Northside football lines up against titan Lee County in Game of the Week

Northside (3-3 ,1-1 Region 2-6A) took down Tift County on the road last week with a fourth-quarter comeback, and they’ll look to carry that momentum into this week’s game against Lee County.

The Trojans are 6-1, and their only loss is to MaxPreps’ 14th ranked team in the nation, Thomas County Central. They’re ranked 28th by MaxPreps themselves and have beaten a couple of tough teams in Colquitt County (48-30) and Coffee (15-6).

Junior running back Quay Sheard exploded for 202 yards and four touchdowns against the Packers, which accounted for a lot of his total 391 yards and five touchdowns on the season.

Through six games, Lee County has three different rushers with over 200 yards and senior Jordan Bush leads the bunch with 84 carries for 416 yards (five yards per carry) and seven touchdowns.

Bush ran for 113 yards in the season opener against Hapeville Charter for his single-game season high, and he was responsible for three touchdowns in the Trojans’ 49-26 loss to Thomas County Central.

Bush is committed to Mercer, but has 11 total offers from teams like Duke, Louisville, Kennesaw State and others.

The Trojans still get plenty of offense through the air with Colquitt County transfer Cohen Lawson.

The junior earned the starting spot in Moultrie as a freshman and was 83-for-155 (53%) for 1,099 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He took a significant step up in his sophomore season, throwing 144-for-245 (58%) for 2,012 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Through five games this year Lawson has considerably improved his efficiency, although turnovers remain relatively the same. He’s 73-for-104 (70%) for 1,008 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also fumbled twice.

Lawson had a nearly flawless game last week against Veterans. He was 13-for-14 for 237 yards and four touchdowns, and the Trojans ran up 541 yards of total offense.

Each score was to a different receiver, although Lawson certainly has a favorite among the bunch — four-star Texas A&M commit Jaden Upshaw.

The senior holds 32 offers from multiple Power Four schools and has 43 receptions for 550 yards and three touchdowns in six games.

Northside doesn’t have an extensive history with Lee County; the two programs have played 14 times and the Trojans hold a 9-5 series lead.

The first game was played at McConnell-Talbert Stadium in 2006, a 41-0 victory for the Eagles under Conrad Nix.

The teams didn’t play again until 2010 and they took another brief break after 2011. The Trojans’ first victory in the series was in Leesburg in 2017 and the series has been in their favor ever since.

Northside’s last win was in 23-20 in 2022 under Chad Alligood, and they’ve been outscored 165-26 in the last three games. Since 2017, the Eagles have been shut out twice and scored seven four times.

Kickoff is scheduled for Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the MAC.