A running account of the Augusta area’s basketball and football scene. This is the blog. Go to @AugBball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for live coverage.
Top 150 (ESPN) player Christian Tutt and #2 ranked Thomson host Hephzibah in Friday's AugBball Game of the Night!
Follow @AugBball on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for live highlights and updates from the Brickyard Friday. And expect more Friday night football previews Friday morning!
Shot out of a cannon!
Playing a game for the first time in 28 days, Thomson's Christian Tutt, the area's best player, looked like he was shot out of a cannon Friday against Clarkston at the Brickyard when he ran back the game's opening kick straight down the field and into the end zone, and minutes later ran past everybody for a 40 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Mills Ridings.
Thomson (4-0), the #2 ranked team in Georgia's class AAAA, would take a 49-0 first quarter lead over the winless Clarkston and finish shaking the cobwebs off after the long, weather and scheduling induced break with a 69-0 win ahead of region 3 play. The Bulldogs will host upstart Hephzibah (4-2, 1-0), winner of 4 straight, in Friday's AugBball Game of the Night. Hephzibah is riding high after opening region play with a 41-6 win at Cross Creek.
Rebels coach William Harrell was recently honored by the Atlanta Falcons, I would think at least partly because of Hephzibah's early turn around from last season's winless season:
Conventional wisdom says that Thomson will handle the upstart Rebels in much the same way class AA's #3 ranked Screven County handled the upstart Harlem in last Friday's Game of the Night, which I detailed in part 1 of this week's previews (at this link.)
Players to watch - Thomson
The Bulldogs have averaged nearly 240 rushing yards per game behind senior Tyrek Braswell (99 ypg and 5 total TDs) and junior Bubba Murray (68 ypg and 6 TDs).
Bubba Murray vs Laney (8/18)
Christian Tutt is the area's most highly recruited player. ESPN ranks his the nation's 137th best player and the 17th best cornerback. He has scholarship offers from Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio State, to name only a few:
Thomson's Christian Tutt has offers from the biggest+best college teams. Not hard to see why here. Big half from JaCorey Crawford too. pic.twitter.com/it0vLdN5hq
The Rebels feature the region's leader in passing yards (Max Lockwood, 768); in rushing yards (Rayquan Riley, 618); in receiving yards (E'shawn Mayes); and in tackles and sacks (Elijah Mayes, 36 tackles and 6.5 sacks). Riley and E'shawn Mayes also join Thomson's Murray and Braswell as the region's leaders in touchdowns. Riley has tallied 10 scores so far, and Mayes 5.
The Rebels' victory over Cross Creek last Friday was featured prominently on WJBF's football Friday coverage, which can be viewed at this link: https://youtu.be/M-bbdU3j9Do
Coming soon are previews of North Augusta (6-0) and Grovetown's important home games Friday against two outside the area region foes. South Carolina's class AAAA #4 ranked Yellow Jackets will open region play in a homecoming game against Airport. Grovetown will try to improve to 2-0 in class AAAAAA region 3 play against the defending region champ, Heritage.
Tyquan Johnson (top) and Ty King (bottom) have Screven County and Jefferson County on a collision course for the class AA, region 4 title.
This Friday is the first night when all area teams will have officially made the leap into region action, sort of like Aquinas's George Welch did last Friday when the Fighting Irish jumped out to a 1-0 start in league play:
This is the first of several AugBball region preview posts before Friday's games. Here I'll focus on the area's class A and class AA regions on the Georgia side of the border. Soon to follow will be previews for class AAAA region action in both South Carolina and Georgia, as well as the key class AAAAAA region games in Georgia.
