The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets will venture away from home to challenge the Lee County Trojans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated (Thomas County Central has 20 wins dating back to last season, while Lee County has five).
Two weeks ago, Thomas County Central took their match at home with ease, bagging a 63-7 victory over Bainbridge. Given the Yellow Jackets' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the Bearcats are ranked 189th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Thomas County Central's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Christian "Deuce" Lawrence, who rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries, and Jaylen Johnson, who threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns while completing 78.9% of his passes. Lawrence's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 109 rushing yards. Backing up that air attack was Aj Clark, who rushed for 81 yards and a rushing touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Thomas County Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 266 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 225 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the contest if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Lee County's strategy against Wekiva on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Lee County blew Wekiva out of the water with a 62-17 final score. The Trojans pushed the score to 56-17 by the end of the third, a deficit the Mustangs had no chance of recovering from.
Lee County had a senior duo take command as Ousmane Kromah gained 226 total yards and three touchdowns and Weston Bryan threw for 226 yards and four touchdowns while completing 78.9% of his passes. Kromah also set a new season high mark in rushing yards with 152. Jaden Upshaw was another key player, picking up 59 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Lee County's defense and their nine sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Greg Batson and Jordan Jones, who racked up four sacks between them.
Thomas County Central's win was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for Lee County, their record is now 5-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Thomas County Central has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 300.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Lee County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 289.6. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Thomas County Central beat Lee County 31-24 in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Kromah, who rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.5 yards per carry, and also picked up 57 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Thomas County Central still be able to contain Kromah? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
