When Emanuel County Institute meets Johnson County tonight, it will be more than just a game between two undefeated teams from Region 3-A (although that is certainly one aspect of this matchup). ECI running back Washaun Ealey, who is committed to the University of Georgia, will be gunning for the all-time state record for career rushing touchdowns.
With four touchdowns in last week’s game against Treutlen, Ealey pulled to within one touchdown of Matt Dunham’s (Pacelli, 2001-04) state record of 111. Last year, Ealey passed another state great, one that’s near and dear to the hearts of Johnson County fans: Herschel Walker.
Johnson has the ability to keep Matt Dunham (who is currently a member of the Florida State football team) the state touchdown leader for one more week, as the Trojans have only given up an average of 16 points per game.
QUICK RISE
The success of the East Paulding football program just halfway through its first season in Class 5A has been a good story. Tonight, a good story can turn into a great story if the Raiders can pull off the win at Harrison. East Paulding (6-0, 5-0 Region 5-AAAAA), led by Ed Cazanave at receiver and Jahron Brown at running back, can really turn some heads with a victory over the Hoyas (6-0, 5-0). This will likely decide the region’s No. 1 seed.
RANKINGS RESPONSE
Received an email from a passionate supporter of the Dunwoody football team who was wondering why the Wildcats weren’t getting more respect. However, at No. 5 in Class 3A in our GPB/Score Prep Top-10 rankings, they aren’t exactly being ignored:
“What is the deal with Dunwoody, no one believes they are real? Let’s see, they lead AAA in scoring, have 5 potential Division I players. This team finishes 8-2 last year and the only true defeat was to Chamblee. They return 18 starters that have been together since the 9th grade. This team is the sleeper of 5AAA? Everyone talks about St. Pius but guess what, Dunwoody takes it one game at a time.”
Dunwoody was definitely a team I had an eye on this year, because of the fact (like my critic stated) that they went 8-2 and returned just about everyone. However, I think the four teams ahead of them in our poll have proven themselves. Cairo is the default No. 1 for obvious reasons. LaGrange at No. 2 has as much talent, especially defensively, as anyone in the classification. Baldwin has a shutout win over the defending champions, Carver-Columbus. And St. Pius’ win over Marist is probably the best win of anybody in Class 3A at this point. I can’t speak for others, but I think that at No. 5 in my rankings, the ‘Cats are right where they need to be.
Ewalt can be reached at aewalt@scoreatl.com.
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