Class A Catch-Up
Aquinas (3-2, 2-0) is surging, having won two straight games including an important 9-3 win at Calvary Day two weeks ago. Because the Irish's state playoff hopes are tied to class A's "power rankings," the win at Calvary Day, which is currently #11 in the rankings on the private school side (Aquinas is currently #15), jump started the Aquinas's season after a 1-2 start that included a three week hurricane induced break from play. GPB Sports took notice of the Irish's big win and featured it on last Wednesday's mid week update:
Aquinas's more recent win, a 45-14 drubbing of region foe Hancock Central on the road Friday, wasn't nearly the nail biter as the game at Calvary Day. Quarterback John Paul posted 289 passing yards and 3 touchdown passes while completing 21 of 31 attempts in that win. Paul found the senior Welch for two of those scores, and Welch finished with 89 receiving yards on 7 catches.
Class A, Region 7B standings (Oct 3)
The Irish's next couple games, both at home, come against region opponents which aren't as close to the top 16 cut off in the power rankings needed to qualify for the state playoffs. First comes #32 Warren County (Friday), and then #25 Greene County on October 13. If Aquinas extends its win streak, its October 20 road game against Washington-Wilkes (#11 in the public school power rankings) will matter a lot. The Irish will then wrap up the regular season at Lincoln County the following week in another promising matchup. Aquinas, Washington-Wilkes, and probably Greene County and Lincoln County, are on a four week collision course of games that will determine the sub region's winner.
Live broadcast Warren County @ Aquinas Friday, October 6 at 6:30 PM
Speaking of Washington-Wilkes (2-3, 1-0) and Lincoln County (1-4, 0-1), those two class A public school teams, both rich with tradition, played Friday. Washington-Wilkes was victorious and the Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux had the game story at this link. Michaux's article the morning before the big rivalry game about Washington-Wilkes's 1967 state championship team was a fantastic read. It made me realize that I shouldn't wait until next season to get interested in this class A region race.
Class AA's two team race
In last week's "AugBball review," I asked if Harlem could make class AA's region 4 a three team race. CJ Wright and a host of Screven County (5-0, 3-0)playmakers and hard hitters answered that question with Friday's 35-0 route of the Bulldogs in Sylvania.
CJ Wright does it all for Screven County, including kicking off.
I wasn't the only person hoping for a competitive game Friday. Screven County's broadcast announcer Burton Kemp Jr. wrote two features in the Sylvania Telephone about Harlem's visit, one headlined "Hot Harlem here looking for the upset" and another titled "Finally, a meaningful game on the schedule." But Kemp also pointed out that the Gamecocks, or the Roosters as he calls them, are ranked #3 in class AA. And they went into Friday's game leading the state in points scored, AND holding the second spot in points allowed, for good reason.
I promise I had no idea the front page of the Sylvania's paper's sports page mention a "hot" Harlem when I prefaced my question for Wright after the game by saying "Harlem came in here kind of hot." Wright's mention of Herschel Walker in his answer was entertaining. See it and learn about his well rounded athletic record here:
It appears that Wright, Kemp, and I were all surprised by Harlem's Cameron Garnett's absence from Friday's entire game. That didn't help Harlem. And AJ Brown, who joined Garnett to make the region's top two rushers leading into the game, only played the first quarter. But with all due respect to Harlem, which has another daunting game Friday at #8 ranked Jefferson County, I don't think the final score would have been different Friday had the Bulldogs been at full strength.
The Facebook post directly below has the link to my story from Friday's game, which includes full highlights and pictures:
Jefferson County (6-0, 3-0), which entered Friday's 49-8 win over Glenn Hills tied for first in class AA with the Gamecocks in points scored, has joined Screven County on a collision course towards their November 3rd showdown in Sylvania that will likely have at stake the region title. That game has the potential to be the most exciting regular season game of the season. The offensive firepower involved is too extensive to do justice to here. But here are a couple interesting matchups involving each team's passing game:
I'll be back with previews for the class AAAA scene (for Georgia and South Carolina) and Georgia's class AAAAAA scene Wednesday night!
Armani Bunbury (middle), Erick Roberson (right), Kim Hunter (left), and CJ Wright (back) make a loaded Screven County backfield.
