Morgan County and Greene County will renew a historic rivalry on Friday night in Greensboro.
Series History: Morgan County leads, 31-24-1
Last Meeting: Morgan County defeated Greene County 43-22 in 2022.
Morgan County has owned its rival over Greene County as of late, winning 10 of 11 since 2010.
However, the Tigers will try to knock off the Bulldogs and break a four-game losing skid in the series.
Morgan County is coming off a 41-7 dominant win over Social Circle, while Greene County defeated B.E.S.T Academy 37-12 in its opener, so one team will leave Friday’s matchup with a loss.
Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins complimented Greene’s physicality coming into the game.
“[Greene] has got some really good-looking, tough kids over there,” Jenkins said. “They’ve got great skill kids, linemen and receivers. They’ve [also] got some guys on the defensive line that can play.”
Greene County head coach Terrance Banks echoed Jenkins’ comments about physicality, but about how tough Morgan is.
“Well, Morgan County is a physical football team. That’s something coach Jenkins has prided himself on back to when we were both coaching in [Classes] 6A and 7A at Newton and Dacula,” Banks said. “He’s always been a physical football coach, that’s what he does. When you watch Morgan County, you see that physicality. I expect them to be physical on both sides of the ball.”
Each has its advantages and disadvantages heading into the important Lake Country gridiron matchup.
Despite both offenses struggling out of the gate in their respective openers, they each got better as the game went on. A huge focal point of Morgan and Greene’s offensive units is the ground game.
The ‘Bulldogs are led by Jay Dorsey, who rushed for 192 yards and two scores last week. Sophomores Christian Monfort (76 yards, 2 TDs) and Jordan Gordon (89 yards, 1 TD) were also productive.
The Tigers were led by sophomore Travez Gibson (139 yards, 1 TD) and senior Aveon Baugh (112 yards, 1 TD) in their opener, but junior Armari Durham (78 yards, 2 TDs) was also used a lot.
Even though each team can ground and pound the ball, the defensive lines on both squads are stout. So, it might be hard for Morgan and Greene to each get the respective running games to be effective.
Greene’s defensive line features South Carolina State commit Dayshaun Copeland and Kevin Wynn, who has offers from multiple Power Five 5 programs. The Tigers are hard to run on with those two spearheading the line as both combined for seven tackles and three tackles for loss on Friday.
Morgan’s defensive front is anchored by UAB commit and senior Antavious Elder, but junior Jamel Cox is also a force to be reckoned with. Elder, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound three-time All-Region 4 player, had three tackles for loss, while Cox had six total stops against Social Circle.
So, expect this game on Friday between these two squads to be a knockdown, drag-out physical battle.
Jenkins expects a physical battle between both teams on Friday night at Tigers’ Stadium.
“When I was here in the early 2000s, Putnam [County] was a rival, but Greene County was the bigger rival,” he said. “I think over to us, it’s a really big game. We’re excited about it. I told our kids this morning, all you can ask for is the chance to play in big games. It may not be a championship game or playoff game, but on Friday night, this is a big game. It means something. We know what kind of challenge we have ahead of us. We’ve just got to keep working.”
Banks is only in his second season with the Tigers but knows how much the rivalry means to the program.
“Our guys will be ready to play,” Banks said.