Greene County (8-1, 3-1) heads into its final regular season game ready to host Washington-Wilkes (6-3, 3-1) this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
• Series History: Washington- Wilkes leads Greene County 36-16-1.
• Last Meeting: Greene County defeated Washington-Wilkes 28-22 in 2022.
After coming off their first loss of the season, the Tigers look to bounce back with a good performance against the Tigers of Washington-Wilkes. The winner will be in sole possession of the top spot in Region 8-A.
Greene County comes into the contest with the home-field advantage, and against Washington-Wilkes, that is an important component to consider.
All three of the visiting Tigers’ losses have come on the road — a one-point defeat at East Laurens, an 11-point defeat at Elbert County, and a six-point loss to region foes in Lincoln County.
Even in all three of those losses, the Tigers donning blue and gold scored at least three touchdowns.
Greene County head coach Terrance Banks told the Lake Oconee News that he believes the matchup between the Tigers’ defense and Washington-Wilkes’ offense will be the deciding factor for the contest.
“We’ll have to play all 48 minutes and take it one play at a time,” Banks said. “I believe Washington-Wilkes has the best offense in the region, but I think we have the best defense in the state, and I’m not backing down from that. It will be a great test for our defense to see where they are truly at going into the postseason but don’t count out our offense. We have scored more than 28 points several times. We just need to take care of the ball and get things rolling like we did against Morgan and Lincoln.”
Throughout the season, Washington-Wilkes’ offense averages a little over 36 points per game. That’s enough to label them as the highest-scoring team in the region.
They have a senior quarterback in Andrew Meech who’s thrown for over 1,300 yards. Meech also takes care of the ball, with 18 touchdown passes to only three interceptions.
The visiting Tigers also give players with triple-digit rushing yards on the year. Tamari Curry is Washington-Wilkes’ leading ball carrier with 785 yards, and the other four have run for at least 200.
Luckily for the Tigers donning black and gold, their team’s backbone is the defense.
Even in last week’s defeat, Greene County only gave up 14 points to Aquinas, and the last seven came late in the fourth quarter.
Banks’ defense is currently giving up just over one touchdown a game, but this week’s opposing offense could prove to be more explosive than they have seen in weeks prior.
They have even more motivation heading into Senior Night, as well. With last week’s loss, Greene County is now tied with Aquinas and Washington-Wilkes for the top region spot. With a win, the Tigers from Greensboro would secure a region title for the first time since 2018.