HIAWASSEE, Ga. — Three northeast Georgia area teams completed their 2025 regular season campaigns on Thursday, and all three posted winning records, with two — Flowery Branch and East Forsyth in Region 8-4A — moving on to the postseason in two weeks.
The third would surprise most every high school football fan in north Georgia. And they will NOT be playing in the postseason.
On the field, Towns County went out with a bang on Thursday, routing Rock Springs 38-0 at home to cap a 7-3 season. It was a quiet winning season, however, because the Indians have not been playing a region schedule for the past two seasons, meaning no postseason.
But the win equaled the program record for most wins in a season (2008) and the shutout win was the largest for the Indians since beating Hebron Christian 50-0 in 2008.
For seventh-year coach Jason Roquemore and his staff, it also put a stamp on the best two-year stretch in program history with 12 total wins. And midway through the season, Roquemore also became the winningest coach in Towns County history (21-47), surpassing Kyle Langford (17-43) who led that 2008 team.
“I give all the credit to the kids, who did a phenomenal job,” Roquemore said Friday morning. “Each week was a different animal, but somehow, some way, we found ways to continue to push and compete and execute.
“Just happy for our community, man. You know, it’s been since 2008 where something like this has happened, and it’s just been a shot in the arm for our community and our school and our kids. Just so excited for and proud of them.”
So, what’s next for one of the smallest public schools in Georgia? Geographically, and numerically, the Indians have always been challenged. Region schedules have usually involved monster road trips to middle Georgia. And playing in a region where they aren’t outnumbered more than 2-1 on the sidelines have always been an issue.
They have only qualified for the state playoffs once (2017) in their 56-year history. But the Indians’ recent success is certainly tempting with reclassification looming and the state FTE numbers expected to be released in the coming days.
Roquemore said they have had internal discussions about the immediate future. Nothing is off the table, he said, but “best fits” are the higher priority.
“We’re going to do what’s best in the best interest of our kids and our situation,” he said. “We’re still waiting for the state to ratify the classifications to kind of see what that’s going to look like. Class A is definitely going to become larger without the two separate divisions.
“As far as regions, we’re going to look at it geographically. Do we go to the Athens side? Do we go to the west side? Or are we still going to be grouped with the middle to south Georgia side? As to what can happen, we will have to wait until we get (those reclassification numbers) ratified and those regions ratified.”
Regardless of how it all shapes out in the end, the Indians look to have an immediate foundation with more than 40 in the program, a viable JV program for the younger players, and a sophomore class that resembles the outgoing senior class that has been driving the recent success.
“This group of seniors we’ve had, they’ve had a lot of grass time and have really come a long way compared to where they were two years ago when we went 0-10,” Roquemore said. “
“We got great numbers there (sophomores). We have a lot of kids that played a lot of meaningful minutes, which has been really good. We’re really excited about the future because now it’s going to be their time, and it’s going to be their opportunity. We’re very excited to see what they do with it.”
STAT LEADERS
North Hall junior quarterback Alex Schlieman finally has overtaken the rest of the state to lead in passing yards with 2,504 yards. Schlieman, who also leads Class 3A, is averaging 278 yards/game. If he hits his average tonight against Dawson County, Cain Woods of Dalton, who leads Class 4A and sits third (2,378 yards) overall, would have to pass for 405 yards against Woodland-Cartersville tonight to move past Schlieman. Class 2A leader Chaz Pate of Sonoraville is second overall (2,464 yards) but has completed his regular season.
Gainesville’s Kharim Hughley is 32nd with 1,894 yards and Brett Strum of Flowery Branch is 38th at 1,855 yards but both have finished their regular seasons as well.
In rushing, Nolan Matthews of Lumpkin County has climbed into a tie for 3rd overall in the state and 2nd in Class 3A with 1,687 yards. He is just 157 yards behind Ty Cummings of West Laurens, who has 1,844 yards to lead Class 3A. But Cummings and the Raiders closed out their regular season on Thursday so Matthew has a shot at the 3A rushing title with a big night tonight against Pickens.
Matthews is tied with Hudson Hulett of North Murray, who leads Class 2A, and both are behind 2nd place and Class A Division I leader Mason Hollingsworth of Whitefield Academy, who has 1,774 yards. Both Hulett and Hollingsworth will be in action as well tonight.
Habersham Central’s Donnie Warren is 15th overall and 2nd in Class 5A with 1,429 yards and Jackson County’s Daylan Maxwell is 26th overall with 1,235 yards. Warren and Maxwell are in action against each other tonight as the Raiders and Panthers will duke it out for the Region 8-5A title.
Both trail Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy, who led Class 5A with 1,659 yards before this week. The Bulldoggs played and lost 59-24 to Clarke Central on Thursday, but no current stats were listed as of Friday morning.
As for other northeast Georgia area players in the top 50 in rushing, Towns County’s Alex Baert was 30th overall with 1,199 yards. The Indians played on Thursday but no stats were available. Cody McBrayer of Dawson County is 37th with 1,142 yards and Nigel Newkirk of Gainesville is 43rd with 1,082 yards but the Red Elephants have completed their regular season.
In receiving, four area players are in the top 50. North Hall has a pair of players in the top 26 with Ty Kemp (21st, 819 yards) and Cole Cable (26th, 807 yards). Tre Shields of Flowery Branch was 22nd with 818 yards before Thursday. North Forsyth’s Cash Martin is 47th with 695 yards.
PREP SCORES FOR OCTOBER 30
East Forsyth 35, Madison County 7*
Flowery Branch 42, Cedar Shoals 8*
Monroe Area 52, West Hall 0*
Towns County 38, Rock Springs 0
PREP SCHEDULE FOR OCTOBER 31
Cherokee Bluff at East Hall* – 94.5 FM The Lake
Chestatee at GAC*
Creekside Christian at Lanier Christian*
East Jackson at Stephens County*
Habersham Central at Jackson County*
Johnson at White County*
Lumpkin County at Pickens* — www.northgeorgiasportslink.com
Mill Creek at Buford* – AM 550 WDUN
North Forsyth at Forsyth Central* — www.northgeorgiasportslink.com
North Hall at Dawson County*
Oconee County at Jefferson* – FM 102.9 WDUN
Oglethorpe County at Banks County*
Providence Christian at Commerce* — WJJC 95.1 FM/1270 AM
Rabun County at Elbert County
Union County at North Cobb Christian*
GIAA 1st ROUND PLAYOFFS
Piedmont Academy at Lakeview Academy, 7:30 p.m.
(* — denotes region contest)
(Gainesville and Riverside Prep are off.)
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