I must say you were right and I was wrong. Houston County came to Hinesville and hammered Bradwell Institute 33-14. Houston County disclosed Bradwell Institute’s weakness on field. Bradwell’s offensive line is very very young and inexperienced. They couldn’t get anything going. Now my thoughts are Houston County has gotten very good over the past two years and very well be a contender in Region 1-AAAAA or they hammered Bradwell on Bradwell’s turf over a very young and inexperienced team that was playing against a tough Houston County Region 1-AAAAA. nevertheless,, Great job Houston County on your convincing win against Bradwell. We will probably meet again in the post season depending on the seed.

You must have seen this game in your dreams, because Harrison did not lose by 34. You can’t get 34 on the score board or by subtracting our losing score from their winning score. The score was 35-13 and that is a 22 point difference. Also one P-Ridge touchdown was from a fumble close to our line, and we had a huge run for a touchdown called back due to a penalty that IMO was not fair. Harrison showed me we had something if only the defense would gel. Harrison is getting better each game. Also I suspect Cherokee is better than their record shows, they started out against some tough teams. They will win some games, I suspect East Paulding will be one team both Harrison and Cherokee will beat.

Enjoy the butt thrashing that Lowndes County is going to put on Ware County…..

Thanks for the support. Houston County has a running game, and heard that their defense is playing a lot better than they did the last two years. Bradwell Institute has a young team and this is a rebuilding year for them as well. However; This time last year, Bradwell was 02 with one of the losses coming from Houston County at Houston County, and Bradwell Institute came back very strong winning 7 games in a row. Making it to the 2nd round of the playoffs. If Bradwell Institute. With that being said, Bradwell Defense is fast and physical this year. I’m giving the edge to Bradwell Institute because of this and them having home field advantage. I don’t think that this will be a high scoring game at all.

Maybe not that good this year. But good enough to beat East Paulding, who is way over-ranked.

I do see the other side too. Heck, last year Grayson had 50 trailer classrooms. I don’t know for sure but it is possible that is more trailers than some of the smaller schools have in classrooms in the building! (Probably not at the 5A level but you get my point.)

I can also recognize that if you have one school in the County, your talent is all right there attending one school. If you have for example: Region 3-AAAAA Bradwell Institute for a while had only one school. All of the talent was going to that one school. Now you have two schools there now. Region 3-AAA Liberty County, and Region 3-AAAAA Bradwell Institute. The talent is spreaded between the two schools, and your enrollment drops. Before the two schools, Bradwell Institute use to dress out 100 players. Now they probably dress out maybe 55 players. See what I mean?

I think Decatur 4 Life hit the nail on the head. It is not really about the size of the school, it is the shear numbers of programs available. Let’s say you are moving to the metor area and have a kid or kids that are good football players. Unless you are tie to public transportation, you can live pretty much anywhere you want to in close to 6,000 square miles. Do you pick Paulding, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Forsyth, Coweta, Buford City, Decatur City, etc. or some of the other south metro counties whose names escape me at the moment? (Sorry south metro, no slight just a senior moment.) Say you pick Gwinnett, my county. Counting the new schools that opened this year, there are 18 high schools in the county. Due to the growth, redistricting occurs and the attendance lines suddenly make no logical sense but do make numeric sense. I am physically closer to 2 high schools other than the one my child attends. What all this means is that I can choose to live within a five mile radius of my current home and potentially have my child attend 7 different high schools. You can talk numbers all day long but when someone has those kinds of choice within only one of the metro areas, it stands to reason that the talent pool is going to get spread out.

I have to plead ignorance about the number of schools per county/city in mid and south Georgia. My perception is that in Lowndes County for example is that there is the county school and Valdosta and those are the only two choices. I think Camdem County is the only high school in the county and just don’t know if there are city systems in the area. So while the area one might choose to live in might encompass a large area, the choices for schools are fewer and the local talent tends to get concentrated a little more than might be so in the metro area.

Way back in the day, Decatur, Avondale and a few others regularly challenged south Georgia teams. Avondale beat Valdosta for the AAA (highest classification at the time) championship in 1963 and challenged before and after. (Anybody remember Calvin Ramsey at Avondale and Wright Bazemore at Valdosta? Did I just date myself? ) Anyway, the point is that there are both so many more programs to choose from and other sports that might not be supported as fully in the smaller systems (lacrosse, hockey, etc) that the talent pool gets spread thin.

In any event, I think we should al be proud of the high level of competition that exists across the state! High school football is fun!

