Our Game of the Week takes us to The Reservation for the second time this season, as the Indians of Stephens County host the Crisp County Cougars in the first round of the playoffs.

STEPHENS COUNTY

By the second week of the season, many had written Stephens County off. It was perplexing, an 0-2 start with a blowout loss to rivals Habersham Central in there. But then things clicked, even with two key injuries. The Indians won four in a row, including a shocking 22-point comeback win over #2-ranked and unbeaten Hart County. A loss to Lumpkin followed, but then wins over Hebron Christian (B2B State Champs), Elbert, and Morgan led to a region title. Branson Stowe is one of the best QBs in the state, and top targets Kaiden Harbin and Duke Collins are homerun threats every single play. And the defense…loaded with talent.
KEEP AN EYE ON (Next Level Prospects): Kaiden Harbin (’29 WR/ATH), Duke Collins (’28 WR), Branson Stowe (’28 QB)

CRISP COUNTY

The Cougars are a 7-3 team that comes in as winners of their last three games as well. Crisp has a fantastic offense that scores over 32 points per game, and put a lot of their eggs in one basket – that of Derrell Brown (closing in on 2,000 yards rushing).
KEEP AN EYE ON (Next Level Prospects): Derrell Brown (’27 RB – Austin Peay)

BY THE NUMBERS

STEPHENS COUNTY

• 7-3 (8-AAA Champions)
• Region Standings: Champs
• 31.9 OFFENSE AVG
• 22.5 DEFENSE AVG
• N/A State Ranking

CRISP COUNTY

• 7-3 (1-AAA 3rd)
• Region Standings: 3rd
• 31.9 OFFENSE AVG
• 22.5 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 Stephens 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 Indians. To win this game, the Indians need another solid outing from Branson Stowe. While Duke Collins and Kaiden Harbin will be assigned top athletes on the other side, it’s a great chance for Macade Huff, or even Dallas Hague out of the backfield to get even more involved in the passing game. Score points, that’s the name of the game. Stephens wins if it goes for 28-plus. Crisp County needs a QUICK start – the Cougars can win if they get ahead and stay ahead to put more pressure on Stephens County. It’s a LONG haul from Crisp to Stephens, so the Cougars need to get the blood flowing right out of the gate. OFFICIAL PICK

DO WE BRING LUCK?

For Stephens County, the Indians are 18-14 in the 32 all-time games we’ve been to, including 2-0 this season.

DETAILS OF THE MATCHUP

TIME: 7:30 PM
PLACE: Stephens County HS / The Reservation / Toccoa, GA
LAST MEETING: 2025: Stephens County 24, Crisp County 21 (RND 1)
ALL-TIME RECORD: Stephens has won the only meeting
RECORDS: Stephens County Indians (7-3) vs Crisp County Cougars (7-3)
HEAD COACHES: Thomas Flowers (13-9; 2 Seasons); Justin Newman (16-36; 5 Seasons)

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Just a single game between them, and it came almost a year to the day ago, as Stephens County edged out Crisp County 24-21 in the opening round of the playoffs. Same movie here, though this time it’s in Toccoa instead of down in the Cougar Den.

TEAM LEADERS (2026 Stats)

*Stats accumulated by team-published data on Ga MaxPreps

STEPHENS COUNTY INDIANS

PASSING
Branson Stowe – 2,755 yds, 32 TD, 6 INT, 65% passing

RUSHING
Dallas Hague – 336 yds, 5 TD
Jasiah Wiley – 239 yds, 1 TD
Branson Stowe – 160 yds, 2 TD
Ashton Winters – 150 yds, 2 TD

RECEIVING
Kaiden Harbin – 1,084 yds, 10 TD, 65 rec
Duke Collins – 974 yds, 16 TD, 51 rec
Macade Huff – 302 yds, 1 TD, 22 rec
Ashton Winters – 138 yds, 3 TD, 14 rec
Jasiah Wiley – 85 yds, 2 TD, 3 rec
Dallas Hague – 79 rec yds, 0 TD, 5 rec

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Isaiah Arthur – 129 TKL, 4 TFL, 2 INT, 1 FR, 1 FF
Karunte Riley – 87 TKL, 14 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FF
Peyton Feaster – 85 TKL, 3 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FR
Seth Fulbright – 72 TKL, 9 TFL, 3 Sacks, 1 INT, 1 FR
Isaiah Patterson – 62 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 3 FF
Ahmad Ivey – 53 TKL, 4 TFL, 1 FF, 1 BLK
Malachi Williamson – 53 TKL, 9 TFL, 6 Sacks, 1 FR
Duke Collins – 41 TKL, 1 TFL, 5 INT
Kelvin Martinez – 39 TKL, 6 TFL, 3 Sacks, 1 FR

CRISP COUNTY COUGARS

PASSING
Caden Lofton – 871 yds, 10 TD, 0 INT; 49% passing
Derrell Brown – 64 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT, 57% passing

RUSHING
Derrell Brown – 1,749 yds, 24 TD
Khamani Dawson – 78 yds, 1 TD

RECEIVING
Richard Thomas – 433 yds, 6 TD, 23 rec
Derrell Brown – 137 yds, 0 TD, 7 rec
Charvarus Blanks – 127 yds, 2 TD, 13 rec
Myles Rahman – 97 yds, 2 TD, 6 rec
Hudson Slimp – 92 yds, 2 TD, 6 rec

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

Kerxavier Bly – 76 TKL, 6 TFL
Tyler Johnson – 73 TKL, 12 TFL, 5 Sacks
Charvarus Blanks – 65 TKL
Courtney Oliver – 39 TKL, 2 TFL, 2 FR, 3 FF
Dirayan Holly – 34 TKL, 5 TFL, 1 INT, 2 FR, 2 FF
Richard Thomas – 30 TKL, 1 TFL, 2 INT
Caleb Haugabrook – 22 TKL, 9 TFL, 5 Sacks, 1 FR, 1 FF
Braylon Crawford – 20 TKL, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks