Ware County hits the road for the last time in the regular season when the Gators travel to Jesup to face Wayne County in a Region 1-AAAAA battle.
The game features two teams headed in opposite directions with Ware County (6-2 overall, 5-0 region) having won five straight games after a 1-2 start to the 2026 season caused by injuries to key players. The Yellow Jackets (2-6, 1-4), under former Swainsboro High School head coach Scott Roberts (95-48), have dropped six of their last seven games after posting a 24-21 season-opening win at home against Liberty County. “We have a lot to cleanup this week,” said Gators’ head coach Jason Strickland about the 17-0 win over Jenkins on Senior Night last Friday. “It was tough to find any consistency or rhythm for us offensively.
They (Warriors) were long and athletic and very good in the box. We struggled on first downs. Defensively, I thought we played well.”
Ware County’s defense has clamped down allowing just 5.2 points per game during the fivegame region winning streak posting two shutouts. Overall, the Gators are allowing just 10.9 points per game to place the Top 10 in defensive scoring in Class 5A.
Friday’s meeting at Jaycee Field on Donaldson-Madray Field is 39th for the two schools dating back to 1962 with Ware County holding a 21-17 series lead and wins in each of the last five and 14 of the past 16 matchups this century. All but six times the two teams have met have been contested as region members. It’s the second straight season the Gators have not been ranked in the Top 10 poll, the longest since a five-year stretch from 2006 2010. Ware County rolled 42-0 last year at home, the fifth consecutive game the Gators have scored 42 points or more on the Yellow Jackets. The Gators have won by an average score of 28 to 5.3. Ware County is 10-10 against the Yellow Jackets in Jesup.
The Gators’ longest win streak in the series is nine games from 2004-16 with the current five-game winning streak the secondlongest. The Yellow Jackets’ longest came in the first eight games of the series from 1962-69.
The two teams have faced four common opponents — all in region play. The Yellow Jackets lost 41-14 to Richmond Hill while Ware County blanked the Musketeers 30-0. Wayne County lost to Evans 42-6 while Ware County notched a 28-6 victory. The Yellow Jackets fell 47-6 to Jenkins with Ware County getting a 17-0 win. Wayne County rolled 51-0 over Groves with the Gators posting a 68-6 victory.
Wayne County is under its fifth head coach since the start of the decade. The Yellow Jackets’ two wins this season under Roberts matches their victory total of the past two years with one of those a forfeit victory.
“I’m seeing Wayne County improve each week,” Strickland said. “They’ve put together a good coaching staff that can get things changed around. We’ve got to make this game about us, though. We’re not looking past Wayne County, but we’ve got to continue to work hard and improve in all three phases of the game as we get closer to the playoffs. We’re not going to beat Benedictine or anybody in the playoffs if we don’t just focus on us and continue to get better each week.”
The Yellow Jackets utilize a run-based offensive scheme and will get into the spread. Sophomore A.J. Bennett (6-foot-3, 150) directs the Wayne County offense. He’s the leading rusher with 552 yards including three 100plus yard rushing nights against Bradwell Institute (12 for 136), Richmond Academy (15-140) and Groves (9-102). Bennett has completed just 40 percent of his passes (52-of-128) for 672 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions. He lit up Liberty County in the season opener going 20-for-34 for 203 yards and two scores. Senior Octavius Leggett (5-11, 185) and junior Braiedence Ellis (6foot, 205) share the running back totes combining for 62 carries, 360 yards and a touchdown apiece.
Senior wide receiver P.J. Brown is the go-to threat with 21 catches for 231 yards (11 yards per reception). Sophomore Trenten Houston (6-2, 150) is second on the team with 11 receptions for 221 yards (20.1 per catch) and has a team-high four touchdowns.
Defensively, Ware County continues to stymie opposing offenses as injured players return and get their game legs under them. Only Statesboro has scored at least two touchdowns in the past six games against the Gators’ defensive unit.
“Their (Yellow Jackets) quarterback is a monster,” Strickland said. “A lot of the running plays are designed for him. They (Wayne County coaches) want to control the clock to shorten the game and keep opponent offenses on the sideline.”
Strickland said the Gators’ offensive philosophy these last two weeks is getting better at running the ball and find consistency in the passing attack.
“We’ve got to fix our mistakes in our run-blocking,” he said. “The other thing is we want to throw the ball, but to do that we’ve got to be able to catch it.: Senior quarterback Isaiah White is completing 62% of his passes (78-of-126) for 1,040 (131.1 per game) yards with nine touchdowns against three interceptions. Classmate Ja’Londi O’Hara has grabbed 32 passes for 502 yards and scored three times. Junior LeTarrian Hayes has 13 catches for 234 yards and two scores. Both have fought through injuries early on in the season.
Sophomore Jimmy Taylor leads the rushing attack with 336 yards. He’s scored two touchdowns and is one of eight players to cross the goal line on a rushing attempt.. Ware County will be without the services of junior Ma’Siyer McCoy, who has 323 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns. The Gators are averaging 144.5 yards per game on 28 tries.
“We just need to go over there (Jesup) and execute,” said Strickland. “They (Yellow Jackets) are going to give us multiple looks. For us, we’ve got to keep it simple and play fast. We’ve (coaches) got to look at the positives over the last five games and build off that.”
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