THOMASVILLE — The battle for Region 1-AAA supremacy will take place in Fort Valley Friday.
Peach County is ready to dethrone the defending champs.
The Cairo Syrupmakers will play the Peach County Trojans in a battle of two region unbeatens.
“Our kids know that they’re the defending region and state champs,” Peach County coach Chad Campbell said. “We know we’ve got to take their crown. They ain’t going to come in here and lay down by no means. Cairo’s got a good football team. They've got a lot of tradition. They’re going to bring a load of fans up here and they’re going to be rowdy. We’re going to have to play well. There ain’t no question about that.”
This is the second in a critical two-game stretch for the Trojans. Peach demolished one-loss Monroe last week 31-6 to remain one of three teams in the region without a loss. With unbeaten Dougherty remaining on Peach’s schedule, Campbell understands the ramifications for tonight’s loser.
“We knew this was going to be the way it was going to be. Of course, we’ve got some more games after this that are going to be tough,” Campbell said. “We feel like the winner of this game right here controls their own destiny in winning the region. That makes it that much bigger.”
Tonight”s tilt pits two teams with issues on offense.
Cairo exploded for 31 points in the first half last week against Worth County but finished with just 32 rushing yards. Cairo’s offensive success was due in large part to quarterback Brian Walker’s 171 passing yards. Despite last week’s aerial assault, Cairo remains committed to running the ball.
“When you throw the ball more, two of the three things that can happen to you are bad,” Cairo coach Tom Fallaw said. “There could be a lot of three and outs in that regard, too. You’ve got to be able to run the ball in south Georgia. I don’t care what anybody else does. I know what Cairo does. Eventually, you’re going to have to be able to control the game by running the football, especially in tough games. Right now, we still don’t have that answer.”
The Syrupmakers don’t have an issue with Walker at quarterback. Replacing an all-state performer in Angelo Pease, Walker had big shoes to fill. He’s delivered. Walker has thrown for 593 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also a solid running threat with 164 yards on the ground.
“Brian, as a senior, is only getting one shot at it, and he's doing a good job with it,” Fallaw said. “We’ve said from the beginning, playing quarterback down here in south Georgia as a first-year starter is nothing but a learning experience. We said from the beginning that we feel good about Brian and you're starting to see a little bit of what Brian can do.”
As for the Trojans, penalties and turnovers have hindered their offensive progress. Against Monroe, Peach lost one fumble and was penalized 10 times.
Two weeks ago in a 40-0 win against Perry, Peach lost two turnovers and was again flagged 10 times.
“We haven’t played very good the past couple of games on offense. We’ve had too many mistakes, penalties,” Campbell said.
“We’re not peaking on offense.”
Kickoff is at 8 p.m.
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