The End Zone Game of the Week Preview: Dublin vs. Bleckley County
The End Zone Game of the Week features a border war between the Dublin Fighting Irish and the Bleckley County Royals.
DUBLIN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The End Zone Game of the Week features a border war between the Dublin Fighting Irish and the Bleckley County Royals.
The Fighting Irish are off to a 4-1 start to the season with their only loss being by three points. The wins haven’t come without adversity. Dublin has had to replace several starters on both sides of the ball.
“A couple of our guys are very inexperienced, but now they’ve got five games under their belt, so it’s the time in the season when you should start being a lot more consistent with what you’re doing,” Dublin head coach Roger Holmes said. “If we can continue to do that as the season goes along, I think we’ve got an opportunity to make the playoffs.”
The Royals are off to a 4-2 start with both of their losses coming in overtime. The Royals have also had to replace several starters, but in a way, it’s become an asset for the team.
“I think if there’s a strength, it’s some guys who have really learned how to play without coming off the field,” Bleckley County head coach Von Lassiter said. “We’ve been fortunate over the last few years. We really haven’t had a bunch of guys play both ways. We’ve got way more this year doing that.”
The Fighting Irish have won 16 of the 17 all-time meetings between the two teams, and the Royals are using last year’s loss as extra motivation for revenge.
“Especially with a little bit of a bitter taste from last year,” Lassiter said. “We didn’t get it done. They beat us at home. It was kind of embarrassing for our seniors who were really trying to win back-to-back region titles, so our guys still kind of have that taste in their mouths. They hear the seniors who left talk about it. Some of the things they regret are not beating Dublin last year, so I think that will hopefully weigh into it a little bit.”
Dublin will look to win its seventh consecutive game against Bleckley County. The Game of the Week is set for October 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Shamrock Bowl in Dublin.