Five different Screven County players reached the end zone Friday as the Gamecocks routed Harlem 35-0 at home to improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in region play. Class AA's #3 ranked team is loaded with playmakers, and none or more difficult to stop than 285 pound fullback/defensive tackle CJ Wright, who punished the Harlem defense throughout the evening and scored a third quarter touchdown. Wright will play at Georgia Southern next season:
6'3" 195 pound receiver Tyquan Johnson was as impressive as Wright. The future South Carolina Gamecock caught 5 passes from quarterback Armani Bunbury, including a 6 yard touchdown strike that gave the Gamecocks a 21-0 first half lead.
Bunbury, a threat to run and pass the ball, started the scoring with a long touchdown pass to Johnathan Roberts on Screven County's first possession. The quarterback with all the moves would throw for another score, and he notched the Gamecocks final touchdown in the third quarter when he faked everybody out, including me and my camera, and scored untouched and almost unnoticed after a perfectly executed bootleg.
Armani Bunbury threw for 2 touchdowns and rushed for another in Friday's win.
Bunbury is one of the playmakers shown in this highlight reel from Friday's win. Also shown are running backs Erick Roberson and Kim Hunter, as well as linebackers Kashawn Robinson and Treston Jamison.
Friday's game made me look forward to the November 3rd showdown between Screven County and Jefferson County, class AA's #7 ranked team. The Warriors (6-0, 3-0) defeated Glenn Hills 49-8 Friday. When these two teams meet in Sylvania, a region title will almost certainly be at stake.
Jefferson County's Ja'Darious Hector - Photo credit: Larry Smith
Follow @AugBball on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for my football coverage, which is brand new at AugBball. I've been featuring a game of the week every Friday and providing live highlights and updates as well as post game interviews and game summaries and much more.
This week's game of the week: Harlem (4-1, 2-0) at #3 Screven County (5-0, 2-0)
Harlem's visit to Screven County this Friday will be AugBball's Game of the Week!
Now let's get to the halftime review...
Six of the high school football season's 12 weeks have passed. These are the stories about the local teams that are on the top of my mind, and the teams and games that I plan to closely track in the next month.
1) Burke County played flawless throughout the pre-region schedule
"If we are the team we say we are..." - BC Coach Eric Parker
After 5 games, four of them against teams in a higher classification, Burke County has proven, at least statistically, that it is a team that can get "a yard or two" in the most important moments of a game. I'm referring to coach Eric Parker'squote in Saturday's Effingham Herald about his decision to go for it on fourth-and-two in his own territory while leading 28-19 in the fourth quarter at Effingham County Friday.
"We didn't want to give them the ball back," Parker said. "We had some success running the ball so we decided -- if we are the team we say we are -- we need to get a yard or two."
Jaylen Odom gained 35 yards on that play, and the Bears, class AAAA's #7 ranked team, scored two plays later and picked up an impressive road win to establish a 5-0 record before beginning region play at Cross Creek October 6.
Jaylen Odom gained 35 yards on a crucial fourth down play. Photo credit: Larry Smith
Burke County tallied 480 rushing yards against Effingham County, and that wasn't even a season high. That came during a week 3 win over Washington County when the Bears rushed for 568 yards and scored 33 unanswered points to turn a 17-9 third quarter deficit into a 42-17 trouncing. This type of dominance should continue through region play, at least until October 27 when region rival Thomson, the state's #2 team, visits Waynesboro for a showdown between the two best teams in the area, at least on the Georgia side of the border.
Everybody is anticipating the October 27th Thomson-Burke County showdown!
Speaking of #2 ranked Thomson, the Bulldogs have been off for three weeks. They are back in action Friday at home against winless Clarkston before beginning region play. I expect them to sail through the region schedule leading up to the game in Waynesboro, which will be televised by WJBF and featured here as my game of the week.
2) North Augusta is poised for its best season in years
The Yellow Jackets have avenged 2 of last season's losses, but the 2 more important opportunities are ahead.
