Week 13: Three Savannah area football games to watch, along with Round 1 playoff schedule

Posted by Admin November 7, 2024 Football

It’s Week 13 of the regular season for football teams competing in the GHSA, and while all playoff positions have been established for teams from the Greater Savannah area, there are a couple of games of note in the final stanza of the season.

Calvary Day plays at Long County in a Region 3-3A battle, and New Hampstead is looking to close out its season on a winning note in a Region 1-4A tilt at Ware County.

In SCISA playoff action, Bethesda has a historic game as the Blazers are hosting Orangeburg Prep in the first game on their new field on campus.

Here are three games to watch in Week 13, along with the schedule for the final week of the season and a schedule of games for the first round of the GHSA playoffs the following week.

Savannah-area football games to watch in Week 13

Calvary Day (8-1, 8-0) at Long County (7-2, 6-2), 7:30 p.m.

This game looked like it could have been for a region title, but Long County lost to visiting SE Bulloch 15-12 on Oct. 25. Calvary clinched the region crown last week with a 42-7 win at Liberty County.

The Georgia High School Football Daily published an early look at the GHSA playoff brackets, where private school teams in Classes A-3A will be separated from public schools in the postseason. The Private School playoff seeds are determined by a power ranking system, and Calvary Day is set to have a first round bye with its No. 4 ranking. Cross-town rival Savannah Christian is at No. 1.

Calvary Day coach Mark Stroud said his approach with his team is that this is a game it needs to win to maintain that No. 4 seed.

“If we win this, we could stay in Savannah if week keep winning and not have to travel until the state championship game,” Stroud said. “We’re on the left side of the bracket, the same side as Savannah Christian, and there’s a possibility we could meet and play in the state semis at Pooler Stadium (on Dec. 6).”

Sophomore quarterback James Mobley IV is having an excellent season in his first year as the starter. He has thrown for 1,927 yards with 26 touchdowns and just two interceptions, while completing 77% of his throws.

UGA commit Thomas Blackshear has 31 catches for 783 yards and 12 touchdowns and Doopah Coleman has 28 receptions for 613 yards and eight scores. Sophomore Ca’Den Jones leads the team with 412 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.

The Calvary defense is led by tackle Buddy Mathis Jr., the senior who has committed to LSU. Mathis Jr. has 34 tackles, including 10 for losses and 1.5 sacks. Senior linebacker Cutter Powell leads the team with 6.5 sacks and 73 tackles. Sophomore defensive back Emerson Lewis has five interceptions and 35 tackles.

With the victory over Liberty County, Mark Stroud improved to a record of 271-110 in his 33-year career, which includes 16 seasons with the Cavs. He passed Rick Tomberlin and Buck Cravey as he now sits at No. 20 on the all-time coaching wins list in Georgia. He is second among active GHSA coaches behind Marist Alan Chadwick, who is second all time with 464 wins (former Lincoln County coach Larry Campbell tops the list with 477 career wins).

Long County averages 210 yards rushing per game and just 20 yards per game through the air. The Blue Tide, sitting at No. 20 in the Class 3A Public School rankings will be on the road in the first round of the playoffs to face No. 13 Baldwin.

“Long County is a really good team — they had the ball on the one-foot line in that (18-17) loss to Jenkins, but couldn’t spike the ball fast enough to get another play off,” Stroud said. “They are well coached and have an unorthodox style. They like to pound the ball and eat as much clock as they can on offense, so we’ll have to be ready for that.”

Orangeburg Prep (5-5) at Bethesda (7-3) in SCISA Class 2A playoff opener, 7:30 p.m.

It’s going to be a big night on the Bethesda Academy campus as the Blazers get a chance to christen their new field in a SCISA Class 2A playoff opener with Orangeburg Prep.

“We’ve been talking about having a field on our campus since 2012 and it’s finally become a reality — we’re really excited about it,” said Antwain Turner, in his 20th season leading the Blazer squad, which won its first state crown last year. “It’s perfect timing getting to host in the first round of the playoffs and the kids want to play their best.”

Bethesda has a strong rushing tandem in speedster Assir Best, who has rushed for 745 yards with 17 total touchdowns combining with the rugged style of junior Jordan Cheever, who has 656 yards and seven scores.

Freshman Jordan Turner, the son of the head coach, has taken over at quarterback and has thrown for 999 yards and six touchdowns. His favorite target is junior Raleigh Wesley, who has 30 catches for 526 yards and three scores.

Antwain Turner said there will be bleachers surrounding the field, but the second phase of the construction on the facililty will happen after the season as permanent bleachers, a press box and a field house will be in place for the start of next season.

“This is an intro to what were going to have happening next season,” Turner said. “It’s a big day for everyone involved with our school.”

New Hampstead (3-6, 1-3) at Ware County (5-4, 3-1), 7:30 p.m.

This is the final game of the season for New Hampstead as the Phoenix won’t be playing in the postseason. It will be the final high school game for a Phoenix senior class led by star quarterback Ra’Shawn Truell and standout receiver Kamari Maxwell, who announced his commitment to play at Austin Peay last week.

Truell has thrown for 2,532 yards on the season with 26 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Maxwell has 69 catches for 1,073 yards and 12 touchdowns. The duo would like nothing better than to go down to Ware County and light up the scoreboard in their last hurrah as high school teammates.

Ware County is locked in as the No. 2 seed out of Region 1-4A and the Gators are set to host Tucker in the first round.