This region produced last year's state champion in Peach County and some
of the state's top football. With the addition of several new faces, solid
football will continued to be played here. The A subregion consists of Dutchtown,
Henry County, Jackson, Mary Persons, Ola and Spalding, while the B subregion
is comprised of Central Macon, Northeast Macon, Peach County, Perry, Southwest
Macon and West Laurens.
It will be interesting to see
how the A subregion takes shape. Jackson moves up and competes with several
familiar opponents. The Red Devils had considerable success in Class AA
and should be a playoff contender, especially with a pair of Division
I prospects in defensive end Neland Ball (6-6, 220) and wide receiver
John Keye (6-6, 210). Mary Persons, known for its fundamental style of
play, should pick up where it left off last season. The two teams meet
in Forsyth on Oct. 13 in a game expected to decide the subregion's top
playoff seed.
Spalding should improve but
not enough to contend for a postseason berth. Dutchtown and Henry County
move down a class and aren't expected to be in the subregion race. Ola,
Henry County's newest school, plays its inaugural season with Jack Hines
as its coach. Hines is a former Clemson assistant and the son-in-law of
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.
Peach County, with four strong
college prospects returning, is still the team to beat and should dominate
the B subregion. The Trojans started last season 0-3 but won their next
12 to win the state title. Look for them to pick up where they left off.
Perry went 8-4 last season
and should challenge for a playoff berth as well as Central Macon, who
narrowly missed out last year. West Laurens moves back up to Class AAA,
while Northeast Macon continues to try and get its football program going.
Southwest sMacon hopes to break a 23-game losing streak dating back to
2003. None of the three are expected to figure into the postseason race.
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