To answer your question as to what do I think about Bradwell Institute this year, Bradwell Institute has a lot of young players. However; even though they are young, and inexperience, they are doing quite well. They are getting better as the weeks progress. In my opinion, they are playing better than they did last year at this time. My opinion is that they should have blown out Wayne County but you never know. This South Georgia Football. Wayne County Defense held Bradwell Institute the 1 first half, and Bradwell Institute wore them down. Some teams play some teams better especially when they have something to prove. My prediction is that Bradwell Institue will go at least 9-1 or better in the regular season. Bradwell Defense is fast and physical this year as some of the Region 1-AAAAA Defenses. I’m going to step out here and say this: If Bradwell Institute Defense plays very well, they should beat Houston County this year. If that happens, then what will that mean for Region 3-AAAAA? Last year, it was Bradwell Institute, and Camden County from Region 3-AAAAA who did very well.

September 9th, 2009
9:49 pm

AVIKINGFAN says: Sportsfan31313, How is your Bradwell team doing this year and what do you expect from them? They got much back from last year?

Greetings AVIKINFAN,
Bradwell Institute has a lot of young players. However; even though they are young, and inexperience, they are doing quite well. They are getting better as the weeks progress. In my opinion, they are playing better than they did last year at this time. My opinion is that they should have blown out Wayne County but you never know. This South Georgia Football. Wayne County Defense held Bradwell Institute the 1 first half, and Bradwell Institute wore them down. Some teams play some teams better especially when they have something to prove. My prediction is that Bradwell Institue will go at least 9-1 or better in the regular season. Bradwell Defense is fast and physical this year as some of the Region 1-AAAAA Defenses. I’m going to step out here and say this: If Bradwell Institute Defense plays very well, they should beat Houston County this year. If that happens, then what will that mean for Region 3-AAAAA? Last year, it was Bradwell Institute, and Camden County from Region 3-AAAAA who did very well.

Well you may be right about beating those AAAAA teams in 2006. But that was not my point. Realistically In the 2005 – 2006 season, Region 4-AAAA Northside Warner Robbins Eagles was in Class AAAA. They Lost to Region 3-AAAA Statesboro Blue Devils 13-10 in the State Finals. Statesboro Region 3-AAAA State Champions.

2006-2007 Region 4-AAAA Northside Warner Robbins beats Region Region 6-AAAA Marist 30-6 For the State Title.

2007-2008 Region 4-AAAA Northside Warner Robbins beat Region 3-AAAA Ware County 20-14 winning the State Title.

2008-2009 Northside Warner Robbins moves up to Class AAAAA assigned to Region 1-AAAAA.
Northside Warner Robbins loses in the 2nd round to Region 3-AAAAA Camden County 28- 20.

All I am saying is that you can’t too over confident down there in South Georgia. Especially in Region 1-AAAAA. You can be beaten. Just Remember last year between Grayson & Lowndes County. My point is that I wouldn’t right off Peachtree Ridge as of yet. It is still too early in the season. That is all I am saying……..

Young man , I don’t think that you know what you are saying half of the time…….2006 Northside wins a close one 28 – 7 against Region 1 -AAAAA and X town foe WR Demons, who just happen to make it to the semi’s that year , but lost to Ptridge 13-7 Along the way the Demons defeated Lowndes , Valdosta and upset Camden county………2006 Northside defeats Region – 1 Hoco Bears 26 -14 ,who makes it to the qrts that year and losses to Roswell, the big shocker was Hoco defeating the 10-1 MLK Lions that season in the playoffs, at home……….Now what does that tell you about the lil ole 2006 Eagles……….Sportsfan31313 , I know you hear the BS on this blog about the size of enrollment ,school openings watering down talent and all the other BS ……,when it comes down to it ,a winning program will win no matter what…..The ATL metro schools will still have2800-3000 students if another school opens or not…..I don’t think you’ll ever hear any Northside or middle Ga posters on this blog complain about the numbers ,When you’ve seen schools in this area over the last 10 seasons or so ,like Peach Co ,Baldwin ,Waco ,Westside mcn ,Dublin to name .These are small schools with winning traditions over the years depending on which year would have spanked the best of AAAAA teams.
WELL REEZE LETS SEE IF YOURE RIGHT…..

Believe that if you want to! CC comes before NSWR in the alphabet, and may Friday night also. But is’s tough to beat a good AAAAA team at home. I think NSWR will find a way to win over all those all-world players at CC. I bet ENR agrees with me on that Wonder who Todd the fact guru will pick? (I say “fact” instead of “trivia” because the guy knows his stuff!)

