Sprayberry (8-1, 5-1) can clinch the Region 6-5A title tonight when it hosts Woodstock tonight and it would be the first region crown that the Jackets have won since 2008. The Jackets’ 8-1 record is the first time Sprayberry has earned eight wins in a season since 1983 and the team has won five-straight games since dropping its region opener to Pope 34-23. The stakes are already high with a region title on the line, but the magnitude is heightened by several other factors. Currently, Sequoyah and Sprayberry are 5-1 in the region and Woodstock and River Ridge are each at 4-2. Sequoyah’s lone region loss came to Sprayberry and the Knights will host Creekview tonight, which sits at 3-3 in region play. Additionally, River Ridge will host Lassiter and its two losses are to Sprayberry and Sequoyah. River Ridge has wins over Woodstock and Creekview going for it as well. As a result, Sprayberry can clinch the region title with a win over Woodstock, but a loss could drop the Jackets all the way to the No. 4 seed.
On paper, Sprayberry is a 13-point favorite, but Woodstock has already proven to be a tough opponent this season and its 28-21 win over Creekview back on Sept. 28 showed that the Wolverines are a playoff caliber team. To make the matchup even more interesting, Sprayberry will be without quarterback Jaden Duckett for the game. In last week’s 31-0 win over Lassiter, Duckett was penalized for an unsportsmanlike conduct flag and subsequently ejected from the game.
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, “Sprayberry quarterback Jaden Duckett appeared to take a late lit. He and the Lassiter defender got into each other’s faces and when an official attempted to pull Duckett away, the senior signal caller tried to move the official’s arm out of the way.”
This resulted in the ejection. Per the rules, an ejection forces the player to miss the next game. Head coach Brett Vavra said that he saw video of the incident after the fact and said that he did not view it as egregious and called it an accident. The staff sent an appeal into the GHSA to allow Duckett to play this week, but the appeal was denied.
This season, Duckett has thrown for 1,727 yards and 13 touchdowns with one interception, while accounting for 640 rushing yards and a team-high 12 touchdowns. Sophomore DJ Wilson has attempted just five passes this season and it is unknown how Sprayberry will adapt to account for the sidelined Duckett in this crucial matchup.
UPDATE 11/2/24: Sprayberry’s sophomore quarterback DJ Wilson was 8-of-11 for 184 yards and helped the Jackets score a 38-17 win over Woodstock to clinch the Region 6-5A championship Friday night. Rayshawn Simpkins also had a huge night with 114 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.
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