Demons, Trojans Slated to Play Each Other in Week 1 for 4th Straight Season
ITG Next is previewing some of the best Week 1 matchups that will start the 2025 Georgia high school football season. This week, we’re taking a look at the season opener between the Lee County Trojans and the Warner Robins Demons at McConnell Talbert Stadium on Aug. 15.
This will be the fourth straight season that the two teams have faced each other in Week 1.
Lee County head football coach Dean Fabrizio said he is looking forward to the challenge of facing a program like Warner Robins.
“They are always well-coached with Coach Sams, and they have great talent,” Fabrizio said. “There’s no easing into the season when you open with them.”
Warner Robins head football coach Shane Sams said that it’s important to test your team against the best opponents you can find.
“I always look to schedule good programs, and I know Dean Fabrizio will have a great team, and they’ll be great competition, no doubt about that,” Sams said.
This year’s season opener will return to McConnell Talbert Stadium after having Lee County host the game the past two years.
Lee County is 3-0 versus Warner Robins in the previous meetings. The current streak of games between the two teams started in 2022, with Lee County winning the matchup 27-10. In 2023 Lee County battled back from a 16-7 halftime deficit to win 26-19. Last year’s 45-28 win by the Trojans started a 13-game winning streak that saw them advance to the Class 5A semifinals, where they lost their only game of the year to eventual state champion Milton.
Despite losing the 2022 season opener to Lee County, Warner Robins was able to win 10 of their next 14 games, advancing to the GHSA Class 5A finals. They lost to Ware County, finishing with a 10-5 overall record. Warner Robins finished 9-4 overall in 2023, and last season they ended the year at 7-4 overall.
Lee County, Warner Robins Facing Big-Name Losses
Ousmane Kromah, Rasean Dinkins Among Biggest Names Lost to Graduation
The two teams will meet once again to start the 2025 season, and both head coaches will be faced with the challenge of replacing some big-time talent on opposite sides of the ball.
Fabrizio must find a way to replace Lee County’s two biggest offensive stars with the graduation of starting running back Ousmane Kromah and quarterback Weston Bryan. Kromah is headed to Florida State, and Bryan will be attending Georgia Southern.
Sams is also facing a big challenge with the loss of two defensive monsters in four-star safety and athlete Rasean Dinkins and five-star defensive end Isaiah Gibson. Both are now at UGA.
While those are the biggest losses, they aren’t the only ones each coach is facing.
“Obviously, when you lose players like an Ousmane Kromah and Weston Bryan, the questions are who is going to replace not only their production, but also their leadership,” Fabrizio said. “But we also lost some very good offensive and defensive linemen too.”
Sams is in the same boat at Warner Robins when it comes to linemen.
“We lose a solid guy on both lines with defensive lineman Ty’Quan Brewton and offensive lineman Freddy Pinder graduating,” Sams said.
Sams, who is in his third year as head coach, said Warner Robins will also have big shoes to fill in the defensive backfield with the loss of defensive back Nicholas Linder.
Fabrizio said his team will be returning just four starters on offense and seven on the defense.
“Our leading receiver from last season, Jaden Upshaw, returns, which is huge for us,” Fabrizio said.
The big question for Lee County is who replaces Kromah, Lee County’s best running back in school history. Right now, that task will fall to Canton Williams, who quietly rushed for over 700 yards last season as Kromah’s primary backup.
Lee County will be in better shape defensively, especially in the secondary.
“We were a very experienced team on offense last year, while this year we return a lot of experience on defense, especially on the back end,” Fabrizio said. “Our secondary returns three highly recruited players in (rising) senior Lasiah Jackson and (rising) sophomores Trey Bush and Montravious Clay.”
Bush and Clay started all 14 games last year as freshmen.
“We have some young guys that have been waiting in the wings, so to speak, that are ready to make a name for themselves, so I look forward to seeing who steps up,” he said.