North Augusta has sprinted to 5 comfortable wins and in the process has beaten both Lexington and White Knoll in the same season for the first time since 2012. After taking care of rival Strom Thurmond last week, the Yellow Jackets have one more non region game, this Friday at Lower Richland, before getting the opportunity to get revenge at home over region foes South Aiken and Airport, both teams they couldn't get past on the road last season.
I'll be back at N Augusta for the October 13th showdown with S Aiken, which may determine whether the Jackets earn their first region title since 2013.
The 34-21 win over Thurmond was probably the most competitive contest so far for coach Brian Thomas's senior laden team, which sports an average margin of victory of 24 points. And besides an interception on the first play that led to a quick Strom Thurmond touchdown, the Yellow Jackets were essentially flawless for the next three quarters of play, scoring 28 unanswered points and keeping the Rebels out of the red zone all but one time.
The offense is loaded with firepower, and the most reliable ingredient last Friday was the running game. Running back Derius Gibson ran for 217 yards on 17 carries in the first game all season in which he played during the fourth quarter. The offensive line deserves a lot of the credit. 168 of the yards were gained on 4 plays in which Gibson was touched by a defender within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage only one time. Here is a look at that dominance by the North Augusta line, led by left tackle Sam Bryant and left guard Bryce Williamson:
Quarterback Landon Washington is among the area's leaders in passing touchdowns (9), passing yards (866) completion percentage (62%). And he showed poise Friday after throwing an interception on the game's first play, which allowed Strom Thurmond to take a quick 7-0 lead. On his very next snap, Washington stood in the pocket and took a hit from Thurmond's Tre Moore right after releasing a touchdown pass to Junius Walker. Washington was on target the rest of the night. His 5-12 completion-attempt figures were skewed by three dropped passes, two of which were on third down. The dual threat QB also ran for a touchdown.
Washington's favorite target, senior speedster Dejuan Bell, averages over 20 yards per completion and has found the end zone 6 times through the air. He is a constant threat, as he showed Friday with a 37 yard kick off return that set up North Augusta's first touchdown. Bell also haunts the secondary, where he has grabbed 4 interceptions this season. Taking turns with Bell making big plays is Kashaun Johnson, who returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown Friday. Johnson also has a pair of interceptions on the season.
3) The 6A Race is unpredictable until Evans, Greenbrier, and Grovetown meet
These teams have all looked good while playing completely different schedules.
Damekus Taylor has accounted for the most touchdowns (20) of any area player.
Evans (3-2) has had a thrilling ride through non region play, including a 49-48 overtime loss at Washington County two weeks ago and a dominant 45-2 whipping of Baldwin last Friday. Those two games were a continuation of a season long trend of junior quarterback Damekus Taylor and senior running back Corey Watkins lighting up the scoreboard. Watkins has run for 8 touchdowns and returned a punt for another score. And Taylor has scorched defenses with 14 running and 6 passing TD's. His highlight reel from Friday's win at Baldwin is worth viewing!
For the second straight season, Greenbrier finished non region play with 5 wins and no losses. Like Evans, the Wolfpack has only played schools from lower classifications. But Greenbrier has yet to play a team that has posted a quality win. That said, the Wolfpack appears to be capable of doing what it couldn't do last season: follow a successful first half of the season with a string of wins in region play.
Its disciplined and aggressive defense has played mistake free ball and held opponents to 21 points through 5 games. And running back JQ Brown has posted gaudy statistics (16 touchdowns and 757 yards in 5 games). Brown has benefitted from impressive offensive line play. That shows in these clips from Greenbrier's 34-7 win over Harlem, the most competitive game the Wolfpack has played to date:
Grovetown and Lakeside may have played the toughest schedules of any region teams. And the Warriors showed plenty of life by dominating Richmond 29-0 on the road last Friday. Linebacker Gregg Rodgers made a big impact on that game, tallying 14 tackles, 4 for a loss, and a sack.
