Morgan County (5-0) had a bye last week and is set to begin region play this Friday against Westside of Macon.
The Seminoles (1-4) have had a tough start to the season, but hope to right the ship this week against the ’Dogs.
Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins thinks Westside is a much better team than its record.
“They’ve played a tough schedule. They’re 1-4, but they’ve lost to good teams like Prince Avenue, Lamar County, Westover, and Bowdon,” Jenkins said. “Other than one of their opponents, the other teams they’ve played are 14-4. So, I think their record is misleading. But when you get to region play, everyone’s record is 0-0.”
Senior quarterback James Neville leads the Seminoles’ offense.
Junior running back Tyleik Flint, along with senior wide receivers Jayden Williams and Paul Risper, round out the unit with a veteran-led offensive line.
So far, Neville has passed for 542 yards, five touchdowns, and five interceptions, but he’s also rushed for four scores. Flint leads the team on the ground with 247 yards with three touchdowns this year.
Williams and Risper are the team’s most reliable pass catchers, combining for 28 receptions for 381 yards and four scores.
Jenkins believes Westside’s offense could potentially give the Dogs’ defense some fits if it can get the ball in space.
“They’ve got an athletic quarterback who can extend plays,” he said. “They’ve got good receivers and a couple of good running backs. It’s pretty typical what you get from them. They’re well-coached and they’re big up front.”
Morgan County just needs to heavily pressure Neville with its front seven and also stop the run. The Dogs’ defensive unit has pressured opposing quarterbacks 13 times in five games with five sacks and 30 tackles for loss.
On the other hand, the Seminole defense might struggle against Morgan County, which ranked as the No. 1 scoring offense in Class AA last week.
Westside has faced high-powered offenses, including those of Prince Avenue, Westover, and Bowdon.
The unit has struggled to get off the field, giving up an average of 35.5 points a game.
The Dogs are averaging 49.0 points a contest heading into this Friday’s matchup against Westside. They’re led by quarterback Davis Strickland, who just committed to West Georgia. He’s been nearly flawless, completing 72 percent of his passes for 920 yards, 12 touchdowns, and one interception during his senior campaign.
The offense has a host of targets for Strickland to throw to, including Monfort, Ty Tillery, Wyatt Singleton, Drew Ainslie, and Cole Wesley.
They’ve combined to catch 49 passes for 844 yards and 11 touchdowns this year.
Morgan County senior running back Christian Monfort, another West Georgia commit, is also on pace for another 1,000-yard season. He’s rushed for 710 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Dogs through five games in 2025.
“We’ve got a lot of offensive weapons and Coach (Brett) Bell likes to get everyone the ball,” Jenkins said last week.
Morgan County has an average victory margin of 32.8 points this season.
Per the On3.com Massey Ratings, the ‘Dogs are expected to beat Westside 48-17 this week, which nearly matches their margin of victory this year.
Last season, the ‘Dogs pulled out a 35-32 win against the Seminoles in a game that included some questionable calls that kept the score close.
They hope for a dominant result this Friday at Bill Corry Stadium.
“We want to play as well as we can,” Jenkins said. “I do think it wil mean something to the kids who played in the game last season because we were down by 10 with about eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and had a good come-from-behind win. We had a lot of things go against us, but we came out on top.”