After each having a week off, The Douglas County Tigers and the East Paulding Raiders will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 7:30 p.m. on October 20th. Douglas County will be coming into the contest with an undefeated record on the line.
Last Friday, Douglas County made easy work of Paulding County and carried off a 27-2 win. Given Douglas County's advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while Paulding County is ranked 231st), the result wasn't exactly an upset.
Douglas County found their leader in underclassman Rah'keith Kelly, who rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. Brandon Ellison was another key contributor, picking up 102 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Douglas County's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB nine times. It was a group effort, with three picking up two apiece.
Meanwhile, East Paulding unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Friday. Their rough 54-29 defeat to Langston Hughes might stick with them for a while.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Javen Parker and Dorian tre Page. Page had a great game and rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. Meanwhile, Parker did his best for the losing side, rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Douglas County's win was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 7-0. To be fair, it's not like the team was facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-6 Paulding County and 2-5 Alexander (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 39.3% over those games). As for East Paulding, their loss on Friday dropped their record down to 4-3.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the two teams haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Douglas County commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 5.3 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like East Paulding struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.7 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup.
Everything came up roses for Douglas County against East Paulding in their previous meeting back in October of 2022 as the squad secured a 37-6 victory. Will Douglas County repeat their success, or does East Paulding have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
