The battle for state supremacy returns to Glynn County Stadium this week as the second annual Georgia vs. Florida Border Classic prepares to kickoff Thursday.
Over three days, 14 teams from southeast Georgia and north Florida will square off with bragging rights on the line. The Classic is made possible through partnerships with Baker’s Sports, Under Armour and Jacksonville news station WJXT, News4Jack, which will air the contests on local television and offer streams via the News4Jax+ service.
Last season, Georgia edged Florida in the border games by a margin of 4-3. The Peach State will look to make it two straight seasons, while the Sunshine State hopes to even the score.
THURSDAY
No. 7 University Christian (1-1) vs. Charlton County (0-3), 4:30 p.m.
One of three rematches from last year’s Georgia vs. Florida Border Classic, Charlton County will be looking to avenge a 33-0 loss to a University Christian program out of Jacksonville.
Charlton County struggled to generate any offense in last season’s matchup against University Christian, managing just three years of total offense over 41 snaps. Now they’ll be without the No. 1 tight end prospect in the nation among the Class of 2025 in Elyiss Williams, who transferred to Camden County this offseason.
University Christian rolled up 240 yards of offense in the first meeting, 190 coming on the ground. Leading rusher Orel Gray has graduated following a season in which he exceeded 2,000 rushing yards.
Following the Border War clash, Charlton County went on to win its region championship and advance to the second round of the GHSA Class A, Division II playoffs, where it would fall 14-13 to Dooly County to finish its season at 8-3. University Christian advanced to the FHSAA 1M semifinals before its season came to an end with an 11-2 record.
Baker County (0-1) vs. Glynn Academy (2-1), 7:30 p.m.
A new matchup this year in the Georgia vs. Florida Border Classic will pit host Glynn Academy against Baker County from Glen St. Mary. Last year, Glynn lost to Creekside 21-20 in a monsoon after going up 20-7 at halftime. As for Baker County, the team knocked off Richmond Hill with a fourth-down stop with goal to go for a 35-32 win.
Glynn Academy built its first-half lead thanks to the Wildcat formation featuring Greg Peacock and Da’Vontae Lang to punch in all three touchdowns for the team, and both players returned to the backfield to spear another run this season. Following its Border Classic loss last season, Glynn Academy flipped a four-game losing streak into a four-game winning streak to finish 6-4 before falling 18-13 to Northside Warner Robins in the first round of the GHSA Class 6A playoffs.
In its Border Classic victory, Baker County got 244 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine carries from running back Cam Smith, who has since graduated. Davion Dean added 119 yards and a touchdown to boost the team to 424 yards rushing against Richmond Hill, and now Dean lines up at quarterback for Baker County.
Baker County finished 9-4 last season and reached the Elite Eight in the FHSAA Class 2S playoffs before its season came to an end in a 28-17 loss to Bradford.
FRIDAY
No. 5 Madison County (0-0) vs. No. 6 Fitzgerald (2-1), 4:30 p.m.
One of the marquee matchups of the inaugural Border Classic pitted a pair of small school powerhouses against one another in a battle between reigning state champions that saw Fitzgerald pull out a 20-12 victory over Madison County.
Despite both teams entering the contest undefeated and rolling last season, the programs had very different conclusions to their season.
Fitzgerald used the momentum to rattle off a perfect regular-season and cruise to the GHSA Class 2A state championship game, where the 14-1 Purple Hurricanes just missed out on securing back-to-back state titles in a 32-27 loss to Thomson.
On the other hand, Madison County continued to stumble following the loss which kicked off a string of six straight defeats. The Cowboys still managed to make the playoffs in the FHSAA 1R classification and win their first round game, but the team finished 4-7 — its worst record since the turn of the century.
Coming off a 27-20 loss to Northeast last week that dropped the program outside the top 5 for the first time since 2019 at No. 6 in the rankings, Fitzgerald will be looking for a major bounce back at Glynn County Stadium.
