Article and photos courtesy of the High School Sports
High school football is under way in Middle Georgia. After an exciting first week of games, week two offered more of the same. Mary Persons grabbed a win at home over McDonough, Northside knocked off Peach County and Northeast blanked Central. The three teams looked impressive in week two and remained undefeated through the first two weeks of the season.
Best game
Mary Persons 42, McDonough 28
The two teams traded blows early, and the teams were tied 14-14 with fewer than five minutes remaining in the first half.
Running back Duke Watson, fresh off a 100-yard game and a pair of touchdowns in week one, turned on the jets to put Mary Persons up 21-14.
Head coach Brian Nelson pulled out a trick with under 30 seconds left in the half: The Bulldogs went with a short kick and recovered.
Watson found the end zone for the fourth time in the first half — and the second time in a 14-second span — to give Mary Persons a 28-14 lead heading into the half.
The second half offered more of the same with Mary Persons being paced by Watson and strong play by the defensive line. Watson scored another two touchdowns in the second half. The Bulldogs defense held McDonough to two scores in the second half, the last one coming when the game was already well out of reach.
Mary Persons will head into the bye week 2-0 and will take on Peach County on Sept. 17.
Three stars
Duke Watson, Mary Persons running back: He scored six touchdowns after scoring two in the first game.
He might’ve been playing with a chip on his shoulder after finishing second in the Telegraph’s player of the week poll to Warner Robins running back Jafredrick Perry. The sophomore has a bright future and plenty of more nominations in the poll ahead if he continues to turn in performances like this one.
Watson has been one of the stars of the first two weeks rushing for over 100 yards in each game and has eight touchdowns on the season.
Chad Alligood, Northside head coach: The Northside Eagles had lost two straight games in the series with Peach County before Alligood took over last season as the new head coach.
In his first two seasons at the helm, he has led the team to a pair of wins over the Trojans. The Eagles have now won 5 of their last 6 regular-season games and are 2-0 to start the year.
The last time Northside started a season 2-0 was in 2016, the Eagles went on to win 11 games that season before losing in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
Houston County football: One week after being dominated by rival Perry, the Bears knocked off one of the best teams in the state at any classification in Crisp County.
This could give Houston County the momentum to right the ship after coming out sluggish in week one, especially on the offensive side of the ball where they struggled to move the ball down the field on Perry.
Scoreboard
- Northside 28, Peach 14
- Northeast 43, Central 0
- Houston 27, Crisp 23
- Howard 35, Southwest 0
- Dodge County 27, Dublin 7
- Tattnall 28, Hawkinsville 0
- Stratford 47, George Walton 7
- Jones County 34, North Gwinnett 28
- Warner Robins 50, Archer 34
What’s next?
Northside at Howard
It will be a matchup of undefeated teams next week. Howard notched wins over Central and Southwest in the first two weeks of the season. The Huskies defense held Southwest scoreless in their week two win. But there will be a massive step up in competition for Howard. Northside has blew out Veterans in week one and beat a good Peach County team while dominating the entire game. This could turn into a repeat of the Veterans game in a hurry. In last year’s game, Northside won comfortably 28-7 over Howard.
Veterans at Jones County
Last season, Veterans beat Jones County 30-6. The two teams went in opposite directions after that game.
Jones County went on a winning streak that didn’t end until the 5A semifinals against eventual state champion Warner Robins. Veterans won just one more game the rest of the season and missed out on the playoffs.
Veterans enters the game with a big loss from Northside to open the season. COVID-19 forced them to postpone its game on Friday night against West Laurens.
Jones County was upset in week one by Northeast but jumped out to a 21-0 lead on North Gwinnett in week 2. After a big rally by North Gwinnett in the second half, the Greyhounds did just enough to escape with a win after Evan West iced the game with a 50-yard field goal with just over a minute left in the game. This game could be another key point in these two teams’ seasons.
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