Our Week 12 Game of the Week takes us to Tiger for the first time this season (but the third time catching Rabun) in a game that has serious playoff-seeding implications.
RELATED Northeast Georgia’s Week 12 matchups
Rabun County
The Wildcats have been bitten by the injury bug quite a bit this season. Ty Truelove missed several games, which left the Cats running a ‘Wildcat’ (literally) formation. Reid Giles, Lake Evans, and Noah English have done extremely well in keeping the machine going, though the latter hasn’t been featured on offense in several games. Truelove is back, which is a HUGE plus, and Giles is having a career year. The offense registers 33.4 points per game, but the defense (22.4) has been susceptible to big plays. Rabun is hoping to shore that up when welcoming in rivals Elbert County. The Wildcats might be 6-3, but the losses to Commerce and Athens Academy came all the way down to the wire.
Elbert County
This team has to be the best 5-loss team in the state. A ridiculous schedule has led to much of that – Stephens County, Hart County, Lincoln County, Commerce, and Athens Academy. Those are the losses, and all were/are state-ranked teams. 3 of those losses were by 10 or less points, even taking Athens Academy to the final whistle. The offense features Jacari Barnett as the bell-cow back, and several athletes at the skill positions aside from him in Jayvyn Hickman, Ty’Rikis Jones, and Brady Dickerson. The defense, like Rabun’s, lack a little more of that ‘slam the door’ characteristic.
By the Numbers (2024)
Rabun County
6-3 (3-2 in 8-A DI)
Region Standings: T-3rd
33.4 OFFENSE AVG
22.4 DEFENSE AVG
#10 State Ranking
Elbert County
4-5 (3-2 in Region 8-A DI)
Region Standings: T-3rd
32.6 OFFENSE AVG (4th in Class 3A)
24.1 DEFENSE AVG (7th in Class 3A)
N/A State Ranking
Game Highlights
Be looking for highlights post-game later tonight as well as a story recapping Week Twelve. BLITZ partners with Fox 5’s 11 PM “High 5 Sports” show throughout the season. We make sure to get Rabun County coverage on the big market show! (schedule is different this week). You can also follow us on Twitter (@BlitzSportsGa) for live score updates (5G pending).
Preview
Let’s begin with the Wildcats. The defense is going to be key here. Offensively, you know what you have with Giles, Evans, and of course, Truelove. However, he’ll need to be slinging the ball more than last week’s 5 passing attempts to help open up the run. Rabun will score points. The defense has so many talented individuals, but limiting the explosive plays has been the problem in the losses to Athens Academy and Commerce, specifically. If Rabun can minimize plays of 20-or-more yards, they’ll win this game. For Elbert, you could argue the exact same point. Maybe the biggest key for the Blue Devils is to have amnesia. They are coming off a BYE week following their 1-point loss to AA. Prior to that, they rolled against Providence and Banks by a combined 81-6. If Elbert wins the turnover battle, they can win this game.
Game Details
Time: 7:30 PM Kickoff
Place: Rabun County HS / Tiger, GA / Frank Snyder Memorial Stadium
Last Meeting: 2023: #4 Elbert County 21, #2 Rabun County 9
All-Time Record: Rabun County leads 7-1 in the all-time series
Records: #10 Rabun County Wildcats (6-3; 3-2 in 8-A DI) vs Elbert County Blue Devils (4-5; 3-2 in 8-A DI)
Head Coaches: Michael Davis (27-8; 3 Seasons); Shannon Jarvis (134-89; 20 Seasons)
Historically Speaking
This rivalry doesn’t stretch back too far, but it’s been intense every single time. The first meeting came in 2016, and of the 8 meetings before this year’s, at least 5 proved to determine the region championship. Most of the time, both teams were in the state polls. Rabun won each instance from 2016-2022 (going 7-0). That came with stars like Gunner Stockton, Bailey Fisher, Austin Jones, Braxton Hicks, Jaden Gibson, and others. Last year was the first Rabun loss in the series, as Elbert won 21-9 on a rainy Friday night to shock Wildcat Nation on their own field. That can’t be lost on both teams coming into this one.
Team Leaders (2024 Stats)
*Stats accumulated by team-published data on Ga MaxPreps
Rabun County
Passing
Ty Truelove – 616 yds, 7 TD, 2 INT, 56% completion
Rushing
Reid Giles – 1,235 yds, 16 TD
Lake Evans – 523 yds, 10 TD
Ty Truelove – 274 yds, 4 TD
Shaun Fruster – 159 yds, 1 TD
Noah English – 107 yds, 2 TD
Receiving
Reid Giles – 317 yds, 2 TD, 22 rec
Jake Payne – 198 yds, 2 TD, 7 rec
Lake Evans – 134 yds, 2 TD, 14 rec
Leo Marin – 32 yds, 1 TD, 1 rec
Defensive Leaders
Noah English – 82 TKL, 7 TFL, 2 Sacks, 1 INT, 1 FR, 3 FF
Elvis Hunt – 81 TKL, 8 TFL, 1 FF
Jakaden Shiflet – 70 TKL, 10 TFL, 2 FR, 3 FF
Reid Giles – 68 TKL, 8 TFL, 2 INT, 1 FR, 1 FF
Dane Tyler – 66 TKL, 7 TFL, 4 Sacks, 2 FR
Tucker Buchanan – 63 TKL, 6 TFL, 4 Sacks, 2 FR, 1 FF
Ethan Hopper – 58 TKL, 5 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FF
Reed Burrell – 58 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FR
Ryan Yearwood – 33 TKL, 2 TFL, 2 FR, 1 FF
Elbert County
Passing
Jayvyn Hickman – 1,040 yds, 9 TD, 8 INT, 58% completion
Branson Bonds – 325 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT, 63% completion
Rushing
Jacari Barnett – 1,028 yds, 14 TD
Jayvyn Hickman – 684 yds, 9 TD
Jasean Jenkins – 125 yds, 2 TD
Ty’Rikis Jones – 124 yds, 3 TD
Receiving
Brady Dickerson – 458 yds, 6 TD, 26 rec
Ty’Rikis Jones – 432 yds, 2 TD, 53 rec
DK Winn – 307 yds, 2 TD, 22 rec
Defensive Leaders
Lincoln Blackmon – 66 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FF
Reunte Tucker – 58 TKL, 3 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FF
Jose Rodriguez – 52 TKL, 4 INT, 1 FR
Malik Moon – 46 TKL, 2 TFL
Gilbert Fortson – 45 TKL, 5 TFL, 3 Sacks, 2 FR
Jermaine Sims – 43 TKL, 8 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FF
Jerrell Sims – 30 TKL, 3 TFL, 3 Sacks, 1 FR
Lachaz Gurley – 28 TKL, 2 TFL, 1 Sack, 6 FF
