Indians Face West Laurens in State Football Playoffs Tonight

The Stephens County Indian football team will look to keep its season going on the road in the second round of the state AAAA football playoffs tonight.

Stephens County is on the road again, making the trip to Dexter, Georgia to take on the West Laurens Raiders.

Last week, Stephens County beat Pickens 42-14 in their first round game thanks to over 500 yards of total offense, including nearly 400 yards rushing.

The opponent this week, West Laurens, is 8-3 on the season and won Region 2-AAAA this season.

West Laurens made the second round after sneaking by Bainbridge last week, 23-17, in overtime.

Stephens County Defensive Line Coach Brad Whitfield said West Laurens poses a lot of challenges, especially their 6 foot, 7 inch wide receiver, Justin Smith.

“Automatically, when you start looking at them, he stands out in the film,” said Whitfield. “Not only is he a good player, but the quarterback is a good player and they have a great 10th grade tailback who plays a lot older than a 10th grader.”

Whitfield goes on to say that West Laurens is hard to prepare for.

“They have basically two offenses,” said Whitfield, noting West Laurens will run out of the I and throw out of the spread. “We have our hands full.”

The winner of tonight’s game between Stephens County and West Laurens will play either St. Pius or Eastside next week in the state quarterfinals.

Kick-off from Dexter, Georgia is set for 7:30 p.m.

Coverage begins on AM 630 WNEG with Tommy Palmer’s Countdown to Kickoff at 6 p.m. Coach’s Corner starts at 7 p.m. and pre-game coverage from the stadium begins at 7:15 p.m.

Tonight’s game will also be broadcast online at wnegradio.com.

In other second-round playoff action tonight involving Region 8-AAAA teams, Buford hosts Mary Persons and North Oconee travels to Cairo.

As for other area teams in the playoffs tonight, Hart County travels to Cook County and Elbert County hosts Appling County in second-round AAA state playoff games.