Titans nearly perfect in rout of Warriors

BOGART — North Oconee’s coaching staff didn’t believe the Titans played a perfect game during their undefeated regular season.

But after a 63-6 defeat of Gordon Central in their Class AA playoff opener on Friday, they may have found that elusive effort.

Behind its trademark defense, which had five shutouts in the regular season, and six different players scoring touchdowns, North Oconee rolled.

“As players, you’re never going to play the perfect game, we’re going to ask you to, but you probably never will,” Titans coach Terry Tuley said. “But if you don’t ever strive to be there, then it never will happen. … It’s just a critical eye of the coaches expecting perfection.”

Georgia Notebook: Fritts returns to Western Georgia

Sid Fritts returns to western Georgia this week for the first time since he was on the sidelines as the head coach at Rome.

Fritts, the Elbert County, coach will lead his No. 7 Blue Devils (9-1) some 170 miles from Elberton this week when they travel to Lindale, Ga. to play Pepperell. The Dragons (7-3) fell in the Region 7-AA championship game last week to Calhoun, their second loss of the season to the Yellow Jackets.

Fritts and Rome never played Pepperell during his five-year tenure, but he said the Dragons are a physical bunch with big linemen.

“They are similar in philosophy to us, I just think we’re a little more explosive,” Fritts said.

Game of the Century

There have been several games that have drawn similar hype as this week's Tussle in Tuscaloosa, or Showdown in T-Town, between LSU.

Personally, Alabama has the edge in coaching, while LSU has more overall talent. There's talk that 35 NFL prospects will be on the field, and there have been 600+ media credential requests.

Keep in mind that no one handles rematches like Nick Saban. According to Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, 10 years have passed since Saban lost in consecutive years to the same college coach. Since Steve Spurrier beat LSU 41-9 and 44-15 in 2000 and 2001, Saban is 12-0 in rematch games.

What's more, Alabama RB Trent Richardson will be the best player on the field. For investment advice, take the Crimson Tide -5 against the Bayou Bengals.

Big blown lead ends Eagles' crazy ride

After a lackluster first half, George Walton Academy looked nothing like a team that could pull off a fourth-quarter comeback. Not that it appeared the Bulldogs would even have that chance.

But thanks to an 85-yard touchdown run by quarterback Hunter Rice, the visiting Bulldogs were given hope with less than a minute left in the third quarter. And after Athens Christian struggled to drain the clock late in the fourth, George Walton came back to finish an improbable 23-21 victory on Friday night.

Georgia Notebook: Stephens prepares for region championship game

In arguably the program’s biggest game in four years, Stephens County travels to Gainesville this week to play the Red Elephants for the Region 8-AAA title.

The Indians appearance in the game flies in the face of most preseason predictions, which had Gainesville against North Hall. But the Trojans have lost two in a row, to Franklin County and Stephens, which knocked them out of contention.

“It’s a big game for us in the fact that no one gave our kids and team a chance to be in this game,” Stephens coach Travis Noland said.

Stephens earned its way after it dispatched of North Hall last week, 39-14.

Gainesville and Stephens have had similar campaigns as each lost their opener to a strong AA team (Buford and Elbert County), but have rolled since. The Red Elephants have scored at least 40 points in every win, and topped 50 twice.

The Red Elephants' closest game was a 41-21 win against Monroe Area. The Red Elephants, behind their spread offense, have averaged 51 points per game in subregion play. That’s why Stephens’ big play trio of running back Chaz Thornton, quarterback Dionte Mayfield and wide receiver T'omas Colbert is especially important this week.

Titans take region's top spot with win over Elbert County

ELBERTON — Terry Tuley walked away from the handshake line, faced the scoreboard and raised both hands above his head.

“Victory!” he shouted into the cold drizzle.

North Oconee’s head coach, who turned 63 on Friday, celebrated one of the biggest victories of his career with a 17-6 win at Elbert County.

