, high-energy coach who likewise has a young team that is still learning how to win. They are led by junior QB TJ Wilcox and two-way standout RB/LB Cam Jones. The Eagles have been in every game so far this season despite, having only one win to show for their efforts.
Buford will look to stay on track for the ultimate goal of capturing the Class 7A state title. So far, so good for Coach App’s Wolves. Led by the nation’s top quarterback, Dylan Raiola, along with KJ Bolden and Eddrick Houston, the Wolves enter this matchup undefeated and winning with great defense. Coach Swick has his Eagles team playing with a lot of emotion and they are headed in the right direction, but taming the Wolves may be too tough in Week 7 of the 2023 Georgia High School season.
Phil’s Pick: Buford 30, Collins Hill 19
Cedartown at Central Carroll
A year removed from playing for a state championship, Cedartown is another state power struggling out of the gate in 2023. Cedartown is technically 3-2 but one of those wins was a forfeit by Callaway, which self-reported the use of four ineligible players in the Cavaliers’ 27-10 win over Cedartown in a Week 2 matchup of the two programs. The Bulldogs have a new QB in Drew Ledbetter. The senior has played WR in coach Jamie Abrams’ offense the past two seasons. Junior Tae Harris is a UGA commit who is contributing on both sides of the ball as a DB/RB standout.
Meanwhile, Central Carroll is one of the hottest teams in the state under first-year head coach Umbrah Brown. The former Paulding County coach has the Lions off to an undefeated start, and one of the big reasons is the offensive weapons Brown has in his offense. Freshman QB JR Harris, who this content creator has been talking about since the offseason, has shown what he can do in the real season, too. He has thrown for over TK while completing 69% of his passes.
This will be the toughest test in 2023 for the freshman QB. But he’ll have plenty of help from RB Jonaz Walton. The sophomore four-star recruit has an offer from UGA, and there will be many more to come before this young man is through with his high school career. Can he, Harris, Coach Brown, and the Lions do it, or are Coach Adams and the Bulldogs ready to put the first half of the season behind them and return to the style of play that put them within a point of winning the Class 4A state championship last season?
Phil’s Pick: Central Carroll 35, Cedartown 31
