♪♪ ♪♪ [ Whistle blows ] -Hey, everyone, welcome into the much anticipated long awaited "Football Friday in Georgia Postgame Show" presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

Buckle up, Georgia.

I'm having Hannah Goodin.

We are coming to you live from the GPB Sports Studios where Cambridge just defeated Johns Creek 48-47 forty seven in a wild one.

A blocked PAT in overtime to take sole possession in the region.

Unbelievable.

I cannot wait to talk about our game right now.

We have four head coaches from around the state on the line waiting for us to chat with them.

First coach that we are going to get to right away is Brookwood head coach Phil Jones.

It was their region opener tonight.

That's Region 4-7A.

Defeated Newton 28-6 Coach, how are you feeling after the game?

-Great win for us, Hannah.

Thanks so much for having me on.

Our defense played exceptional night, special teams as well, and offense made the plays and needed to make against a really good Newton defense.

So obviously feeling good to be 1-0 in the region.

-Your next game will be against Grayson in Loganville, and we can announce it is our GPB game of the week.

Coach, that's got to be exciting for you.

-Very, very exciting.

Y'all do such a great job statewide covering our schools, and we're always so thankful when we get to be a part of your coverage.

And it's going to be a big one next week over at Grayson, and it's exciting to be a part of such a big game.

I hope our players represent the moment well.

Your record now 5-2, 1-0.

You did have your opener tonight region opener in Snellville.

For those who haven't been to a game in Snellville, what was it like?

What was the crowd like tonight?

-It was great.

The weather was perfect, and, you know, we always have great crowds at Brookwood.

The best thing about Brookwood is our community and the strength of our community, and they support everybody.

That's one thing great about Brookwood is that everybody is kind of all in it together and all for each other.

So we had a packed house at Brookwood Community Stadium, and they supported our team well.

And as we built momentum throughout the season, they've continued to come out and the crowds have gotten even a little bit bigger and they got to see some really good football tonight.

-Coach Jones, we cannot wait to see you on the sidelines next Friday for our GPB game of the week.

Thanks so much for hanging on the line while our game went to OT.

-Thanks, Hannah.

It's a pleasure to be on.

Y'all have a good night.

-Alright, thanks, Coach.

Time to check in with Jon to get his thoughts on the Brookwood/Grayson game.

The Rams beat Parkview tonight 28-21 to go 3-1 in region play.

Jon, thoughts on that matchup.

-Well, you go from that one, you go backwards a little bit.

And remember that their season started with the loss to Collins Hill.

They lose 36-10, then they come back and win two in a row.

They beat Dacula and Baldwin.

They put 59 on Baldwin.

Jesse Hicks is another one of those coaches that will play anybody any time to challenge themselves, and I think this was a pickup game because another one had been canceled.

Then you lose to North Paulding in a shootout.

You come back, you beat Marietta, you beat Mountain View, then you beat Newton.

So you're looking at momentum right now.

Brookwood winning their region opener, and you've got five teams chasing after four spots here in Region 4-7A, seven eight.

So this one's going to be a fun -- it's going to be a fun region for those of us who cover these games to keep an eye on.

But obviously for the five chasing four spots, it's really going to be a race down to the end, and the run in for Brookwood, just to give everybody an idea.

It's Grayson, South Gwinnett, Parkview and it is at the Big Orange Jungle the last week of the regular season on a decision Friday on bracketology Friday here GPB.

So the run in is going to be a challenge, but you get off on the good foot there with the win tonight.

-Thanks, Jon.

Brookwood/Grayson on our airwaves next Friday.

Cannot wait for it.

Okay, our next coach is up.

That is South Gwinnett head coach Brian Lamar.

They had a big non-region game against Peachtree Ridge, where they won 32-14.

Hey, Coach, how you feeling about the win at home in Snellville?

-Feeling good about the win.

You know, started off well, got up 32 to zip at the half, didn't come out playing as sharp as we wanted to in the second half, but overall I was satisfied with our overall effort.

-It's your first year there with the Comets.

You're really turning the program around.

How were you able to do that?

Your record, 4-3.

-You know, just trying to get everybody to work hard.

