We all have our rivals and rivalry games attached to our high school teams. But, if for some reason, you don’t have a rivalry to attach yourself to, I’ll give you one.

Last year, Houston County and Perry played one of the wildest, back-and-forth games of the 2022 season. Perry had a 56-49 lead with ten seconds left when the Bears scored and converted the two-point attempt for the 57-56 win.

(If you want to see the whole game, go here ... and reserve close to four hours of your time.)  

But the rivalry, when Jeremy Edwards took over at Houston County, was dead-even at five wins apiece and the games themselves didn’t have a winning team scored more than 36 points. The Bears were chasing a win streak of two last week to match the longest run of any kind in the series.

“I think that when you think about your non-region schedule, you need to play some teams that are going to challenge you, some teams that you know and obviously with it being an in-county rival it makes it extra special,” Edwards said before this year’s game. “So, it's going to be a playoff type atmosphere and that's something you can't replicate all the time in non-region games.  

“It's a no brainer to play Perry. Jon, I'm 43 years old, but I think after that game last year I was 53. So, I'm hoping it doesn't become a close game tonight. You know, if I think if we execute and our kids go out, play loose, have a good time, I think it'll take care of itself.”  

Ant Hill

Houston County's Antwann Hill avoids the Perry pressure for another completion. Hill threw for 363 yards and five touchdowns in the win.

Credit: HoCoFootball.com

Full disclosure, Frank Malloy and I go back about 30 years with his time at WMAZ-TV in Macon.

When I started at GPB, Frank was Sports Director and would send us highlights that he would voice separately than what would air on his Friday highlight show. The two schools split the series in the early to mid-1990's and picked it back up in 2010 and again in 2018. He has seen the stages of this rivalry where you now have two top-ten teams in their respective classifications go at it in front of more than 6,000 people- Standing. Room. Only.   

“I think it's neat because of the fact that they've gotten to that higher level,” Malloy said. “I mean, you know, a lot of times there are rivalries, but the two teams are kind of in the middle and they’re kind of mediocre, but it's always a good game. But here, I mean, it's an amazing game. But because the teams have gotten so good, I mean you look at Houston County. You look at Perry. You look at the game last year- both teams in the 50s, a one-point game.  

“I mean... come on now, that's almost unheard of. And I was just talking with the Perry cheerleaders (for his Friday 5:30 newscast)- they talk about ‘We HAVE to win this game. Because we need to beat Houston County. Because it's that county rivalry and we've got to beat them.’ And that's what makes it so fun. Not only that the teams are playing at a higher level, but even the cheerleaders feel like they've got to be at that level, too.” 

And, then, you get to see what Perry High has been able to build under head coach Kevin Smith in his time on campus -- five straight playoff appearances in Class 4A and back-to-back double-digit win  seasons. In his time as an assistant at Northside, he knows about rivalries and their importance. Now, he has this one as an early season test and a bragging rights game. 

“Coming out here and playing in front of thousands of people in this community has been very, very exciting in general. But we’re all happy and very excited about this football team,” Smith said. “I think that's what it does now. There's a lot of stress that comes along with it. But you know, our philosophy is that in order to be the best, you have got to play the best. And Houston County definitely has a very good football team. 

“Coach Edwards is doing an outstanding job and we're very fortunate to get to play them. We think we’ve got a good football team, too. He said that he's 43 years old, but last year with the game, he said that he left the field 53. And I'm 53 and last year I left the field, probably 63 or 73. I left a lot worse shape than he did.”   

Smith learned from the game last season and thinks he didn’t give up 57 points over the rest of the 2022 season. He learned from the past -- they both did.  

So, that set up a normal, boring, humdrum night, right? 

Marvin James will show you differently. 

HoCo would go up 21-0. Perry scores near the half to trim it to 21-7. It was 28-28 after three quarters, 34-28 with three minutes to go. HoCo misses the PAT, 34-28. Ensuing kickoff returned for a score, made PAT. 35-34 Perry. Then, the final score of the game with 40 seconds to go, plus a wild two-point conversion. Perry had a chance to score but couldn’t convert a late fourth down and HoCo wins 42-35 Final... 

We do catch up with coach Edwards about the game on this week’s “Football Fridays in Georgia” podcast to get his thoughts now that he has caught his breath on the whole thing... 

And here’s the whole thing, thanks to our friends at WMAZ.

Credit: WMAZ-TV

Which leads me to my question for you, Dear Reader, for this week... 

And it’s two-fold... 

What’s your rivalry game? What makes it so special?  

And, is there a rivalry game in Georgia high school football out there that you haven’t seen in person (because you’re, y’know... busy...) that you would like to see? 

Let me know in the comments! 

Can’t wait to see you all on Friday nights from here forward as the sprint begins! 

Play it safe, everyone... I’ll talk to you soon!