September 18, 2019 Page 3C
Reporter
Continued from 1 C
think there's a greater chance now.
Note that Peach County hasn't lost
two straight in the regular season
since 2013, to a top- 10 4A Baldwin
and top- 10 5A Warner Robins. It's
non-region, but non-region games
are big for momentum, confidence,
reps, and learning. They won't be
overlooking Mary Persons by any
stretch, and will be trying sort of
to re-establish themselves. And a
thumping of Mary Persons does
that.
Q. ) The Bulldogs are struggling this
year after losing so many starters and
are obviously the underdog. Besides
scoring more points, what would MP
have to do to have a chance in this
one?
A.) On paper, the simple stuff, a
lot of what Houston County did:
short memor do your job on that
play and don't worry about any-
thing else. Really, every game with
remotely similar teams is the same.
Don't make a play you can't make.
The difference is that Peach County
won't in any form or fashion be too
fiat against a team that beat them
last year, and in a game that's usually
physical and dose. And playing at
q-he Pitt can get area opponents a
little more amped up, too. If Mary
Persons can cut down on mistakes
and take some advantage of any
Peach County mistakes, it can go to
the fourth quarter. But if your most
dynamic player, Rico Harden, isn't
100 percent, that obviously makes it
tougher.
Q.) Peach has so many highly
touted players, Gibson the quarter-
back, Whittington the running back,
Ferguson the big tackle (choosing
between UGA and Bama), Allen the
linebacker committed to Clemson.
Which one is the most impressive to
you and why?
A.) Noah Whittington and
Justin Harris. WhiRington can play
receiver or running back, and he's
been playing forever, and just makes
plays and makes few mistakes. He
can make the big play or the simple
play He may not stand out as much
to the average fan, who's not watch-
ing away from the ball or downfield
blocking, but he's the kind of player
coaches love. And Chad Campbell
said he's as good and hard-working
in practice as anybody he's ever had.
Harris is a DB and kick returner
who gets time on offense, and makes
plays wherever they pm him.
Q) MP and Peach have been two
of the best football schools in Middle
Georgia lately. Where would you
rank these two programs and how
important is it that they play every
year (for now)?
A.) It's a game that ira fan's team
is too far away or off on Friday, it's
very much worth going to because
of the history and success. As good a
job as Brian Nelson and his under-
rated staff have done, they may have
done better than people think or
realize. Chad Campbell has built one
of the most consistent programs of
any dassification in the state, and
straightened up a lot of things that
sort of kept Peach County a notch
lower than where it is now.
According to the Georgia High
School Football Historians Associa-
tion Website, MP is 613-260-9, 70.01
percent and Peach County is 403-
175-6, 69.52 percent. In percentage,
that puts them both in the top 25 in
the state of active programs.
Brian is 76-18 (80.85 pct.) and
Chad is 134-27 (83.23 pct.). Those
are moderately stupid numbers.
(Now, if we can just get MP and
Washington County in a regular-
season home and home '
Q) You've covered high school
sports a long time in Middle Georgia.
I know our fans want to hearyour
prediction for the game. They won't
hurt you. I'm almost sure.
A.) Probably overlooked in Mary
Persons' record is that they could be
4-0 or 0-4, which is interesting and
different and not terribly surprising.
qqae'lr point differential is, well, even.
Being in a close game is no big deal,
and those are huge leaming experi-
ences. That's a boost the Bulldogs
will need. They have to avoid a flurry
of big plays and points from Peach
County, which can very easily de-
liver a first-half knockout punch.
Mary Persons has to look at Peach
as the team that lost to Houston
County, not the one that hammered
Lee County. There are some its, as
always, but it feels like Peach County
39, Mary Persons 17.
Q) As this is MP's last non-region
game, our eyes will turn to Region
2-AAAA. Obviously West Laurens is
looking pretty good. What chances do
you give the Bulldogs of getting our
fifth straight region title?
A.) I love the weekly drama that
will be 2-4A. Contrasts in coaches,
in styles, in history.
West Laurens has been my pick
since the summer, from returning
experience to the offense making big
progress to a defense that has been
burly for awhile (I still remember
with a smile the 14-2 MP win in
Dexter a few years ago with as good
a collection of defensive linemen
that did not go power- 5 as you can
get on a high school football field,
from both teams). I think Howard
is the next best team; the Huskies
lost a lot ofplayers, but are on a roll.
Still can't quite figure out Upson-Lee
and Perry, and Spalding doesn't look
like a contender. The battles with
MP, Perr and Upson-Lee - and the
schedule (timing of who and where)
favors MP a bit - are almost elimina-
tion games. Almost.
While I think WL and Howard
are a little better, this region champ
can easily have two losses. And we
can very easily get down to people
checking phones for scores (*cough-
cough* @CentralGaSports and
www.centralgasports.com) on that
final regular season night to see the
difference between second place,
maybe first, and packing away the
equipment.
And about 5-10 plays will be that
difference.
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