Week 1 HS football roundup: Westside rolls past Central, Warner Robins falls to Lee
High school football is back in Middle Georgia and kickoff week featured some premier matchups in Bibb County and beyond.
Here’s a recap of one of the biggest games of the week, along with more scores from across Middle Georgia.
Westside dominates Central in 39-12 opening win
There was lightning in the sky that delayed any lightning on the field, but Central and Westside eventually kicked off their rivalry matchup Friday night. The Seminoles ended up taking the win by a score of 39-12 in the season opener.
The win marked a solid start to the season for Westside, who are looking to bounce back from a losing season last year, the first in all 24 years of tenure for longtime head coach Spoon Risper.
“It means everything, we’ve been waiting so long to get back,” Risper said after the game. “We’ve just had a bad taste in our mouth all winter and spring and summer. To finally come out and get a win, it’s big.”
The game started with strong defensive play from both squads, as the first half saw a safety from Westside and a redzone stop by Central. Despite the strong defensive start, one pass from Westside quarterback James Neville caught the Chargers flat-footed for a Seminole touchdown early.
A two-point conversion made it a 10-0 Westside lead, which held through the end of the first quarter.
Westside broke through in the second quarter thanks to a solid rushing tandem of Savion Ellington and Kadiphious Iverson, the latter of whom struck from 12 yards out to extend the Seminole lead.
Central finally had some momentum when they got inside the Seminole 10 yard line, but an 80-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Justin Walker flipped the script and broke the game open, 25-0.
“We always teach our guys to bend but don’t break, and [Central] got close to scoring a touchdown, but our kids sucked it up,” Risper said. “We just made a play, scooped and scored, and kind of took the wind out of their sails.”
Central struck back with a 60-yard kickoff return touchdown to make it 25-6 going into the half, but still hadn’t scored an offensive touchdown going into the half.
Westside carried momentum into the break despite the kick return for the Chargers. Central’s offense showed some signs of life after they changed quarterbacks in the second quarter, but even new signal caller Keaton Money’s two long completions didn’t result in an offensive touchdown in the first half.
Westside struck quickly in the second half when Neville completed a touchdown pass to Jessie Bell to widen the Seminole lead to 32-6. The Chargers couldn’t answer, as Money completed one pass but then looped a ball over the middle that was intercepted.
Westside held control for the majority of the third quarter. The Seminoles used their strong running game to pound Central down the field, gaining yards in small chunks often enough to open the door for an occasional pass from Neville to keep the ball moving.
“I always pride our offense on being balanced,” Risper said. “We did a good job of mixing it up and not getting too lopsided on run or pass.”
A 55-yard pass from Money to Timothy Hallman gave Central’s offense some hope, though, making the score 32-12 with around seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Neither offense would strike again for the remainder of the game, however, as the game ended on a whimper.
Central’s defense showed some backbone late by holding Westside to a field goal inside the 10 yard line with four minutes to play, but couldn’t score any points of their own. A late Money interception sealed the win, 39-12.
Other scores
ACE 70, Crawford 53
Peach 50, Baldwin 20
Bleckley 33, Dodge 6
Dublin 21, Wilkinson 0
Wheeler 42, GMC 14
Houston 41, Sumter 7
Howard 45, Southwest 12
John Milledge 42, Brentwood 7
Mount de Sales 26, Strong Rock Christian 12
Schley 28, Tattnall Square Academy 21
Union-Grove 17, Upson-Lee 6
Veterans 23, Richmond 20
Lee 26, Warner Robins 10