Tuley, who hadn’t won a region championship in his coaching tenure, now owns the Region 8-AA South crown after his Titans dispatched of the reigning champion Blue Devils in The Granite Bowl.

“We might not leave, we might camp out, because it’s so sweet,” Tuley said.

Georgia Notebook: Elbert and North Oconee battle for Region 8-2A South title

The game many have looked forward to for a year has arrived.

When North Oconee (8-0, 5-0 Region 8-AA) travels to The Granite Bowl this week to face No. 7 Elbert County (8-0, 5-0), the Region 8-AA South title is on the line, as well as a ticket to next week’s Region 8-AA championship.

The Titans and Blue Devils have mirrored each other all season.

They each have a smothering defense (each have four shutouts), and a star player in the offensive backfield. North Oconee, actually, has two in versatile Nick Colvin and speedy freshman Kawon Bryant. Elbert relies heavily on star Tyshon Dye.

North Oconee has averaged 45.6 points per game, while Elbert has put up 34.8. The Titans have yielded eight, compared with 7.4 for the Blue Devils.

Michigan State shocks undefeated Wisconsin

Michigan State got off to a rocky start, and trailed 14-0. But the Spartans came all the way back, and thanks to this hail mary, knocked off previously undefeated Wisconsin in East Lansing.

Warriors begin playoff push against Johnson

WATKINSVILLE — After Oconee County dropped its third straight game against Gainesville at midseason, the Warriors shifted their mindset.

Coach Mitch Olson’s team entered playoff mode in hopes that it could scramble back to .500 and earn a playoff berth. The Warriors are one step closer to meeting their goal after a 35-8 victory over winless Johnson-Gainesville on Friday night.

Oconee County picked up consecutive wins for the first time this season, and it was the second victory in which they posted 35 points.

“We win two games in a row, and we had to win them,” Olson said. “If we hit like that, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Georgia Notebook: Stephens still working out kinks despite 6-game winning streak

Despite winning each week since the season opener, Stephens County coach Travis Noland continues to stress that his team is a work in progress.

Noland’s point was only highlighted in the wake of last week’s 25-14 victory over White County. Despite the win, the talk around Toccoa was that it wasn’t as crisp as it should be. Even in the victory, the Indians could have tacked on more if they hadn’t dropped a touchdown catch in the end zone, or an interception for a touchdown.

“A lot of people around here thought it was an ugly win,” Noland said. “But as coaches, we felt like we played one of the better games all year.”

The Indians have won six straight, and are 6-1 and 3-0 in Region 8-AAA, their only loss to Class AA No. 6 Elbert County, a one-point defeat in The Granite Bowl. Yet Noland continues to point to correcting dropped passes and the healing of injuries like the hip injury that knocked kicker Matt Moon out two weeks ago against Chestatee.

Georgia Notebook: Elbert prepares for region test

After several weeks of the weaker portion of its schedule, Elbert County travels to Jefferson this week in a meeting of Region 8-AA South contenders.

The Blue Devils, who used a strong fourth quarter last week to beat Hart County, will play one of the best offenses in the region, with arguably the best quarterback.

Jefferson’s Bryant Shirreffs led a win over Hart County last month when he was 15-for-21 passing for 285 yards and four touchdowns.

“Very good trigger man,” Elbert coach Sid Fritts said, “who can distribute the ball to a lot of different people.”

LSU punter has TD called back on celebration penalty

Associated Press

"LSU appeared to have scored its third TD when punter Brad Wing covered 52 yards on a fake late in the first quarter, but he raised his arms moments before crossing the goal line. That drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which took the score off the board. LSU retained possession, but had to settle for Drew Alleman's 35-yard field goal.

Miles said he did not call a fake but said Wing made the right call to run when he saw Florida's coverage team retreating. He only wished he hadn't drawn a flag.

"In a big game when 4 points is important, we won't do that," Miles said."

It didn't matter much in the grand scheme of the game as LSU won 41-11.