I've got a really good staff and I've got a principle and athletic director that really have a vision for where they want us to go.

So they've been super supportive.

The kids have worked hard.

Of course, there's always challenges when you put in new stuff together, but we've definitely got some good players, some good coaches and we have a great community.

So we're just trying to get better every week and have an opportunity to play an 11th game.

That's what we're trying to work for right now.

Your 0-1 in region play, but you can -- you can get some redemption when you get back to region play next Friday against Parkview at home, which is always good.

Parkview, they lost to Grayson tonight.

So preview that game for me.

What's it going to take to go 1-1 in region play and get a win at home?

-You know, we just got to just eliminate little mistakes and play really well on defense and offense and special teams.

We're running the ball really well.

Been working on our passing game, which we're starting to get caught up on that, and so, you know, we had a tough loss against Grayson in the 17-14 games.

You know, and it just came down to mistakes.

I think all the teams in our region, we're all pretty close together.

I think just mistakes on any given Friday night is what separate us.

You know, I just was talking to Coach Godfree last week, you know, prior to them playing Grayson and we was playing them on sub varsity games.

And now we all feel like we're all just pretty close together.

You can see with the Grayson score being very close with them tonight.

They had a very close game with Newton County, and it's going to be a battle when they play against us.

And we're all trying to fight hard.

Five teams fighting four playoff spots, and we're all pretty close together.

Every team has different pluses and minuses, and match ups make games.

And so we're going to try to do everything we can to eliminate errors and come out with a win next week.

-Coach Lamar, you're doing great things there at South Gwinnett.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us here on the "Post Game Show."

-I just love being on.

-Time to check back in with Jon Nelson.

Jon, what do you think about what Coach Lamar has been able to do there with the Comets?

Jon took over for Steve Davenport, and what you're seeing right now is a team that is coming in 4-3.

But the challenge for Coach Lamar and for South Gwinnett, we always talk about the run in right now when it comes to this particular part of the schedule.

You talk to him about the Parkview game.

He finishes up with Brookwood and Newton.

That's one of the toughest run ins that I can think of when it comes to this sprint that we're talking about in this region where five are chasing four.

It's going to be a challenge for Brian Lamar who's in his first year there at South Gwinnett.

And we've seen the progressions, you know?

You start your season off, you lose to North Paulding, then you turn around, you beat Lithonia, you beat Central Gwinnett.

You lose to Norcross only 7-0 as your getting more and more acquainted with your players and they're getting acquainted with your system.

And so you're at 2-2.

Then you beat Shiloh, then you lose to Grayson, then you win tonight against Peachtree Ridge.

So it's the up and down right now that we're seeing with South Gwinnett, but that run in for them, it's got to be one of the toughest ones that we're seeing right now when it comes to the last couple of games of the regular season, Hannah.

-Jon, we're going to go through a ton of scores from big region battles all across the state soon, but I really want to get your thoughts on where Ware County, Warner Robins.

Ware County upsetting the undefeated Demons 29-21 to put that region in the blender.

That's Region 1-5A.

Jon, what happened tonight?

-It was dominant.

So you had Ware County scoring on their first two possessions, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions and they kick a field goal.

Then a snap goes out of the back of the end zone.

It's 19-0 before any of us really can keep an eye on what's going on down there in Waycross.

Then it was a hook and ladder that put Warner Robins on the board toward the half.

And really, it was dominant, and it'll be great to catch up with Jason Strickland and find out his perspective on things.

Big win tonight for Ware County at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and a little birdie just told me that he might be wanting to talk to you, Hannah.

See what I did there, Jon?

Coach Strickland is on the line.

It's like TV magic.

Hey, Coach.

-TV magic.

-Coach, you guys won it 29-21.

It was a wild one there at Waycross at home.

How are you feeling after the game?

-Oh, we're exhausted.

I don't think this coaching staff's slept in two weeks with the two folks we've had back to back, but we're ecstatic.

Our communities jacked up, but you know, really, it's about our young men.

Senior Night for us tonight.

You know, we probably could have picked a better team to Senior Night have against maybe, but our guys wanted it to be a special night.

They played their guts out.

It was a lot of fun to watch them run around out there tonight.

