LC vs Greene County preview

by Ken K. GreenLamar County will travel to Greensboro Friday in hopes of clinching its first region title in nearly a decade when they take on the Greene County Tigers. The Trojans are 8-0 overall and 6-0 in Region 4-AA while Greene County is 2-6, 1-5. Lamar is averaging 37.8 points per game (5th in the state in Class AA) while yielding 11.1 (7th) for a differential of +26.7 (5th).When and Where: Friday 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium, Greensboro, Ga. To Get There: Take Hwy 41 S to Forsyth. Turn left onto N Lee St and follow to Cabiness Rd/Hwy 83 N. Follow 83 N to Monticello. Turn right onto W Washington St then left onto S Warren St. Keep right at the fork and follow Madison Rd/Hwy 83 N to I-20 E. Merge onto I-20 E and follow to the Ga-44 E/Lake Oconee Pkwy exit. Take the exit and turn left onto Lake Oconee Pkwy and follow into Greensboro. Ga-44 E runs into S Main St. Greene County is at 1002 S Main St. on the right. Tiger Stadium is on campus. The trip is approximately 83 miles or a one hour 45 minute drive. Weather: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain throughout the game. Temperature at kick-off will be in the mid-50s dropping to around 50 degrees by game’s end. ADVISORY: Along with the rain, a category 8-0 Blue Thunderstorm is expected to make for a long, miserable night for the Tigers. What’s at stake: For Lamar, a win will clinch the Region 4-AA championship and the right to host the first two round of the state playoffs. For Greene County, pride. The Tigers have been eliminated from the post season picture but will be licking their chops to knock off the region’s top team to make their season. Last week: Greene County lost to Monticello 34-14. The Trojans were idle. Common opponents: The Tigers have beaten Crawford County (20-0) but lost to Pike County (35-0), Northeast Macon (35-20), Southwest Macon (33-6) and Putnam County (40-0). Series: This is the second meeting between the two schools. Greene County won 17-14 here last year. Tiger defense: Slant 50 front allowing 29.8 points per game. Tiger offense: Multiple I-formation scoring 13.6 points per game. Top players: #4 Jared Miller (Jr. QB) Tiger coach: Charles Winslette (260-132-3) 32 seasons including Gatewood, Stephens County, Tift County, Coffee, West Rome, Statesboro and Fayette County. Second tour of duty at Greene County. 59-35-1 in eight seasons. Prediction: Maxwell ratings has the Trojans a 34 point favorite. The Trojans are ranked #10 in Class AA by MaxPreps, the Associated Press and GaSports/Coaches while the Tigers are ranked #68 (out of 79 schools) by MaxPreps. What you should know: Although Greene County’s football field has been in operation for many years, Tiger Stadium has a new look to it as it underwent cosmetic refurbishing over the summer and now closely resembles Trojan Field including natural turf. What Lamar Head Coach Jason Strickland says: ‘Greene County runs a very multiple offense. They base out of the I Formation but they are going to give a ton of looks, everything from spread gun to wing-T looks. They are led by a very athletic quarterback. He has been a kid that everyone we have seen them play have a hard time getting him to the ground. Defensively they are a slant 50 team. They are not quite as big up front as they were last year, but are quick. It appears they have adapted their scheme to better fit their personnel. They do a good job of getting their front moving trying to create problems in the backfield. They graduated a ton of talent last year and this year’s group is pretty young and inexperienced. However, they are very athletic and at times have looked as good as anyone in the region. We will have to do a great job of tackling on defense and being very fundamental on offense’.