Fall nights under Friday lights

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — It is the middle of June, which means we are coming closer and closer to the start of high school football season in Georgia. I wanted to give readers a peek at the local football schedules from around Houston County. Some schedules are still in the works and will be tentative for a few more weeks. Those schedules not released will be released in a later edition.

Road games are crucial to Houston County teams, as many are known for playing well at home. Taking a deeper dive at the schedules for the following season, we have a few region alignment changes and some changes to classifications, too.

The Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) went through some structural changes over the last six months. What was formerly known as the GISA will now be referred to as the GIAA.

The Georgia Independent Athletic Association (GIAA) will be the home of Georgia’s private schools thru 2024. Perry’s lone private school, The Westfield School, will compete within the GIAA. The Hornet football team is now a member of District 5 and will compete in the GIAA playoffs in class AAAA.

This fall, The Westfield Hornets will travel to Albany in their first contest. On August 19, the Hornets will faceoff against Deerfield-Windsor with a 7:30 p.m. kick-off. Afterwards, Westfield will have four other road contests, as the Hornets will travel to Southland in Americus, Strong Rock in Locust Grove, Cochran and lastly, Columbus.

The defending 5A State Champions will play the vast majority of their games at the MAC. The Warner Robins Demons won their second of back-to-back state titles in 2021 and will look to defend the crown and “War-Town” this fall.

Other than traveling across town to Northside and Houston County, the Demons will spend three weeks on the road. On September 30, Warner Robins will travel to McDonough for a region 2-5A matchup against Ola High School. On October 28, the Demons will face the Greyhounds from Jones County in Gray. Lastly, on November 4, “War-Town” will compete against Locust Grove for another region matchup in Henry County.

The Perry Panthers had a good spring and will have five road games in 2022. Other than an away game against Houston County, Perry will travel for half of their games. In Gray, on September 2, the Panthers will face the Hounds in a non-region matchup. On October 7, Perry will travel to Griffin. The Griffin Bears and the Perry Panthers will rekindle this classic rivalry in 2022. Baldwin and West Laurens are the final region games for the Panthers in 2022, as the Panthers look to repeat as region 4-4A champs.

Coach Josh Ingram and the Veterans Warhawks will play half of their games in Kathleen and another five on the road. The Hawks will travel to Griffin, Northgate (Newnan), Thomas County Central and Tift County. Playing on the road in these hostile environments will help put the Warhawks to the test in region play.

Coach Jeremy Edwards and “Bear Down” country will see much of South Georgia this fall. The Houston County Bears will travel to Dublin and face West Laurens for a region showdown on the first Friday in September. Houston County will play Lee County at home, on September 30 in a matchup that many will anticipate to watch. The Yellow Jackets from Thomasville will host Houston County on October 21 and then, the Bears will play their final away game in Kathleen.

HHJ News