Add defending region champion Heritage to that list of Columbia County schools and you have a wide open region. These key games during the next few weeks will determine a lot about this race:
October 6th:
Heritage at Grovetown
Lakeside at Greenbrier
October 13th:
Evans at Grovetown (WJBF Game of the Week)
Greenbrier at Heritage
October 20th:
Greenbrier at Evans
4) Can Harlem make the class AA race a three team affair?
The Bulldogs will have to earn it on the road against two of the state's top teams.
Harlem (4-1, 2-0) looks poised to make its first state playoff appearance since 2001. The Bulldogs are trending towards a #3 seed after beating Glenn Hills and Butler the past two weeks. But why not take a giant leap forward and upset #3 Screven County this Friday, and/or #7 ranked Jefferson County next week? The Bulldogs are riding a wave of excitement, and I would bet freshman Cameron Garnett (12 touchdowns and 713 rushing yards this season) and junior AJ Brown (10 touchdowns and 713 rushing yards) believe their team can accomplish anything right now.
Obviously, defeating Screven County on the road Friday will be easier for me to type than it will be for the Bulldogs to make happen. The first question will be whether 285 pound fullback CJ Wright, who will play at Georgia Southern next season, can be stopped:
And if that giant feat can be accomplished, Harlem will have to multitask by catching quarterback Armani Bunbury, who seems to have all the moves, and Tyquan Johnson, a 6'3" 195 pound receiver who has committed to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks:
Like I said, winning Friday is easier for me to type than for the Bulldogs to make happen. But I'll be there to see if they can get it done!
North Augusta takes the field for Friday's rivalry game.
Playing in front of a capacity crowd, North Augusta responded to an early Strom Thurmond touchdown, scoring 28 unanswered points, and defeating their non region rival 34-21 at home Friday, improving to 5-0 for the season.
The Rebels (3-2) had to have an upset on their minds after intercepting a pass on the game's first play and returning it inside North Augusta's 5 yard line to set up the game's first score, a 12 yard touchdown connection between quarterback Jaquan Harris and receiver Tyrek Williams. But on the very next play from scrimmage, North Augusta quarterback Landon Washington found Junius Walker, who avoided a tackler and ran 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 7. The home crowd almost saw their Yellow Jackets tie it even sooner, when Dejuan Bell was tripped up by the kicker on his 37 yard kick off return that set up Walker's touchdown reception.
In our post game interview, Washington talked about "bouncing back" and moving on from throwing an interception on his first play to making a touchdown toss on his second: "We just had to let it go, have amnesia, like I've said for all my years playing. We bounced back from it great. Played great."
Landon Washington threw for a touchdown and ran for another Friday.
Running through huge holes plowed by guard Bryce Williamson and tackle Sam Bryant, running back Derius Gibson provided most of North Augusta's yardage for the next two quarters. First Gibson went for 68 yards to take the Yellow Jackets from their own 4 yard line into Rebel territory. North Augusta came up empty on that drive after a blocked field goal. But Gibson promptly made gains of 38 and 22 yards on the next drive to set up an 8 yard touchdown run by Washington to give the Yellow Jackets a 15-7 second quarter lead.
Derius Gibson rushed for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries.
North Augusta's defense did its part, first by turning over Strom Thurmond on downs after a 35 yard reception by Williams put the Rebels on the Jackets' 25 yard line. Thurmond was unable to pick up the next first down after 4 Jaquan Edwards carries. Later in the half, North Augusta forced a turnover on an Edwards fumble. And the second quarter finished with two Strom Thurmond three-and-outs.
Gibson ran for his first touchdown on the first series of the third quarter by avoiding a tackler in the backfield and proceeding to run untouched for 40 yards to give the Jackets a 22-7 lead. Kashaun Johnson added another score on a 55 yard punt return to give North Augusta its largest lead at 28-7.
Williams, having taken the quarterback duties from the injured Harris, scored his second touchdown on a 55 yard keeper to narrow the deficit to two scores (28-14). The 6'3" 230 pounder played impressively in all aspects Friday, gaining a total of 158 yards from scrimmage (92 running and 66 receiving).
Edwards (30) rushed for 117 and Williams (right) accounted for 158 from scrimmage.