-At one point, 21-0 lead over one of the top undefeated programs in the state.

How were you able to do that, and what was clicking so well?

-Well, you know, we got Trey Hargrove back a couple of weeks ago, and he came in for the Coffee game.

Troy is our best defensive football player, but more so that he's just kind of an emotional leader force.

And I don't think it's a coincidence that we got back, we've had our two best defensive performances of the year, and then our offensive line against what is an incredible defensive front just played outstanding really all night long and was great in pass protection for Thomas to be able to complete some throws early on to kind of get on top of them.

And then in the second half, being able to run the football and run the clock out.

But, you know, we felt good about what we had going on, and we kind of gave up the mishap right there before, the pass and that took a little bit of energy out from us.

But we were able to come out and start the second half to get a stop and then score again to get it 29-7.

And at that point, we know we felt real positive about our chances to complete what we wanted to do.

-Well, I know Gator fans were going wild there at home.

So Region 1-5A goes into the blender.

Your next game is against Veterans, of course, another big region matchup.

You know, two games left in the regular season, Coach.

What's it going to take to beat Veterans?

-Well, you know, the thing that we've harked on, especially the last two weeks, is let's focus on how we play, not who we play.

And, you know, with that, I think we've played our best football because of that.

We just focused on how we play, how we prepare.

We've had three unbelievable weeks to practice.

This is a physical thing tonight, and we got a bunch of guys banged up.

So we've got to get well next week with a bye and then focus on going on the road to Veterans.

And we need to kind of be in a playoff mentality, and make sure we're hitting our stride as we get into the tournament.

But we want to focus on how we play and make sure we're not taking any steps back coming off these two emotional wins.

-Well, congratulations on the big win, Coach Strickland, and we look forward to seeing what you guys can do next Friday.

-Hannah, appreciate it.

Appreciate all y'all do for high school football, you, Jon, the whole group at GPB.

You guys are first class.

-Well, thank you so much.

Jon's listening, so I'll pass on the message.

Jon, Coach Strickland says thank you for all that you do.

Hey, we had an amazing game with at the Coliseum, but wouldn't you have liked to have been at that one, too?

-No doubt, and it's one of the great environments of high school football.

It's a great town.

When Waycross, if you're ever there and you have the chance to go catch a home game, it's a great environment for high school football.

And for those who've never been, Veterans Memorial Stadium is an old baseball stadium that has been renovated to fit for a high school, fit for football.

So it's a great venue, a great town and a fantastic win tonight for Jason Strickland and Ware County in one of the toughest regions in the state.

Pulling a phrase from my old friend Gil Tyree, bar none.

Big win for them, and they're really going to need the bye week because he was talking about with all those injuries.

I mean, it's going to be -- the bye week for them.

could not have happened at a better time to get ready for the stretch run with Veterans and Ware to finish up their region schedule.

-Jon, really quick.

What does this do to that region?

It goes into the blender now.

-Yeah.

I mean, you've got Ware County with the win.

They're at 2-0, Veterans is at 1-0.

Coffee is at 1-1, Warner Robins 0-1, Wayne County is 0-2.

So really you're looking, obviously, Ware County in the driver's seat because they have -- and they would get the tiebreaker.

Let's just say that they beat Veterans in two weeks.

Milan Turner and Veterans is going to try their dead level best to make sure that that doesn't happen.

But once again, you get the win over Veterans in two weeks, then that's going to put you at 3-0, and you would have any kind of a tiebreaker if you were to lose to Wayne County in that last week of the regular season.

Right now, Ware County in the driver's seat in Region 1-5A.

-Thanks, Jon.

Another team showing out this season is Kennesaw Mountain.

We've got head coach Caleb Carmean on the line.

Big rivalry game in Region 6-6A against Pope.

Won it 21-17.

Coach, what was on the line there in Kennesaw?

-Yeah, it was a great game.

This was pretty much for first place in the region as we head into the last part of the region, so it was definitely a big game and a big game for seeding as we're looking, you know, looking ahead.

-You're 7-1, 5-1 in region play.

So you've been playing a lot of region games this season.

Looks like only two non-region games.

What's your schedule been like?

