It will be a new adventure for New Westminster, a Canadian football team, when they visit No. 3 Mary Persons Friday in the team’s first meeting.
“It’s been a tradition for us to play what we call these travel games every three or four years,” head coach Darnell Sikorski told Todd Holcomb.
“We went to California in 2011 and 2017 and down to Texas in 2014. So, it’s time to go travel again, and we were looking for a spot that would be good. We kicked the tires around California again, and our head coach had some contacts in Illinois. Then we thought, ‘What about Georgia?’ That would be completely different. When we reached out to coaches from different states, Coach [Brian] Nelson at Mary Persons sent us an email, and that went into a couple of texts and a phone conversation, and we all decided this is something we would really like to do, for them to host a Canadian team and for us to travel down to the Southeast.”
Coach Nelson has led the Bulldogs since 2012 and advanced to the quarterfinals last season with an 11-2 record. This season, Mary Persons is 1-0 after beating Jackson 23-0 last week. Nelson’s best seasons are nearly identical in back-to-back years when the Bulldogs finished 11-3 and exited in the 4A semifinals each year.
Around the state, two meetings between ranked teams – one an interclass contest and one 3A team facing a 4A ranked team – coupled with the Northern invasion highlights the weekend.
The best matchup not featuring Canada is likely No. 8 LaGrange (1-1) taking on top-ranked Sandy Creek. LaGrange entered the season ranked No. 3 before losing to No. 5 Douglass (1-1) 18-3 in the season-opening game at the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic.
The Grangers will make the familiar road trip to Sandy Creek (2-0), which provides the Grangers a chance to prove they belong in the top 10 after dropping down from Class 4A to Class 3A. In the six-game series dating to 2012, Sandy Creek has won every contest including a 52-0 victory in 2019 and an odd 3-2 Sandy Creek victory in 2018.
The loss against Douglass dropped LaGrange to No. 10 in the poll and last week’s 53-0 victory over Class A Division II Early County when the Grangers lifted the team to No. 8.
Adairsville was unranked last week before upending Class A Division I Pepperell 31-14 last week to enter the rankings and the prize for that is a meeting with Class 4A No. 9 Cass this week. Senior quarterback Ethan Long is 50-of-68 passing for 585 yards and six touchdowns to lead Adairsville. Tre Winters (3 TDs), Colton Sanford (2 TDs) and Xavious Nalls (2 TDs) lead receivers.
There are four other teams playing up in class led by No. 2 Jefferson hosting Class 5A Clarke Central, No. 4 Peach County hosting Class 6A Berkmar, No. 5 Douglass welcoming Class 4A Mays and No. 7 Calhoun playing Class 4A Westminster at home.
Class 3A Top 10 Schedule
1. (1) Sandy Creek (2-0) vs. No. 8 LaGrange
2. (4) Jefferson (1-1) vs. Class 5A Clarke Central
3. (5) Mary Persons (1-0) vs. New Westminster (BC)
4. (3) Peach County (1-1) vs. Class 6A Berkmar
5. (2) Douglass (1-1) vs. Class 4A Mays (Saturday)
6. (8) Monroe Area (2-0) rests.
7. (9) Calhoun (0-1) vs. Class 4A Westminster
8. (10) LaGrange (1-1) at No. 1 Sandy Creek
9. (NR) Adairsville (2-0) at Class 4A No. 9 Cass
10. (6) Troup (1-1) rests.
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