I like the current playoff structure pretty well, but would rather see only three teams advance. Our 1999 team won the state title after finishing 3rd in region 1AAAA, and beat 4 straight undefeated teams in the playoffs, including beating a 13-0 Southwest Dekalb team at their stadium! But I don’t remember a 4th placed team ever going all the way. Maybe our historian and fact guru Todd Holcomb can help me with that.

Any thoughts on that?

TICK…TICK…TICK…BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!…GO RAIDERS!!!!

I’m not suggesting that Buford is not a very good football team or, for that matter, an excellent program. The point that I was making is that this years’ Buford team is beatable, unlike the team that NH played last year. I knew THAT team was going to win the AA title. This years team, however, is a different story. This might be the first year since somewhere around the turn of the century that a team NOT named Buford or Charlton Co. could very well win the AA state title. That being said, if Buford continues to improve on offense, then they will probably win state. But beat Lowndes? Not this year. As for as AAA, I will continue to believe that it will wind up being Gainesville vs Carver, Columbus. But I also think that Flowery Branch and LaGrange will have a say in it before it’s over. How about a 7AAA vs 2AAA semifinal? It’s a very strong possibility. I can’t see LG having much of a problem with Stephens County this weekend, though, 8AAA is down this year. I would have a hard time seeing any 8AAA team get out of the first round this year.

Hold that priase for Buford football right now. Buford U thinks that they can compete with Lowndes? They beat a North Hall team 35-7 ( it should have been 35-14 or closer but the refs rode in the same bus with Buford to the game), and their Offense didn’t impress me at all (except for #26 or 28, their best RB). Their Defense is another story. They are fast, big, strong, and hit like someone said something about their mommas. That said, I don’t think that they are the best team on the 985 connector. That honor, my friend, goes to Gainesville. The Red Elephants haven’t even been scored upon yet this season, and it doesn’t look like it will happen until they play Flowery Branch, if it happens then. They have at least 6 D-1 prospects on that team, and several more D-2 prospects to go along with them. They are the only team that I think can give Carver, Columbus any problems this year, because they match up well everywhere on the field, speed, size, strength, and skill level. So Buford U, put that in your pipe and smoke it, and be glad that you didn’t come to 7-AAA two years ago, or Gainesville would smoke you this year. The reason you stayed in AA is so you can keep that regular season unbeaten streak alive, and you know that you would have a better chance of winning more state championships.
Contrary to popular belief, Buford is not as loaded as they have been in years past. However, they are well coached, talented at the skill positions, and they looked like a disciplined team Friday night.

I was at the East / Grayson Playoff game last year and if you look back at Grayson’s season you will see that in only one other game was Grayson held to under 20 points ( Brookwood at 10 ), in most games you blew out the opponent. Your OWN fans that night told us this was one of your toughest games all year and that EAST was the FIRST team to score on its opening drive against Grayson.

EAST fans had nothing but great things to say about Grayson, ya’ll have a nice stadium, and both teams showed sportsmanship throughout. ( Unlike the following week when ya’ll got a taste of South Ga. “THUG” football!!! )

So yeah, EAST Fans are VERY proud to say our team scored on the opening drive against a team of Graysons caliber, remember it was EAST FIRST year to play in AAAAA!!!

and one other note…stats don’t always win the game…ya’ll moved the ball all night between the 20’s but in the end could ONLY hang 17 on the EAST “D”…It was the Grayson “D” that kept our guys out of the endzone and won the game for you.

GO RAIDERS!!!!

Now I don’t say any of this to put down Ptree. I believe Ptree will be just fine by year end.

I notice that Hoya Fan and the other Harrison folks don’t say ANYTHING about how they lost the week AFTER they played EAST last year. They were so BANGED up by EAST players that they could barely field a team and lost the following week to McEachern 48 / 33 barely beat Marietta then lost again to Etowah 44 / 21.

TICK…TICK…TICK…BOOM…South Cobb already hears the Cannon and knows what awaits them at “THE BONEYARD” this friday ( Last Year was EAST 42 / South Cobb 10 ), then the Raiders and the Indians can get FIRED up for a SHOWDOWN IN POWDER SPRINGS!!!!

GO RAIDERS!!!!!

I will go look it up to be certain.

How is it going? Well to answer your question, In Region 1-AAAAA I know that it will be Lowndes County of Course, Northside Warner Robbins, Colquitt County, and a toss up between Houston County and Warner Robbins (Demons). As far as 3 teams being tied for 1st place, that is a possibility.