-Yeah, it's a grind.

This is a huge, huge region.

It's really cool because it's an all Cobb County region, so it's very localized.

But yeah, there are no weeks off.

You get two non-regions, and then you're rolling for the rest of the season.

-Yep, and two more region games back to back.

Your next one is against Wheeler.

Preview that one for me.

-Yeah, you know, Wheeler's you know, very athletic team.

We've seen a little bit on on tape just as we are getting ready for each week.

So, you know, this is a region that every week you got to be ready.

You can lose a game every week, so we've got to be you prepared, got to be ready, got to be focused and ready to go.

-Coach Carmean, thank you so much for your time, and congratulations on the big win.

-Thank you very much.

Thanks for having me.

-Alright, guys.

Four coaches down.

Well, we have more coaches calling in.

Wait and see.

We will also go through a ton of top scores in these big region battles throughout the state.

We've got finals for you.

Well, we should.

It's 11:39 at night.

Stick with us.

There's more to come on "The Football Friday in Georgia Postgame Show" on GPB right after this.

-Sweetheart, please don't forget to wear your seatbelt.

-I got it, mom.

-♪ It's a really nice day, livin' in the right space ♪ ♪ Breathin' Your grace, got me feelin' some kinda way ♪ [ Horn blares, tires screech ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Waves crashing ] -In the blink of an eye, so many tomorrows can disappear.

Buckle up for your future every trip, every time.

A message from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

-This fall, GPB is committed more than ever to keeping you connected with what's happening in our community and around the world.

As a nonprofit organization, this unmatched public service is only possible through your support.

We're so thankful for you.

It is your donation right now at gpb.org/give that powers everything you get from GPB.

Help keep vital, trustworthy information flowing to you and our community with your support.

That's gpb.org/give, and thank you.

♪♪ -Welcome back to the "Football Friday in Georgia Postgame Show" presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

Buckle up, Georgia.

I'm Hannah Goodin.

We're coming to you live from the GPB Sports Studios in Atlanta.

Our game of the week tonight was Cambridge vs. Johns Creek.

The Bears won it 48-47 in overtime on a blocked PAT.

We have another coach on the line who went to overtime tonight.

That's Colquitt County head coach Justin Rogers, defeating Camden County 34-31.

Coach, we were keeping up with this one on Twitter as it went.

It was a wild one.

What happened to OT?

Oh, man, it was wild game for sure.

It was game of runs back and for.

It was one of those games where you hated anybody had to really lose, and so we won the toss... [ Audio drops ] ...they kicked a field goal, and we got the ball and got down to a 3rd and five.

Was able to pop out a little shallow route, hit it and got in the store.

-Looks like you're calling in from the bus or the ride home from Kingsland.

Where the rest of the team at?

-Well, I'm actually riding back right now.

I'm following the bus.

I'm riding with my wife and a five-year-old and two-year-old, trying to make sure she gets home with those people.

So we're right here the bus now.

I'm sure that person is rocking for a little bit.

I'm sure they'll be taking a nap tonight heading back on this long trip.

-I was about to say it is way too quiet.

Okay, you're in one of these regions of doom where there's four region -- four teams in your region, all powerhouses.

Valdosta, Camden, Lowndes, Tift.

you play Lowndes away next week, another tough road game in region battle.

How tough is this to get through, and what's it going to take to beat Lowndes?

-Man, there's no doubt in this region.

We're the only 7A region outside of Atlanta.

It's a sprint, and so it was big tonight get off to a start, you know, get a win in your first region game.

It's extremely important in this sprint.

Now going against Lowndes, we're going to be in another hostile environment playing in the Concrete Palace.

And, I mean, what's the keys to winning that game?

limiting Jacurri Brown, right?.

-Yep.

-I mean, a dynamic quarterback, and, you know, getting him to the ground.

He's such a big body, and he hurts you so much with his legs.

We're going have to do a real, real good job of trying to limit him.

He's gonna get his, so you just got to limit it down.

They've got a good running back in the Belcher kid, so we'll have our hands full and get ready to regroup on Sunday.

But that's what makes South Georgia football so special is these games like this, these tough, tough places to play with great fan base.

