Top-ranked Ware County can move one step closer to a second straight Region 1-AAAAA title when the Gators travel Friday to Statesboro. The Gators (7-0 overall, 3-0 region) enter after having thrown consecutive shutouts for the first time since the 2014 season. Bradwell Institute was involved in both. A victory at Womack Stadium would set up a winner-take-all region champio - nship next i n Dou - glas against fourth-ranked Coffee (7-1, 3-0). The Trojans travel to winless Greenbrier this week. The Blue Devils (3-5, 2-1) currently reside in thirdplace in the standings holding a one-game lead over Jenkins (2-6, 1-2), who travels Friday to Bradwell Institute. The season-ender could align for a winnertake-all for third. This week’s meeting in Statesboro is the 20th between the two programs. The Gators have won six straight to even the series at 9-9-1. Ware County is 1-0-1 when playing the Blue Devils as the top-ranked team with a 13-all tie in 1961 and a 40-7 win in 2014 kick starting the six-game winning streak. Overall, the Gators are 4-2-1 when entering as a Top 10 member. The two foes have two opponents in common — both from the region. Ware County beat Bradwell Institute 48-0 with the BlueDevils winning 34-7. Both shutout Greenbrier with the Gators posting a 44-0 victory and Statesboro recording a 35-0 decision. The Blue Devils’ offense is centered around the exploits of junior quarterback Kam Mikell (6-foot-3, 180 lbs.). The southpaw has accounted for over 800 yards running and throwing. He is second on the team with over 500 yards rushing with two 100-yard nights and scored four times. Mikell has thrown for four scores. “He’s a 100-meter track guy that has run at the 6A state meet,” said head coach Jason Strickland. “We’ve got to be sound to corral him up and keep him in the box. We’ve got to do a great job of getting hats around him because he is special. “We can’t go to sleep in the secondary because he can spin it. The key, though, is being disciplined in the box, fitting the gaps and making sure he does hand the ball off.” Senior Jordan Lovett (6- foot, 185) is the featured back with over 800 yards rushing including three 100-yard nights to go along with eight touchdowns. Senior James Flagg (6-3, 170) is Mikell’s favorite target. Strickland says Stateboro is one of the better defensive teams in the box the Gators have faced in several weeks. “They (Blue Devils) are very multiple with their fronts,” said Strickland. “They also move around giving offensive coaches more to prepare for. As much confusion as they try to cause in the box, the back end is pretty simple with a single high safety and a Cover 3 zone coverage. “The key for us comes down to communication with our linemen. Greenbrier gave us a different front and we didn’t do a good job of communicating and they (Wolfpack) caused us some problems. We’ve got to ID the front and be able to block it in order to run the ball.” WCHS vs. SHS Series tied 9-9-1 WCHS SHS 1960....................6 .........20 1961 ...................13 ..........13 1962...................12 ..........14 1963 ....................6 ...........0 1988..................20 .........28 1989 ..................13 .........28 1989...............% 12 .........20 2003 ..............# 26..........27 2006 .................20 ...........0 2007..................10 ...........0 2008 ...................7..........24 2009 ...................0............3 2011...................10..........24 2014..................40............7 2015 ..................39............3 2016..................29 ...........0 2017 ..................35 ..........21 2018..................35 ..........13 2019 ..................16............7 % - Region 2-AAA playoffs # - 2nd round of Class 4A playoffs
