🏈 REGION GAME 1: DECONSTRUCTED

Region games count differently.

Jeff Davis is 4-0 overall, but Friday starts a separate race inside Region 1-AA. From here, region wins and losses begin shaping the standings that help determine postseason position and head-to-head advantage.

Jeff Davis shares the region with:

• Fitzgerald
• Bacon County
• Thomasville
• Cook
• Berrien
• Brooks County

That makes Friday Region Game 1 of six.

So if Jeff Davis beats Fitzgerald, the Jackets would be 1-0 in region play and own the early head-to-head edge over the Purple Hurricane.

It would not win the region.

It would not guarantee anything in September.

But it would matter a whole lot more than simply becoming 5-0.

FITZGERALD VS. WORTH COUNTY

Fitzgerald did not look invincible against Worth County last Friday.

They looked stubborn.

Worth kept the game close, moved the football and forced Fitzgerald to stay uncomfortable deep into the night. The Purple Hurricane never really created the kind of separation that lets a team relax, but they also never abandoned what they trusted.

That trust centered heavily on RB Latavis Devine Jr.

He carried the ball a whopping 39 times for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Fitzgerald was willing to keep putting the football in his hands and make Worth stop it again and again.

Worth pushed back.

The Rams threw for 222 yards, kept the margin tight and forced Fitzgerald to play four quarters. This was not a night when the Hurricane simply overwhelmed everything in front of them.

That may be the clearest picture of who Fitzgerald was that night:

comfortable being uncomfortable.

They stayed physical, stayed patient and waited for the game to give them another opportunity.

Late in the fourth quarter, Fitzgerald finally created enough breathing room to finish off a 25-20 win.

Worth showed that Fitzgerald can be challenged.

Fitzgerald showed that being challenged does not make them panic.

And that may be the part Jeff Davis fans should remember most heading into Region Game 1.

This one may not be decided by who looks better first.

It may be decided by who is still playing their football when the game gets tight, the momentum swings and the night starts getting heavy.

Several of the Jackets heading back to Fitzgerald already have some history in this matchup. Kobe Hill, Mark Durden, Jai-den West, Jacob Laney and Brice Bohannon were all part of last season’s team, giving Jeff Davis a core group Of leaders that have already experienced the atmosphere and physicality of this game. That familiarity does not guarantee anything Friday, but it does mean this group is not walking into Fitzgerald completely blind.

Friday begins the region race. 🐎

And somebody leaves it 1-0.

This is one you’re not going to want to miss!

--Sophia Allen | GameFace Media