The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets will head out to face off against the Lee County Trojans at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. 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 contest 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 matchups.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Lee County on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Wekiva out of the water with a 62-17 final score. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Trojans had established a 39 point advantage.
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.
One reason for the win was Lee County's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for nine sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Greg Batson and Jordan Jones, who racked up four sacks between them.
Thomas County Central pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. As for Lee County, their record is now 5-0.
Saturday's game 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 Saturday's contest 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? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
