The Week Four Game of the Week takes us to The Reservation in Toccoa to catch a surging Stephens County team take on powerhouse Jefferson.
STEPHENS COUNTY
After looking pretty flat in their opener at Habersham Central, the Indians, led by first-year coach Thomas Flowers, have responded well with back-to-back wins at Elbert County then last week against Cedar Shoals. With some veterans playing well (Davon Swinton, Kymani Colbert) and emerging young talent starting to thrive (Branson Stowe, Dallas Hague), the future and present look bright.
JEFFERSON
Any concerns coming into the season – which were valid – regarding the offense seems to be taking care of itself. Colton Grant may be different in his skillsets than a Gavin Markey, but he’s playing well within his own game. Max Brown just last game found the end zone MULTIPLE times, and that’s only going to get more frequent. But this defense is something special – headlined by Brown, Chance Payne, and Darren Pinkard among several others.
BY THE NUMBERS (2025)
STEPHENS COUNTY
- 2-1 (0-0 IN 8AA)
- Region Standings: T-3rd
- 12.3 OFFENSE AVG
- 17.0 DEFENSE AVG
- N/A State Ranking
JEFFERSON
- 3-0 (0-0 IN 8-AAA)
- Region Standings: 1st
- 23.7 OFFENSE AVG
- 4.3 DEFENSE AVG (3rd in 3A)
- #1 State Ranking
HOW THEY STACK UP
We typically make a case for both, with our official pick linked below. Let’s begin with the Indians. Stephens County’s defense isn’t an issue – the Indians allow all of 17.0 points per game. And since they got settled in after the Habersham game, that number goes down to 12.0 over the past two games. That’s the key – plain and simple. For Stephens County to win, it’ll HAVE to keep Jefferson to at or under 14 points. For the Dragons, you could copy and paste, except the defense is absolutely fantastic at 4.3 pts/game. Clarke Central got a TD off them for the first time all season, as Jefferson had allowed three total points in those first two games. The offense averaged only 14.5 in the first two games but went off for 42 last week. The main difference was a larger load to Max Brown. If Jefferson plays its defense and Max Brown gets some extra totes, it’s the Dragons’ game.
STATS
In 29 all-time games we’ve seen for the Indians, Stephens County is 16-13. For Jefferson, in 28 games (nearly identical to Stephens), the Dragons are an unreal 24-4. Our last 12 games before last year’s state title game to see Jefferson, they won.
DETAILS OF THE MATCHUP
TIME: 7:30 PM Kickoff
PLACE: The Reservation / Toccoa, GA
LAST MEETING: 2024: #2 Jefferson 45, #2 Stephens County 28
ALL-TIME RECORD: Jefferson leads the all-time series 3-0
RECORDS: Stephens County Indians (2-1) vs #1 Jefferson Dragons (3-0)
HEAD COACHES:Â Thomas Flowers (2-1; 1 Season); Travis Noland (224-97; 28 Seasons)
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
This series consists of just three meetings (though if you count Stephens with Eastanollee, it’s 5-3 all-time). But for the sake of relevancy, we’ll go with games between the current names of the schools. Jefferson won in 2016 in a top-10 battle, 35-7. In 2017, it was a 27-24 thriller. Then last year’s 45-28 against #2-ranked teams duking it out. These two head coaches have never faced off, obviously with Flowers being in his first season as head coach.
TEAM LEADERS (2025 Stats)
*Stats accumulated by team-published data on Ga MaxPreps
STEPHENS COUNTY
PASSING
Branson Stowe – 413 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT; 61% completion
RUSHING
Dallas Hague – 160 yds, 1 TD, 4.6 YPC
Zykemian Durham – 97 yds, 0 TD, 3.1 YPC
Jasiah Wiley – 72 yds, 0 TD, 4.2 YPC
RECEIVING
Davon Swinton – 304 yds, 3 TD, 24 rec
Ashton Justus – 43 yds, 0 TD, 5 rec
Eli St. Clair – 33 yds, 0 TD, 5 rec
Duke Collins – 26 yds, 0 TD, 3 rec
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Zoonk Patterson – 22 TKL
Morris Perkins – 22 TKL, 5 TFL, 1 Sack
Ashton Justus – 22 TKL, 3 TFL
Kymani Colbert – 21 TKL, 5 TFL, 2 Sacks, 1 FR
Isaiah Arthur – 20 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FF
Peyton Feaster – 20 TKL, 4 TFL, 1 Sack
Conner Holtzclaw – 15 TKL, 3 TFL
Davon Swinton – 10 TKL, 2 INT
JEFFERSON
PASSING
Colton Grant – 213 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT, 64% completion
RUSHING
Max Brown – 237 yds, 2 TD, 8.2 YPC
Eli Primm – 97 yds, 1 TD, 4.2 YPC
Colton Grant – 85 yds, 1 TD, 4.7 YPC
Griffin Drake – 57 yds, 1 TD, 4.1 YPC
RECEIVING
Logan Edmunds – 143 yds, 2 TD, 6 rec
Dalton Dye – 64 yds, 1 TD, 1 rec
Carter Perrin – 50 yds, 0 TD, 7 rec
Jordan Robinson – 6 yds, 1 TD, 1 rec
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Max Brown – 29 TKL, 10 TFL, 1 FR, 1 FF
Eli Primm – 17 TKL
Dylan Berardinelli – 14 TKL, 1 TFL
Jacob Berardinelli – 11 TKL
Darren Pinkard – 9 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
Jordan Robinson – 7 TKL, 1 TFL
Chance Payne – 7 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT
