Clay’s Court: The trouble of being stuck in one body

I’m sure lots of people have had this thought float through their head at one point or another: “I wish I could be multiple places at the same time.”

Whether you want to sleep in and send your clone to work or have another you to help with household chores. There’d be a lot of uses for having a clone or two of yourself, and man what I’d give for one of those.

I would certainly like someone to help do my chores, but my biggest use for a clone would be being at multiple games in Houston County at once in weeks like this one.

At the time of writing there’s three great football games coming up and I, unfortunately, can only be at one: The Crosstown Showdown between Northside and Warner Robins, a rivalry that’s been intense the last few years in Houston County versus Perry and a GIAA semifinals rematch between Westfield and Deerfield-Windsor.

On one hand the Crosstown Showdown is the obvious choice. It has historical relevance (this will be the 68th time the two teams meet), it’s the first year for new Eagles head coach Daniel Williams and the atmosphere is unmatched.

Warner Robins is also still finding themselves early in the season, and with a rivalry game you can throw all preconceptions out the window.

Northside’s defense has kept them competitive in their first two games, and you never know what can happen under those Friday night lights.

But then there’s Houston County and Perry, which has been a great game since Jeremy Edwards arrived at HoCo. Almost half of the Bears’ wins in the series have come since his first season in 2022 with some close final scores.

In 2022 the teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense and scored two or more touchdowns in every quarter but the first. Antwann Hill Jr (a sophomore at the time) threw for 414 yards and four touchdowns while Ryan Taleb ran for 200.

Armar Gordon Jr threw for 380 yards and six touchdowns on only 18 (!!) pass attempts for Perry. Dakarai Anderson caught seven of those for 193 yards and three touchdowns.

The next couple of games had some great moments, too, like Ricky Johnson catching 12 receptions for 218 yards and three touchdowns in 2023 (as well as the quarterbacks combining for 712 yards). Isaiah Mitchell and Kiel Sparks lit up the scoreboard in 2024 with a combined 25 receptions for 386 yards and five touchdowns, too.

So while that series doesn’t have the historical relevance the Crosstown Showdown does, it’s been a barnburner every year for the last several.

Then finally you’ve got Westfield and Deerfield-Windsor, which has been a one-sided affair since the 2000s (the Hornets are 7-19 since 2000). That being said, the Knights were two of Westfield’s three losses last year, including a last-second defeat in their first semifinals appearance since 2021.

This year the Hornets’ offense looks just fine with Brock Johnson settling in at quarterback (19-of-25 for 416 yards and seven touchdowns) and Stone St. Clair picking up the slack in the receiver room with 226 yards and four touchdowns through the two games. Jackson Hair is also averaging 12.1 yards per carry and has two touchdowns.

Deerfield-Windsor will definitely be a step up from the teams they’ve played in the first two games, but there’s bound to be a little bit of bad blood given how things ended last season.

You’re telling me I’ve got to choose one of these games?

In an ideal world I’d have clones, but since that’s not possible (yet) I wish some of these games would move off the same week.

First, it’d be nice if the Crosstown Showdown was a region game with more on the line than bragging rights, but that’s a thought for another column.

But since that probably won’t happen anytime soon, the HoCo/Perry game moving off of the date would work.

It’s possible considering the two-year schedule cycle is coming to an end. It used to be a Week 1 game, but with the Bears taking part in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic the last two years that’s not likely.

Week 2 is possible; Effingham County and Peach County have taken up that spot for HoCo and Perry respectively the last two years, but it’s not a longstanding date. Week 4 has been the Panthers’ bye week this cycle, but before then it varied. Maybe Week 5 or Week 6? Week 5 has been HoCo’s bye the last couple of years.

Westfield and Deerfield-Windsor has been a Week 1 game in the past, but it’s always moved around the first few weeks of the season when they do play.

I’m not a scheduling expert that’s for sure. You’re not just balancing your own schedule but the schedule of teams you’re wanting to put on the slate. Those teams, like East Coweta or Effingham County, have schedules of their own with bye weeks and a number of away or home games they want in a period.

In a vacuum it’s easy to move the game, but in reality it’s unfortunately not so simple. Here’s hoping I can see more of these games in the future, though.