-Yes, it does.

The Concrete Palace is no easy place to play.

Well, good luck next Friday.

Thanks so much coach.

Drive safe.

-No doubt.

Thank you, and go Packers.

-Jon, Colquitt versus Lowndes next Friday.

I know you love to call Region 1-7A the Region of Doom.

-One of them.

-That is a sprint like Coach Rogers said.

-Well, and it is, and this is what we talk about with many regions and the battle that you have there because you have to schedule the 972 non-region games.

And in Justin Rogers' case, here's their non-region schedule just to give you an idea.

Marietta, Westlake, which was their lost, 31-24 in Game 2.

Cedar Grove, Valdosta, Heritage of Conyers Northside Warner Robins, Alcovy comes in for a homecoming, I believe.

And then you have to go all the way from Moultrie to Kingsland.

And taking a phrase from our dear friend Tommy Palmer, that's packed lunch and a dinner trip both ways for that one.

And then you turn around Lowndes and Moultrie, two towns separated by about 45 minutes.

They've never liked each other when it comes to the rivalry when it was old Moultrie High and it was Lowndes High.

So you're getting into this rivalry that is decades, decades long, and you're going to be at the Concrete Palace for this one and you're having to jump in to this region play in a mini region, which is a sprint.

And then after that, you get ready for Tift for your region finale.

So any team in Region 1-7A, really any team in any of the Region 1s that we're talking about here, you're in a sprint because of being in a mini region and you have to battle almost three separate ways just to get into your region schedule so you can be ready for the playoffs.

-Thanks, Jon.

It's time to get to all of these crazy scores that happened all over the state.

We're going to get back to you for your analysis on this in just a second.

This is brought to you by Georgia's EMCs.

Georgia's EMCs, so much more than electricity.

We just talked about that Colquitt County.

Camden went 34-31 in OT in Kingsland big Region 1-7A battle there.

Then two ranked teams in Region 3-7A went out it.

North Cobb big win over Walton, 51-29.

That game went on forever if you were watching it.

We had a big rivalry game in Region 6-6A Kennesaw Mountain defeated Pope 21-17.

We just talked to Coach.

They go 7-1 on the year, 5-1 in region play after that win.

Then the wild Region 1-5A showdown.

Ware county upsets undefeated Warner Robins 29-21.

Those region standings go right into the blender, and you know those Gators are celebrating right now.

And in Roswell, two of the three ranked teams in Region 7-5A were facing each other tonight.

Cartersville beat Blessed Trinity 49-21 to go undefeated 7-0 on the year, 3-0 in region play.

Continuing on, Carver-Columbus is now the only unbeaten team in Region 2-4A after beating Troup 36-0.

They will now be the frontrunner to win that region title.

To Augusta area schools in Region 4-3A faced off.

Thomson beat Burke County 27-14.

Bleckley County is now the only remaining unbeaten team in Region 3-2A.

Bleckley beat Northeast 9-6.

Another one for position position in seeding in the Region of Doom, which is Region 2-1A.

Brooks County gets the nod with a 35-7 win over Charleston.

And finally in Region 5-1A, Schley was able to rebound from last week's loss to Macon County 31-0.

We have got more scores coming up in just a minute, but right now, Shane Queen from North Cobb just called in.

They defeated Walton 51-29.

Hey, Coach Queen.

Tell me about your game.

-Well, we started off, you know, 14-14 second quarter.

In the last three minutes of second quarter, we scored 23 points to go up 37-14 halftime.

You know, Walton's got a great program.

They didn't quit.

They made it 37-29.

In the third quarter they scored, and in the third quarter kick, onside kick.

Went down and scored again, converted three fourth down plays in three of those scoring drives.

And then we put it away, scoring a couple of touchdowns late to make it 51-29.

But what a hard fought game, physical football game.

Just proud of our kids, the energy they brought tonight.

-Looks like you're still on the field.

It was an away game.

So you're walking up the field just now, Coach?

-Well, yeah, we just got off the field.

It was a TV game, so they had about 100 TV timeouts it seemed like.

So it was on GPB TV, but, you know, just a great platform for our kids to be on TV any time with you guys and get our logo out there.