But after each team was forced to punt once, Gibson scored his second touchdown from 1 yard out to give North Augusta a 34-14 fourth quarter lead. Gibson's second touchdown of the game came after a 34 yard scoring drive, set up by a very short Thurmond punt.
Edwards, who ran for 117 yards on 27 carries, provided the game's final score on an 11 yard run late in the fourth quarter.
North Augusta (5-0, 0-0) visits Lower Richlands (2-3) Friday for its final non region game. Strom Thurmond (3-2, 0-0) will host region foe Edisto (3-2).
Follow me Friday night at the @AugBball Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages to get live updates, video highlights, and information from the Game of the Week at North Augusta High between South Carolina's 4th ranked (class 4A) Yellow Jackets and the 7th ranked (class 3A) Strom Thurmond Rebels. It will be my first visit to the South Carolina side of the border this football season.
The Yellow Jackets have won their first four games, including a 42-14 road win last Friday at White Knoll, which beat North Augusta's region rival, 5th ranked South Aiken, earlier this season. The Jackets probably sport the most exciting offense in the area, led by quarterback Landon Washington (8 TD passes and 774 yards through 4 games), running back Derius Gibson (7 rushing TDs and 494 yards), and lightning fast receiver Dejuan Bell (6 TD receptions and 329 yards), who was named player of the week two weeks ago by both WRDW and the Augusta Chronicle after catching three touchdown passes and grabbing two interceptions in a 40-14 win over Lexington.
Strom Thurmond (3-1) will try not to drop a second straight game after losing 26-17 at Emerald last Friday. The Rebels are led by running back Jaquan Edwards, who has already rushed for 8 touchdowns and 645 yards this season. Because of North Augusta's blistering start, few commentators are giving Strom Thurmond a chance. But after last season's 41-38 triple overtime thriller between the two, which the Jackets won, I think both the players and coaches would agree that anything can happen Friday!
Friday's game will not be my last at North Augusta. I plan to return when South Aiken visits on October 13 for a game that, if things play out as expected, could decide the top seed in region 4 of South Carolina's class 4A. That region and Georgia's class 6A, 4A, and 2A regions will be the focus of AugBball's football coverage the next two months. Now let's look at two key non region games on the Georgia side of the border.
Evans (6A) at Baldwin (4A)
The Knights (2-2) visit Milledgeville in a game featuring two promising teams reeling from heart breaking road losses last Friday. Evans came up short (49-48) in overtime at Washington County when the Golden Hawks blocked Evans's extra point after quarterback Damekus Taylor ran for his fourth touchdown of the evening. And Baldwin (3-1) lost 21-16 at Griffin, a top 10 ranked 5A team, when the Braves failed to stop the Bears from scoring a touchdown on their final drive of the game.
The Knights have weapons all over the field. Taylor has accounted for 16 touchdowns, 11 on the ground and 5 through the air, in the season's first four games. The junior has made a huge impact after transferring from Thomson High.
Senior Corey Watkins leads the team in total yardage, gaining 848 yards of total offense as a threat both running from scrimmage and returning kicks and punts. Watkins has found the end zone 7 times, including three times in each of the last two games.
Baldwin has benefitted greatly from the arrival of head coach Jesse Hicks, who returned to the sideline this fall for a second turn at the helm after leaving the same position in 2010. The Braves feature wide receiver Jatavious Harris, a senior who has committed to the University of Tennessee. Baldwin begins region play a week from Friday when Richmond goes to Milledgeville. And the Braves' region schedule really heats up when they face #7 Burke County and #2 Thomson back-to-back on October 20th and 27th.
The #7 ranked Burke County Bears will try to improve to 5-0 by doing what their region rival Thomson did during the second week of the season: getting a win at Effingham County. The Rebels overcame a 14-0 first half deficit to hand Burke County a loss in Waynesboro last season, so revenge will be on the minds of the Bears and their loyal fans, who I am certain will make the trip in large numbers.
