The BLITZ Game of the Week is a long-time rivalry of neighboring counties, White County vs Lumpkin County. No love loss here.

WHITE COUNTY

The Warriors are looking to open the season in style when hosting neighboring rivals Lumpkin. White County enters year three under coach Tim Cokely, who has taken the boys to the playoffs in both seasons so far. J. Ben Haynes is looking to take even bigger strides going into his junior year, and has plenty of weapons around him to do some damage.

LUMPKIN COUNTY

The Indians got off to a heartbreaking start under first-year coach Caleb Sorrells. There were some good signs, as Lumpkin was up 22-6 and played a great first half. However, they fell apart in the second half and by the end of the third quarter, were down 25-22, which proved to be the final. What happened doesn’t define them…what happens in response to that this week against White County, does.

BY THE NUMBERS (2019)

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Be looking for highlights post-game late tonight as well as a story recapping WEEK 2. Highlights will also be shared on Channel 5 (Fox) on the 11 PM “High 5 Sports” show tonight. You can also follow us on Twitter (@BlitzSportsGa) for live score updates.

OUR PREDICTION

White County has so much firepower with Haynes as the signal-caller, and plenty of receivers to spread the Indians defense out. That will open up the run game, where either Haynes can call his own number or have guys like Zion McMullen do damage. FINAL VERDICT: White Wins

DETAILS OF THE MATCHUP

TIME: 7:30 PM Kickoff
PLACE: Warriors Field / Cleveland, GA
LAST MEETING: 2018; White County 40, Lumpkin County 7
ALL-TIME RECORD: White County 37, Lumpkin County 11, 1 Tie
RECORDS: White Co Warriors (0-0; 0-0 in 7-AAAA); Lumpkin Co Indians (0-1; 0-0 in 7-AAA)

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

This rivalry spans many years, and 49 total meetings. Some of these kids’ parents and grandparents played against each other in this matchup…let that soak in a minute. That gives context to how deep-rooted this rivalry is. White County has won this thing about 76% of the time, going 37-11-1 overall and now two straight coming into this one. The last Indians win was in 2016, a 20-14 game in Dahlonega, which had been rescheduled due to lightning. The series began in 1964, and was played EVERY SINGLE YEAR through 2001. Then came a five-year hiatus where the teams didn’t meet from ’02-’05. The rivalry was renewed in 2006, and the Warriors have gone 9-2 in the 11 meetings since. The series was also not played in 2014-15. Here are the four meetings we’ve covered, three of which were Warrior wins, and one was the lightning rescheduled game (Lumpkin won the matchup later in the year):

• 2018: White Co 40, Lumpkin Co 7
• 2016: White Co 0, Lumpkin Co 0 (Lightning Canceled)
• 2012: White Co 34, Lumpkin Co 7
• 2010: White Co 21, Lumpkin Co 14

TEAM LEADERS

WHITE COUNTY (Expected Leaders)

PASSING
J. Ben Haynes

RUSHING
Zion McMullen
Jesse Thomas

RECEIVING
Cooper Turner
Will Sampson

TACKLES
Greg Wimer
Jared Jullian

INTERCEPTIONS
N/A

LUMPKIN COUNTY

PASSING
Tucker Kirk: 0 yds, 1/7 passing (14%)

RUSHING
Drew Allison: 62 yds
Kevin Harkins: 25 yds
BoJack Dowdy: 11 yds, TD

RECEIVING
Tanner Barber: 1 rec, 0 yds

TACKLES
Aaron Hopkins:

INTERCEPTIONS
N/A