-Well, you got three more region games coming up Hillgrove, Marietta, North Paulding.

That is a tough stretch.

How will you get through that?

-Well, we just got to continue to get better.

Tonight, we played great in spurts and then, you know, we let a big play happen and let them back in the game.

But that's also because Walton's got a great football team.

They were ranked sixth in the state for a reason.

But we just got to continue to improve.

We want to be peaking once playoffs get here.

Hillgrove's got a great football program.

They always have, Marietta can score 100 points in a game and North Paulding is surprising everybody as they won, you know, won their first game last week against Marietta in the region.

So they've got three tough games to finish out the season, and this is just going to set the stage where we end up in the playoffs and hopefully us playing at home.

-I hope so too for you.

Coach Queen, please get home safe.

It's dark there.

-Yes, ma'am.

Thank you so much, Appreciate you guys.

Go, Warriors.

Jon, North Cobb, Walton, that game, we just kept texting, being like, "When is this game going to be over?"

51-29.

What are your thoughts on that one?

-Well, you know, once again, you talk about some of the more electric offenses that we've seen, and North Cobb is definitely one of them.

When you look back at the night, you look at 7A, the teams that are at the top of the ladder.

Mill Creek put up a big number tonight.

You look at in 6A.

Lee County had a big task with Houston County.

They were trailing at one point.

They come back to win, So Lee County gets tested in region play.

Buford puts up a big number tonight.

In 5A, we've talked about Region 1-5A all night long and how this one really Ware County right now is in pole position as they're working their way through.

Fitzgerald was trailing tonight.

They come back to win in 2A, so they're right there with it.

Callaway, they snap back from their loss last week against Haralson County.

They get a win tonight as well.

Brooks County gets a big win.

Schley gets a big win win and rebound, and we talked to Justin Rogers about Colquitt County.

So it's twofold tonight.

It's about the rebound in the win and persevering if you're a team at the top when it comes to the top 10 ranking, Hannah.

-Jon, I was going to ask you about some of your top games you're watching tonight, but you already answered my question.

So you were good to go.

Thank you so much for your analysis tonight, Jon.

Great job on the sidelines.

-And it's still light here, unlike where it is with Shane.

-I know.

-And I tip my hat to everybody here at Johns Creek.

They were tremendous all week long with us here.

Tip your hat to both of these teams for a tremendous game, but for the community here at Johns Creek in the Glades, fantastic work, great hospitality all week long.

Can't wait to come back.

-Yeah, at least they kept the lights on for you, Jon.

Alright, thank you so much.

-And the power.

-Have a great weekend.

I'll see you Monday.

-You got it.

-Alright.

We're going to leave you with one more page of scores, because why not?

There were so many good games.

Let's blow through these really quick.

In Region 5-2A, Callaway beat Bremen 35-7.

In Region 4-7A, Grayson beat Parkview 28-21.

We've talked about that one.

In Region 1-6A, Lee County defeated Houston County 29-9.

In Region 1-7A, Lowndes beast Tift 26-7.

That's a big one.

Region 1-6A Valdosta, Northside Warner Robins got the win over Valdosta 13-10.

I think that's the first time I'm seeing that.

Those are all finals.

What a night around the state of Georgia with these big region games.

Thank you so much for joining us on the "Football Friday in Georgia Postgame Show."

We've kept you long enough.

It is 11:51.

It's been a night.

Our game was insane.

We cannot wait for our next game that we just announced.

It will be... What was our next game?

Brookwood/Grayson next Friday.

Too many notes, too many things.

Thanks for tuning in.

We will see you guys then.

♪♪ -sweetheart, please don't forget to wear your seatbelt.

-I got it, mom.

-♪ It's a really nice day, livin' in the right space ♪ ♪ Breathin' Your grace, got me feelin' some kinda way ♪ [ Horn blares, tires screech ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Waves crashing ] -In the blink of an eye, so many tomorrows can disappear.

Buckle up for your future every trip, every time.

A message from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

-Be on the lookout for GPB in your community.

From events for the entire family to exclusive screening and premieres, GPB has you covered.

Don't miss out.

Check gpb.org/community each month for the latest events.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