After the opener against Warner Robins, Lee County will return home for three straight games in Leesburg. They will start off facing Hapeville Charter, then a much-improved Tift County team. The Trojans will take their first bye week of the season, then they will return to action with their third straight home game versus Colquitt County on Sept. 12.
After another bye week on Sept. 19, Lee County will open up the defense of their region title against Thomas County Central and Coffee, both away games.
Following a non-region game versus Godby (Florida) on Oct. 10 at home, Lee County will resume region play versus Veterans and Northside at home, then close out the regular season at Houston County on Halloween night.
“Every year is different, but the expectation here at Lee County always remains high,” Fabrizio said about the upcoming season.
Warner Robins Roster Spots Wide Open for 2025
Demons Also Need to Find New QB
Unlike Fabrizio, who identified his likely starters for Week 1 and into the 2025 season, Sams wasn’t as eager to anoint individual players just yet.
“It’s hard to pinpoint any one kid right now as far as who will be playing where,” Sams said. “We still need to evaluate guys and get through the spring before we make any decisions on who will play where, but, really, all of our guys have worked really hard this offseason.
“We have a good mix of returners from last year along with some guys emerging, so we’ll evaluate several positions and see how it plays out.”
While Sams isn’t ready to divulge names, we do know that Warner Robins will be looking for a new quarterback with the graduation of last year’s starter, Skyler Williams.
Williams, who signed with Kennesaw State, was one of the top dual-threat QBs in the state of Georgia in 2024. He finished his senior season with 1,974 yards passing and 1,054 yards rushing. He passed for 17 TDs and rushed for eight TDs. Williams was a First Team All-Region selection for Region 1-4A and was Warner Robins’ leading rusher.
The Demons also lose their second-leading rusher, Da’veon Latimore, who graduated, but the good news is that Travis “Sweet Feet” English Jr. will be back. The rising senior should assume the primary running back role in 2025 for the Demons. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry last season in a split role with Latimore, scoring eight TDs on 49 carries with 317 yards rushing.
One of those emerging stars that Sams could have been referring to is rising sophomore X’Zavier “Zay” Cannon. He’ll likely be counted on to contribute on both offense and defense. Cannon is an electric player who can play running back, receiver, and defensive back. His brother, Jordyn Cannon, will be a freshman and could break into the varsity roster in a number of roles, including tight end, running back, and linebacker.
Sams said that whoever steps up, his team will be ready to play a physical brand of football in 2025.
“I’m fired up about our team,” Sams said. “Our kids have taken leadership roles, and we have become a player-led team. I see a very unified team, which is huge.
“We want to be physical this year. We will continue to build our program around a physical style, and that is going to be our main focus this offseason.”
He said that all starts with getting his team stronger.
“The weight room is where it all starts for us,” Sams said.
After opening the season against Lee County, Warner Robins’ schedule doesn’t let up a whole lot.
“It’s another tough schedule with some really good teams and coaches, and we are very excited to see how we stack up against everyone this year,” Sams said.
The Demons’ 2025 schedule includes three consecutive rivalry games against Northside-Warner Robins in Week 3 in the Crosstown Showdown, followed by a game against Houston County the very next week. After a bye week on Sept. 12, Warner Robins will battle Veterans with new head coach Steve DeVoursney on Sept. 19.
Warner Robins’ region schedule kicks off with away games at Wayne County and Benedictine before the Demons take their final bye of the regular season on Oct. 10.
They’ll then return home to face New Hampstead and Ware County before finishing the regular season on Oct. 31 at Perry.
Lee County Looking to Add to State Record Season-Opening Win Streak
In addition to looking for their fourth straight season-opening win over Warner Robins, Lee County and Fabrizio also have their sights set on adding to their state record for consecutive season-opening wins.
According to Fabrizio, Lee County has the Georgia high school football state record for consecutive Week 1 wins.
“We have the state’s longest winning streak on opening week games with 15 straight wins to open the season, with seven of those being against ranked teams,” Fabrizio said.
