Jackets return Packers to football slate

Clint Thompson

THOMASVILLE – Thomas County Central knows its 2010 football opponents. It just doesn’t know when and where it’ll play them.

With Harris County opting to leave Region 3-AAAA this week, Region 1 is left with eight teams, meaning all will play a region schedule the next two seasons. That leaves an open non-region game for the Yellow Jackets, who will renew their rivalry with Colquitt County.

“We’ve always enjoyed playing Colquitt County,” said Central coach Bill Shaver, whose team will also play Thomasville and Cairo in non-region action. The future schedules are still being finalized.

“Our fans enjoy going to Moultrie,” Shaver said. “I think (Colquitt County) fans enjoy coming down to Thomas County. It’s just always been a really, really good rivalry. We play them in ninth grade, junior varsity. It’s just something we’ve always enjoyed.”

Central last played Colquitt County in 2007 when the Yellow Jackets won 42-7. That ended a string of 16 straight years the two schools met on the gridiron. When the Georgia High School Association reclassified for the 2008-09 seasons, Central was grouped into a nine-team region. Central was only able to keep Thomasville and Cairo on its non-region slate.

“With a seven-game region schedule (now), we were able to pick one game up. Naturally, Colquitt County was one we wanted to pick up. It’s a good gate for us and it’s also a good gate for them when we go up to play them,” Shaver added.

Central’s revised schedule, though, will be much tougher than the one it just encountered. Its new region features Northside-Warner Robins, which lost to Camden County in the Class AAAAA championship game last week, and Warner Robins, a (6-4) team that didn’t make the playoffs but handed Northside its only loss in the regular season. The non-region schedule that includes tilts with three teams that advanced to at least the second round of the state playoffs this past season.

“It’s definitely tougher. Our region got tougher when you added three teams that were in 1-AAAAA last year,” said Shaver, whose team will also play Houston County. “Then you add another team in 1-AAAAA (Colquitt County) on our schedule. Naturally, that adds something to your schedule because you lose Upson-Lee, who hasn’t been to the playoffs the last two years, and Jones County that was improved this year, but they haven’t made the playoffs the last two years. Then Americus-Sumter, which had very good athletes, but they haven’t qualified for the playoffs the last two years, either.

“You dropped some (teams) that haven’t been to the playoffs and you’re adding some teams from 1-AAAAA, so naturally, that’s going to make your schedule tougher. Hopefully, our kids will rise to the challenge. It’ll be something that maybe will prepare us, if we have a chance to make it to the playoffs. Then we’ll be prepared better.”

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