Our Game of the Week takes us to Cleveland for a local showdown between White County and Union County!

WHITE COUNTY

The Warriors ripped into East Hall like a hot knife through butter. White County was firing on all cylinders, and Brinn Robinson had a mammoth performance in his first varsity start. Jack Clark was fantastic, and the WR corp of Gaines Clark and Zach Godfrey were as good and consistent as they always are. Defensively, the team played fundamentally well. The Vikings were a great warmup for what’s to come, though the schedule gets tougher from that.

UNION COUNTY

The Panthers had about as nightmarish of a start as you could imagine. For a third straight season, they have lost their starting QB to injury at least for several weeks. Kamden Kendrick was hurt on the first play of the game, and star lineman Logan Clason on the second play. Both are out for a considerable amount of time, and star RB Bentley Rich already has been out and will be for some time also. Once again, young players are going to have to step up. That starts with freshman QB Joe Moses, who has long had a lot of hype around him. Veterans will need to elevate their play even more in the absence of so many standouts, and young guys will have to learn on the fly.

BY THE NUMBERS

WHITE COUNTY

• 1-0 (0-0 IN 6-AAAA)
• Region Standings: 1st
• 49.0 OFFENSE AVG
• 14.0 DEFENSE AVG
• N/A State Ranking

UNION COUNTY

• 0-1 (0-0 IN 7-AAA)
• Region Standings: 1st
• 2.0 OFFENSE AVG
• 30.0 DEFENSE AVG
• N/A State Ranking

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GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Be looking for highlights post-game later tonight as well as a story recapping the contest. BLITZ partners with Fox 5’s 11 PM “High 5 Sports” show throughout the season. We make sure to get White County and Union County coverage on the big market show! You can also follow us on Twitter (@BlitzSportsGa) for live score updates (5G pending).

OUR PREDICTION

We typically make a case for both, with our official pick linked below. Let’s begin with the Warriors. First off, if they play like they did against East Hall, this game will easily be theirs. That means the line MUST protect Brinn Robinson, and taking care of the football will be the top priority. Staying disciplined on defense will be crucial, and if Jack Clark gets north of 100 yards and Robinson throws for over 200 with his elite receivers Gaines Clark and Zach Godfrey, you can count on a win. For Union County, they must have amnesia and roll on without star QB Kamden Kendrick, RB Bentley Rich, and OL Logan Clason. That’s a huge ask, but freshman QB Joe Moses will need a great effort from his receivers and Chetley Cox. If they can somehow put up north of 28 points, they have a great shot to win. OFFICIAL PICK

DO WE BRING LUCK?

For White County, the Warriors have gone 18-23 overall in our 41 games covering them. Meanwhile, Union County has gone 7-9-1 in the 17 we’ve been to for the Panthers.

DETAILS OF THE MATCHUP

TIME: 7:30 PM
PLACE: White County HS / Cleveland, GA
LAST MEETING: 2001: Union County 13, White County 7
ALL-TIME RECORD: White County leads the series 23-17-2
RECORDS: White County Warriors (1-0) vs Union County Panthers (0-1)
HEAD COACHES: Chad Bennett (16-26; 5 Seasons); Rob Stowe (60-65; 12 Seasons)

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Call this one a renewed rivalry – it has great history, but hasn’t been played in 25 years in a regular season contest. That’s wild! Once upon a time, White County and Union County squared off all the time. That stretches back to 1958 in a 27-6 White County win. Union was winless in the series in the first eight tries before breaking through with a win in 1966. That started a 4-game win streak for the Panthers in the rivalry, only to see the Warriors put up four straight after that. From 1958-1991, they played each other every single year. They would not compete against each other in 1992-93, but renewed the series from 1994-2001. In those meetings, Union County won five and White County took three. The Panthers have won each of the last four, so a win this time would be the biggest win streak in the history of the rivalry for Union. White County holds the overall edge at 23-17-2.

TEAM LEADERS (2026 Stats)

*Stats accumulated by team-published data on Ga MaxPreps

WHITE COUNTY WARRIORS

PASSING
Brinn Robinson – 315 yds, 4 TD, 0 INT, 80% Completion

RUSHING
Jack Clark – 72 yds, 2 TD
Savion Anderson – 22 yds, 1 TD
Kiyan Dorsey – 21 yds

RECEIVING
Zach Godfrey – 133 yds, 1 TD, 6 rec
John Jarrard – 95 yds, 2 TD, 5 rec
Gaines Clark – 57 yds, 1 TD, 5 rec
J Hobson III – 34 yds, 0 TD, 2 rec
Jack Clark – 15 yds, 0 TD, 1 rec

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Savion Anderson – 7 TKL, 1 INT
Zach Godfrey – 7 TKL, 1 INT
Sameule Harkins – 6 TKL, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks
Casey Crane – 4 TKL
Josiah Williams – 3 TKL, 4 Sacks, 1 TFL

UNION COUNTY PANTHERS

PASSING
Joe Moses – 135 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, 47% Completion
Kamden Kendrick – 0 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT, injured

RUSHING
Chris Kraft – 44 yds, 0 TD
Brandon Lynch – 19 yds, 0 TD
Chetley Cox – 9 yds, 0 TD

RECEIVING
Mikey Davis – 105 yds, 0 TD, 6 rec
Haze Burnett – 23 yds, 0 TD, 1 rec
Sean Rosa – 21 yds, 0 TD, 1 rec
Jax Dillinger – 10 yds, 0 TD, 2 rec

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Unknown Stats