It’s already Week 5, which presents some intriguing action across the area as teams get their last tune-ups in before region play begins.Last Saturday night, it was the same old song and dance for the Raiders — solid offensive output, but not enough stops on defense. Three weeks in a row the Raiders have limped away with heartbreaking, last-second losses. Going back to the Week 2 game vs White County, the Raiders’ final Hail Mary attempt was broken up in the end zone. A week later at Franklin, the Hail Mary worked to head into overtime, but Habersham lost after going for two following a touchdown in OT. Then last week, perhaps the most hearbreaking of all, when the Raiders were four minutes away from their first win over Stephens County since 1996 (12 games played since then).
A late AJ Curry touchdown pass to Jim Barnett didn’t hold up, as the Indians notched a Hassan Brown rushing score to take a 49-46 lead. The Raiders had two more shots at it, but Curry was constantly under pressure, and his final Hail Mary pass attempt was batted down just shy of the goal line.
Essentially, Habersham Central might just be the best 1-3 team in the state of Georgia. And after three gut-wrenching weeks in a row, Friday night could be bad for the visiting War Eagles.
BLITZ Game of the Week: Habersham Central vs Chestatee
WEEK 0 – Chestatee vs North Hall
WEEK 1 – #5 Rabun vs #9 Mt. Pisgah
WEEK 2 – Habersham Central vs White
WEEK 3 – White vs #3 Rabun
WEEK 4 – Habersham vs Stephens
Here are the details for Friday night’s Week 5 game vs Chestatee.
TIME: 7:30 pm kickoff
PLACE: John Larry Black Field (Raider Stadium/Habersham Central High School (Mt. Airy)
LAST MEETING: Raiders won 40-14 in 2016
ALL-TIME RECORD: Habersham Central 1, Chestatee 0
RECORDS: Habersham Central (1-3); Chestatee (3-2)
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Not much to say here as these teams have squared off only once (2016), with the Raiders winning 41-14 in dominating fashion to put them at 4-1 (tied for the best start in school history to a season).
TEAM LEADERS/PLAYERS to WATCH
HABERSHAM CENTRAL:
PASSING
AJ Curry: 1,123 yds, 11 TD; 74/142 passing (52%), 4 INT
RUSHING
Baylor Hinshaw: 401 yds, 3 TD
Daniel Matkovic: 273 yds, 6 TD
AJ Curry: 350 yds, 7 TD
RECEIVING
Jim Barnett: 31 rec, 479 yds, 4 TD
Donovan Curry: 15 rec, 262 yds, 5 TD
Bryce Tanner: 15 rec, 249 yds, 2 TD
Trey Wetherton: 8 rec, 118 yds
TACKLES
Carson Taylor: 36 tackles, 3 TFL, forced fumble, blocked kick
Karl Fail: 28 tackles, 3.5 TFL, forced fumble
Josh Pickett: 26 tackles, 1.5 TFL
Zach Ferguson: 24 tackles, 3 TFL, forced fumble
SACKS
Garrett Kinsey: 1 sack, forced fumble, 15 tackles, 1.5 TFL
CHESTATEE:
PASSING
Storm Yarbrough: 686 yds, 6 TD, 47/88 (53%), 4 INT
RUSHING
Nick Lyles: 677 yds, 14 TD
Storm Yarbrough: 163 yds, 1 TD
RECEIVING
Jacob Goodall: 19 rec, 249 yds, 0 TD
Nick Lyles: 6 rec, 114 yds, 2 TD
Christian Charles: 3 rec, 110 yds, 0 TD
Bryson Nowlin: 5 rec, 59 yds, 2 TD
Reggie James: 9 rec, 50 yds, 1 TD
TACKLES/DEFENSE
Micah Flanagan: 56 tackles, 1 sack, 8 TFL
Aaron Gray: 46 tackles
Victor Birmingham: 29 tackles, 3 sacks, 5 TFL, INT
Reggie James: 27 tackles, 6 sacks, 6 TFL, INT, fumble recovery
Preston Morris: 4 sacks, 17 tackles, 4 TFL
LOCAL GAMES – WEEK 5
#3 Rabun vs West Hall
#8 Union vs #3 GAC
#5 Commerce vs Athens Christian
Habersham vs Chestatee
White vs Dawson
Stephens vs Hart
Lumpkin at East Hall
Banks at Monticello
—
Gainesville vs #6 Jefferson
Johnson vs Flowery Branch
North Hall vs Fannin
