Region teams face arduous fall schedules
May 12—MOULTRIE — Region 1-7A football teams will open the 2021 season the weekend of Aug. 20-21 with all four teams playing, including Lowndes, which will begin against Walton in the Corky Kell Classic on Saturday, Aug. 21.
The annual season-opening event will feature 11 games, including five on that Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Lowndes-Walton game is scheduled to kick off at 2:45 p.m.
All 11 games will be televised by CBS/Peachtree TV.
Last year, Corky Kell Classic organizers were forced to move the games to high school stadiums out of COVID-19 concerns.
Although this year is the second in the two-year Georgia High School Association scheduling cycle, because of the virus concerns last fall, some schedules do not much conform to the ones teams ultimately played in 2020.
Lowndes went 10-2 last year in its first season under the direction of head coach Jamey DuBose.
In this year's opener, the Vikings will face a Walton team that was 6-6 in 2020. The Raiders final game was a 35-12 loss at Colquitt County in the second round of the playoffs.
The Packers, who finished 9-1 in the coronavirus-interrupted 2020 season, will open at Marietta.
Colquitt was scheduled to open last year on the road against the Blue Devils, who were coming off a Class 7A championship season.
But when the virus wrecked nearly everyone's schedule, the game never happened.
Now the Packers will face a Blue Devils team that went 3-8 after the loss of a number of outstanding seniors from the 2019 edition.
Colquitt will then play Westlake on August 27 and Cedar Grove on September 3 at home before traveling to meet Valdosta on Sept. 10.
The Packers will then play on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium in its next three games- Heritage of Conyers on September 17, Northside-Warner Robins on September 24 and, after an off-week, Homecoming opponent Alcovy on October 8.
Colquitt will open Region 1-7A play on October 15 at Camden County.
The Packers will be at Lowndes the next Friday night before finishing the regular season at home against Tift County.
Lowndes has some interesting games on its schedule.
After facing Walton, which has many offensive weapons returning this season, the Vikings will be at home to face Griffin, which was 7-5 last season and Lake Gibson High of Lakeland, Fla., which was 11-2.
Then the Vikings will travel to Leesburg to meet Lee County. The Trojans were 12-2 in 2020.
On September 24, the annual Winnersville Classic pitting Lowndes against Valdosta will be played at Martin Stadium.
The Wildcats were forced by the Georgia High School Association to forfeit all seven of their 2020 victories following an investigation into alleged recruiting of players.
Like Colquitt County, Lowndes will face Cedar Grove, which won back-to-back Class 3A state championships in 2018 and 2019.
But the Saints had to forfeit four victories last year for using an ineligible player.
Cedar Grove has a new head coach this season. After Miguel Patrick left to take the head coaching job at Crisp County, assistant coach John Adams was named to succeed him.
All seven of Lowndes' non-region games will be played at home. The Vikings' only two road games are at Tift County and Camden County.
Camden County's non-region opponents include Warner Robins, which was 13-1 last season, and Coffee, 10-3.
Like the Packers, the Wildcats will travel to play Marietta.
Camden will be one of the most intriguing teams to watch this season after Jeff Herron, who led the Wildcats to a 154-18 record and three state championships from 2000-2012, has returned to Kingsland.
Herron has a career record of 312-54. He also has won state championships at Oconee County and Grayson. He was an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech last season.
The only Region 1-7A team to face a defending state champion is Tift County, which will play host to Class AA title-holder Irwin County on Sept. 17.
One of Irwin's 12 victories was a 35-10 decision in Tifton.
The Blue Devils will play six straight non-region home games to start the season before traveling to Valdosta on Oct. 1.
Tift will open at Brodie Field against Crisp County, which was 11-3 last year.
On September 10, Tift County will play host to Appling County and its new head coach Jordan Mullis, who has replaced Rick Tomberlin.
After 34 seasons at nine schools, Tomberlin retired in January after posting a career record of 270-129.
He won state championships with 15-0 records in 1994, 1996 and 1997 at Washington County and also coached at Lowndes from 1989-1991 and Valdosta from 2006-2009.
Tomberlin spent the last three seasons at Appling County, his alma mater, where he led the Pirates to a 24-10 record.
The 2021 Region 1-7A master schedule:
Friday, Aug. 20
Colquitt County at Marietta
Columbia at Camden County
Crisp County at Tift County
Saturday, Aug. 21
Lowndes vs. Walton (Corky Kell Classic)
Friday, Aug. 27
Westlake at Colquitt County
Camden County at Glynn Academy
Griffin at Lowndes
Dutchtown at Tift County
Friday, Sept. 3
Cedar Grove at Colquitt County
Inlet Grove (Fla.) at Camden County
Lake Gibson (Fla.) at Lowndes
Banneker at Tift County
Friday, Sept. 10
Colquitt County at Valdosta
Camden County at Marietta
Lowndes at Lee County
Friday, Sept. 17
Heritage (Conyers) at Colquitt County
Oak Leaf (Fla.) at Camden County
Irwin County at Tift County
Lowndes off
Friday, Sept. 24
Northside-Warner Robins at Colquitt County
Camden County at Coffee
Valdosta at Lowndes
Worth County at Tift County
Friday, Oct. 1
Warner Robins at Camden County
Alcovy at Lowndes
Tift County at Valdosta
Colquitt County off
Friday, October 8
Alcovy at Colquitt County
Cedar Grove at Lowndes
Camden County off
Tift County off
Friday, Oct. 15
Colquitt County at Camden County
Lowndes at Tift County
Friday, Oct. 22
Colquitt County at Lowndes
Camden County at Tift County
Friday, Oct. 29
Tift County at Colquitt County
Lowndes at Camden County