How is it going? Well to answer your question, In Region 1-AAAAA I know that it will be Lowndes County of Course, Northside Warner Robbins, Colquitt County, and a toss up between Houston County and Warner Robbins (Demons). As far as 3 teams being tied for 1st place, that is a possibility.

And there are not four teams in Peachtree Ridge’s region who are better than them, so they defintely will be in the playoffs. Question is who will make it in our region? Lowndes, Valdosta, NSWR, WR, and Colquitt seem to be the best bets for now. Could end up with three teams tied for 1st place.

Oh how I know how much you love your Northside Warner Robbins Team. As a Football Fan and and a strong supporter of South Georgia Football, it would be ludicrous to say that Peachtree Ridge would be written off. Its still too early to tell. We are just into the third week of the season. I wont go as far as saying that Peachtree Ridge should be written off You could never be too over confident of your team. Yes we all know that Northside Robbins won a State Championship. I believe that was in Class AAAA when Class AAAAA was around. I can’t remember, but correct me if I am wrong. You all didn’t play any Region 1 AAAAA teams during that year did you? You all played in one class down. Not taking anything away from NSWR because they are proven to be a good team. But you can’t get too over confident. That is all I am saying. When you do that, you can be beaten. I believe that Peachtree Ridge will bounce back, and will be in the playoffs.

But local grill and pub owner Myron P. summed up the Lowndes Peachtree Ridge game by saying “after seeing the game in person and now watching it on film, I know exactly what Peachtree Ridge did wrong last Friday – they got off the bus.” Maybe that advice will help them against North Gwinnett later in the season. Don’t get off the bus the man says!

To Wolverine 2 Blazer: We are also missing that guy from Thomasville (need you back) and Grayson Mom (thank goodness!) Howdy Sportsfan31313!

Cannon! Thank you man. Atleast somebody from East will give us some respect. Dont think your gonna need it but good luck against South Friday.

And to the EP/McE person who said woodstock only run’s the ball. I really dont know where your getting your info from. But you might wanta change your sorce. Woodstock’s got a dynamic passing attack with our WR and TEs.

Just wondering, With the ENR back, I think we’re just missing the band mom from brookwood. You still out there ma’am?

Region 1, how far back do you want to go? Back when Lowdnes and Northside were the red-haired stepchildren to Valdosta, WR or Colquitt.
When they made up here to the dome they would run into some of our are teams like SWD. You guys would win some and the Decatur schools would win some, bottom line. There’s wasn’t any dominance. One of the best games in the history of GA high school football was Valdosta and Southwest Dekalb in the dome in 94 or 95. That was a heck of a game and although Valdosta won they didn’t roll over anybody. The next year in the dome Warner Robins came up and SWD sent them back down South looking forward to next year.

as for the one who is teaching grammer to the “plowboy” about “to bad” being “too bad”,,,how are these young kids suppose to know anymore when our own state college spells dogs “DAWGS”?

These early rankings based on one or two games show nothing yet. Many teams have yet to play a game within their own division and are untested. Less see where we stand come Saturday morning of this week!

East Paulding ( 1-0 )begins division play this week with South Cobb ( 1-1 ) this week at home in “THE BONEYARD”!!! Grayson remembers well last years playoff game against East Paulding at Grayson. Grayson won last years match but East proved they could step up and play the best AAAAA had to offer.

TICK…TICK…TICK…BOOM!!! THE CANNON RULES!!!! GO RAIDERS!!!!

Now, having said that, it is past time to put last year to rest. The South Georgia teams are great teams that are strong. The top North Georgia teams are also great teams that are strong. It truely amazes me that adults are putting so much into a high school game. Without seeming trite and such, let’s all go out and root for our teams without trying to drag down our opponents. Can we move this to positives and move away from all of the negative and trash talk going on? I think on any given night, the top teams can beat any of the other top teams and as such, they all deserve our respect.

Just my $.02 worth and of course, your mileage will vary. Go Georgia Hish School football! It is a great show and a joy to watch!

Here’s the logic: Let’s say you’re making $75,000 and you’re rated the 10th-highest paid employee in your company. Then, you get a $5,000 raise for good performance. Meanwhile, two other employees get a $20,000 raises and now make $85,000. Then you ask, ”How did I go from $75,000 to $80,000 and yet fall to No. 12?” Answer: Because St. Pius beat Marist and Burke County beat Ware County. It made me like SPX and Burke more. Doesn’t mean I like Jackson any less than I did.