No. 9 Bolles School (0-2) vs. No. 4 Coffee County (2-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Bolles School will be looking for its first win at the Border Classic after suffering a 20-3 defeat at the hands of host Brunswick High last season, while Coffee County is seeking to make it two straight victories after handling St. Augustine 34-14 a year ago.
Bolles’ loss was the first of three straight defeats last season before turning its fortunes around and finishing 9-5 with a loss in the semifinals of the FHSAA 2M playoffs. Coffee’s 10-3 season came to an end in the GHSA Class 5A quarterfinals.
While both programs are ranked in their respective classifications entering the matchup this season, the path for each has been very different. Bolles is winless after falling in a couple high-scoring affairs that has the team averaging 35.5 points per game and allowing 42.4 per contest. Coffee, on the other hand, is undefeated, outscoring its opponents 30.5-13.5.
SATURDAY
West Nassau (1-1) vs. No. 8 McIntosh County Academy (1-1), 1 p.m.
The kickoff game of last season’s classic, West Nassau vs. McIntosh County Academy will look a bit different than a year ago.
A 42-8 loss against MCA set the tone for a 2-8 season in the FHSAA 2S classification for West Nassau, which concluded with head coach Ricky Armstrong stepping down following nine years at the helm of the program. West Nassau pegged Gunnar Cox as the new head coach in Callahan following a stint as the defensive coordinator at Hillard.
Under Cox, West Nassau has established itself as a power running team that likes to take shots deep down the field. However, it will be tough sledding against a McIntosh County Academy program that has established itself as one of the best defenses in the GHSA Class A, Division II under head coach Bradley Warren.
Despite the graduation of 14 seniors, MCA is ranked No. 8 in its classification and is as stingy as ever on the defensive side of the ball, but the team has been working to replace the offensive talent that helped the Buccaneers rush for more than 350 yards and four touchdowns in last year’s Border Classic.
Creekside (1-1) vs. Richmond Hill (2-1), 4 p.m.
Both teams were part of the two most thrilling games in last year’s Georgia vs. Florida Border Classic with Creekside pulling out a 21-20 victory over Glynn Academy and Richmond Hill falling 35-32 against Baker County.
Out of St. John’s, Creekside finished the season 9-3 with its loss in the second round of the FHSAA Class 4S playoffs and graduated quarterback Wilson Edwards, who passed for 1,568 yards and 16 touchdowns to seven interceptions. But the team returns signal caller Sean Ashenfelder (923 passing yards, nine touchdowns, three interceptions) and leading rusher Nicholas Williams (1,417 rushing yards, 107 receiving yards, 19 total touchdowns).
Richmond Hill is looking to bounce back from a tough first season in GHSA Class 7A that saw the program finish 3-7 and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015. Richmond Hill must replace its leading passer (Ty Goldrick), rusher (Zion Gillard) and receiver (Ravon Grant) from last year, but the team has only allowed 14 points per game through three contests this season.
No. 7 St. Augustine (2-0) vs. Brunswick High (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
A high-profile matchup caps off the 2nd annual Georgia vs. Florida Border Classic between a couple of undefeated programs looking to make the next step in the postseason.
Brunswick High beat The Bolles School 20-3 en route to its second straight perfect regular season, and the program will enter the contest riding a 23-game win streak in the regular season. Brunswick went 10-1 with its lone loss coming in overtime of its first-round matchup in the GHSA Class 6A playoffs, and it returns much of its team from a year ago, including quarterback J.R. Elkins (1,503 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, seven interceptions), all-state receiver Terry Mitchell (972 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns) and all-state linebacker Devin Smith (63 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, six sacks).
St. Augustine fell 34-14 against Coffee County in last year’s Border Classic, and the program went on to finish 7-4 with a season-ending loss in the first round of the FHSAA Class 3S playoffs. St. Augustine also brings back its starting signal caller, and Wake Forest commit, Locklan Hewlett, who passed for 2,126 yards and 23 touchdowns to just six interceptions as a sophomore last season. Three-star running back propsect Devonte Lyons also returns after rushing for 1,269 yards and 16 touchdowns, and he’s got 17 offers from college programs including Miami, Boston College, West Virginia and Central Florida.