Over the past five seasons, it has become one of the yearly premier matchups in Northeast Georgia. However, depending on what happens in the upcoming round of reclassification by the Georgia High School Association, Friday’s showdown could be the last for some time to come.
Rabun County travels to Stephens County in the only matchup of ranked teams involving the 26 teams in the AccessWDUN coverage area in Week 2. The Wildcats are ranked third in Class A Division 1. The Indians are ranked seventh in Class 3A.
The series was dormant from 1960 until 2016. Since being rebooted that season, Rabun County has won all five meetings, including a 14-7 win last year in Tiger. The last Stephens County win in the series came in 1959 in Tiger.
Despite the lack of success against the Wildcats, Stephens County coach Wesley Tankersley would love to keep the budding rivalry going. But he also knows region placement will play a huge role in whether it can continue beyond 2023.
“It just kind of depends on how some of that plays out with reclassification,” Tankersley said. “How many non-region games will you have? No one has any idea on that right now. Our biggest three rivals are Habersham (Central), Franklin County, and Hart County. Those are our biggest money-makers right there. And I don't know that we would ever be put in the same region with Habersham so that can also affect things.
“But as far as Rabun County, we play them in middle school, rec leagues, all that kind of stuff, so our kids are very familiar with their kids. I think it's a good little matchup. Plus it’s a great quality opponent that’s close and you always want as many quality games as you can get.”
However, it has been a tough matchup for the higher-classification Indians.
But if the 2023 edition is as good as the 2022 version was, they should start a petition drive to mandate a yearly contract. Last year, Rabun County rallied to beat the Indians 14-7, but not in the usual fashion.
Marcus Remillard booted a pair of field goals and a stout Stephens County defense held them to a season-low one touchdown for the game. The Rabun County defense, however, shut down a potent Stephens County offense that featured Ben Stowe and Cam Lacy.
Remillard is back. Stowe and Lacy have graduated. But so did Rabun County quarterback Keegan Stover, and Jaden Gibson, the state’s all-time leading receiver, and running back Lang Windham for the Wildcats.
“Last year I didn't think either team played extremely well on offense. But I think sometimes great defenses seem to have that effect on you,” Rabun County coach Michael Davis said. “We both made a lot of mistakes offensively but we both played great defense.”
Tankersley agreed.
“You had two great teams that were kind of senior-laden and had a lot of experience,” Tankersley said. “Both teams this year have some players that are explosive, but inexperienced.”
There are plenty of new faces on both teams to throw a large element of mystery on what to expect coming into Friday night’s contest.
The new-look Indians, who have a new quarterback and several other first-year starters, had to rally from a 29-13 deficit last week to beat Habersham Central, getting a 31-yard field goal from Luke Waters with 5 seconds left for a 31-29 victory. But rally they did.
Tripp Underwood, making his first varsity start at quarterback, passed for 160 yards and 2 TDs. Jasec Smith had both TD catches as part of a 101-yard outing. Junior RB Javin Gordon, however, is a key returnee who ran for 122 yards and had 209 all-purpose yards for the Indians.
The new-look Wildcats looked a lot like the old Wildcats, ravaging Haralson County in a 45-21 win that they led 38-0 at halftime. Sophomore quarterback Ty Truelove threw for 220 yards to eight different receivers, including Willie Goodwin, Paul Picciotti, and Cooper Welch, who all had three catches for the game. Running back Reid Giles rushed for 86 yards, with 56 coming on an electrifying touchdown scamper, and he added 2 catches for 31 yards and 1 TD.
It wasn’t Truelove’s first start, but it was with him as QB1 now for their high-flying offense. Davis said the plan was to get him involved as quickly as possible.
“Our deal offensively was trying to get (Ty) in a rhythm early, to get him some confidence,” Davis said. “The more confidence he got, the better he got. Overall, he had a great game.”
It also doesn’t sound like either coach is expecting another defensive slugfest this time around. with so many new pieces.
“For us defensively, we do have a lot of new guys over there that haven't started before,” Tankersley said “Last week was the first start for a lot of those guys. They improved as the game went along and got better. But I think there's gonna be a lot of figuring things out, probably for both squads and, and trying to figure out what the other team is going to do with that new personnel. It’s going to be interesting.”
“When you cut that film on them, the first thing you got to start with is the running back (Gordon),” Davis said. “I think he is as good as we have seen in the last two years. He is very explosive, very powerful. He scares me a lot.
“But I do see another great game on Friday. Two really good football teams going at it like two heavyweights.”
