Prep Round Up: Westover, Worth County, Deerfield-Windsor win

Westover 40 Bainbridge 37

BAINBRIDGE – Westover’s Tyreek Baldwin caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Keyon Thomas with less than a minute to play on Friday night, giving the Patriots a thrilling 40-37 region win over Bainbridge.

“The team fought through adversity last week,” said Westover Head Coach Corey Joyner. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a great game. Ironically, our JV team also won against Bainbridge on a last-second touchdown. I am so proud of our football program.”

Friday night’s game was a back-and-forth battle, with both teams exchanging leads. Bainbridge took a 37-34 lead with just three minutes left on a 10-yard touchdown pass, only for Westover to respond with Baldwin’s late game-winning score. Earlier, Westover’s Dominique Ball had scored to give the Patriots a 34-30 lead.

Ball finished with an impressive 224 yards on 38 carries and three touchdowns. He has now accumulated 1,116 rushing yards this season, making him the first player in the Albany area to surpass 1,000 yards this year.

Thomas completed 8 of 15 passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Montavis Jones led the receivers with three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Jordan Lassiter led the Patriots with 13 tackles, including one for a loss, while Jamaree Barfield added nine tackles and a tackle for loss.

Westover (6-1, 1-1) is off next Friday and will face Monroe at Hugh Mills Stadium on October 18.

Worth County 28, Thomasville 27

THOMASVILLE – Worth County freshman kicker Brody Hancock drilled a 25-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to lift the Rams to a thrilling 28-27 win over No. 3-ranked Thomasville on Friday night in a crucial Region 1-A matchup.

After falling short in tough battles against highly ranked teams Fitzgerald and Irwin County, this win proved that Worth County can compete with Class A’s top teams.

Two first-half touchdown runs by Kaden Chester helped the Rams keep pace, with Thomasville leading 14-13 at halftime. Worth County took the lead in the third quarter when quarterback Lyndon Worthy connected with Jayden Farley for a 36-yard touchdown pass.

However, Thomasville responded with two rushing touchdowns to go up 27-19 in the fourth quarter. Worthy later found D’Ontae Fulton for an 8-yard touchdown pass, but the two-point conversion failed, leaving Thomasville with a 27-25 advantage. On the final drive, Hancock’s clutch field goal sealed the victory.

Worthy completed 21 of 35 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rams. Chester rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns, while Fulton caught eight passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Worth County (3-3, 1-1) will host Berrien (0-6, 0-2) next Friday night in Sylvester.

Deerfield-Windsor 43, Brookwood 14

THOMASVILLE – The Deerfield-Windsor Knights kept rival Brookwood winless with a dominant 43-14 victory Friday night in Thomasville, improving their season record to 6-1.

Senior running back Cole Jones led the way, rushing for 224 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Before the season, Jones had mentioned in his Fantastic Fifteen interview that one of his goals was to beat Brookwood, and he played a key role in making that happen. Jones is now just six yards shy of reaching 1,000 rushing yards for the season.

Quarterback Lane Sceals completed 10 of 14 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Gabe Daniel led the receiving corps with four catches for 41 yards. Jake Hatcher and David Hutchins each caught touchdown passes.

Mangham Pippin anchored the Knights’ defense with 10 tackles, while Colin Snipes added seven and Cross Mitchell recorded six.

Deerfield-Windsor (6-1) will travel to Tiftarea Academy (5-1) for a region matchup next Friday night.

Peach County 49, Dougherty 14

ALBANY – No. 2-ranked Peach County showed why they are among Georgia’s best Friday night by beating Dougherty 49-14 at Hugh Mills Stadium.

The Dougherty Trojan defense repeatedly stopped Peach County on first and second downs but Peach County quarterback Don “DJ” Hudson found ways to get the first down or more on most every possession during the first three quarters of the game.

One example was late in the first half when the Dougherty defense looked as though it had stopped a Peach County drive. The Peach County Trojans had a fourth down with 14 yards to go for the first down at the 17. As Hudson went back to pass, the Dougherty defenders rushed through the line and chased Hudson. He looked trapped behind the line of scrimmage but somehow avoided the tacklers and pushed past other defenders to get down to Dougherty’s two yard line. Moments later, Peach County had another touchdown.

Dougherty junior cornerback Jayden Owens impressed the crowd when he picked off Hudson’s fist pass attempt of the game and took the ball all the way to the 37- yard line.

Dougherty’s offense struggled with the run game but quarterback David Burgess had spectacular moments on pass plays to Antwan Lockett, Braylen Still and Eugene Young. The difference was that Dougherty’s offense could not get that big first down in crucial third-down situations.

Down 42-0 in the fourth quarter, Dougherty scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to get on the board.

Dougherty (2-5, 0-2) has a bye week this Friday to prepare for the next region challenge against Cairo on October 18.

OTHER SCORES

Baconton Charter 44, Spring Creek Charter 0

Mitchell County 40, Terrell County 6

Terrell Academy 47, Windsor Academy 18

Colquitt County 38, Lowndes 35

Sumter County 21, Spencer 20

Miller County 24, Seminole 0

By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]
By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]