All the action left in the 2023 Georgia high school regular season is region games. These are where teams will play for the chance to make the playoffs, and those that are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot want to secure a home playoff game with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. In Week 9, our ITG Next Game of the Week features Region 1-3A’s Crisp County hosting the Tigers of Carver-Columbus, and it’s one of those matchups in which a lot is on the line. Both teams have a couple of region games under their belts, and the race for the top seeds is tight, with Thomasville, Monroe, Columbus, and Dougherty all still alive for a playoff berth.
Elsewhere, Peachtree Ridge football has found new life under head coach Matt Helmrich, the former Johns Creek coach who arrived two years ago. Helmrich took over a struggling Lions program that seemed light years removed from their days as co-state champions in 2006. (They shared the GHSA Class 5A state championship that year with Roswell after the teams played to 14-14 tie. The GHSA then changed the rules so that overtime would result in the event of a tie at the end of regulation.) The Lions look to keep their undefeated season going in what is the program’s biggest game since that co-state title game. Yes, it has been a while.
Other big Georgia high school region games in our Week 9 Pick-6 include Buford vs. Mill Creek and Camden County vs. Colquitt County in a battle of Class 7A titans. Berrien and Cook battle it out in the “Border War” of neighboring counties, while Mary Persons takes on Peach County.
ITG Next Game of the Week
Crisp County vs. Carver Columbus
We have a good one for you as the ITG Next Game of the Week. What a crazy season it’s been for Crisp County head coach Lawrence Smith’s Cougars football team. They started in fine fashion by blanking Dooly County 34-0. Then, in Week 2, they ran into a buzzsaw in Westlake. Since then, it’s been anybody’s guess what you’re going to get from these Cougars – not that it’s always a bad thing. They defeated Lovejoy and had huge victories over Northside Warner Robins, Dougherty, and Monroe.
Mixed in among those wins was another upset loss against Sumter. Still, the mystery Cougars are 5-2 with a 2-0 region mark, which is good enough for first place in 1-3A. But the Carver Tigers of Columbus would love nothing more than to beat Crisp County and join the Cougars at the top of the region race. This is such an important game for both teams, and we’ve got all of the action for you, with yours truly calling the play by play. But before I get to the press box, there’s another important call to make: Who will win?
Phil’s Pick: Crisp County 27, Carver 19
Peachtree Ridge at North Gwinnett
Its not an understatement to say this is likely Peachtree Ridge High School’s biggest game in over 25 years. The Lions never could hang on to the success that a 2006 state championship brought them, nor could they seem to regain the magic – that is, not until Matt Helmrich arrived in March of 2022. Since then, Helmrich has done exactly what he did at Johns Creek, which was build a playoff-caliber team in a short period of time. He took over a struggling team at Peachtree Ridge and led them to a 6-5 record last year. This year he has the Lions undefeated, both in the region and overall.
The Lions defense is giving up just over 12 points per game, while the offense is scoring more than 40 points per game. North Gwinnett is playing well under irst-year head coach Eric Godfree, who came over from Parkview. He has the Bulldogs at 5-2 overall and riding a three-game winning streak. The winner of this one takes a big leap in region 7-7A. Which one will it be?
Phil’s Pick: North Gwinnett 21, Peachtree Ridge 13
Colquitt County at Camden County
Colquitt County is coming off a bye week, and a rested Packer squad that is already considered the top team in the region is not what Jeff Herron and his Camden County Wildcats would be wishing for. But you know the veteran coach isn’t going to concede anything to Sean Calhoun’s Colquitt County team. After all, it was Coach Herron’s Wildcats who rocked the region race last year when another previously undefeated and highly ranked team came to Kingsland as a heavy favorite to win, only to fall to the hometown Wildcats.
Granted, that team was not Colquitt County, but it was the 8th-ranked Valdosta Wildcats. Camden handed the Cats their first loss of the year and kickstarted a three-game win streak that propelled it to the No. 2 seed behind Colquitt, the region champ. Can Camden County pull off another region upset in Georgia high school Week 9?
Phil’s Pick: Colquitt County 30, Camden County 20
Buford at Mill Creek
This one will once again be one of the most highly anticipated games in Georgia as Buford travels to Hoschton to battle Mill Creek. This game was played at Buford last season in front of an overflow crowd at Tom Riden Stadium, with the home team Wolves prevailing 39-27. Both teams came into that game just as they do this year, undefeated at 6-0. The 2022 Hawks would ultimately come out the winner, winning the Class 7A state championship, while Buford lost in a second-round playoff upset. While we can’t predict what’s going to happen the rest of the way of the season, we can try to predict what’s going to happen in this Georgia high school Week 9 region game. So, here goes …
Phil’s Pick: Buford 35, Mill Creek 30
Berrien County at Cook
This Georgia high school rivalry is known as “The Battle of the Bridges,” according to the Voice of the Hornets, Dr. Mike McCartney, and there are several reasons it will be one of the top Week 9 matchups south of Macon. For one, these two counties border each other, with only a scant 12 miles separating the county seats of Nashville and Adel. Another reason is the fact that it’s a big Region 1-2A battle.
Cook is led by big-play senior RB Keshun McKever, who has 398 rushing yards and 5 TDs on 70 carries in 2023. On the other side is one of the most electrifying players in Georgia, Josiah Davis. The Florida commit has more than 700 all-purpose yards so far for Ken Ethridge’s Berrien County Rebels. This is always a big game, but throw in region implications and you’ve got both teams looking at this as a must-win type game. Of course, only one will come out on top – who will it be?
Phil’s Pick: Cook 37, Berrien County 28
Mary Persons vs. Peach County
The Bulldogs of head coach Brian Nelson pulled off one of the state’s biggest upsets last week when they ended one of the longest winning streaks in Georgia at 20 games. Under Greg Vandagriff, Prince Avenue Christian had won 20 straight games and was an 11-point favorite heading into this one, according to the Maxwell Ratings. But Mary Persons was able to pull out the upset behind a 5-touchdown performance by RB Duke Watson.
As big as the win was, it was the Bulldogs’ final non-region game of the year, and now they’ll take on another team that has handled them recently, Peach County. The Trojans came out of the gate struggling a bit, but Marquise Westbrook has his team playing better heading into this one. They have won two straight, and a win against Mary Persons would have Westbrook’s Trojans back on track. Facing a big Georgia high school Week 9 region contest, can Mary Persons stay in upset mode?
Phil’s Pick: Mary Persons 36, Peach County 14
