In 2010, Carrollton blanked LaGrange 49-0.
A year ago, it was much the same story, with Carrollton overwhelming LaGrange 56-7.
Tonight at Callaway Stadium, LaGrange is hoping to reverse that trend.
LaGrange and Carrollton will face off in a key Region 5-AAAA showdown, with the winner walking away with the region’s number two seed, while the loser will be seeded third.
Before the game, LaGrange’s seniors will be honored during a ceremony at 6:40 p.m., with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
LaGrange (5-4 overall) brings a 4-2 region record into the game after last week’s big win over Troup, while Carrollton (6-3) fell to 5-1 in the region with its loss to Sandy Creek last week.
If LaGrange wins, the teams would finish tied for second, but LaGrange would earn the second seed because of the tie-breaker.
If the Grangers are going to get that second seed, head coach Donnie Branch knows things will have to follow a different course than they have the past two years.
“We haven’t come near slowing them down in two years,” Branch said. “We have not even been able to stay on the field with them.
“They have a system in place. They buy into it. They’re very confident.”
Carrollton’s program has been rolling along under head coach Rayvan Teague.
The Trojans went 4-6 in 2001, but they’ve won no fewer than eight games in a season since then, and only once in the past 10 years have they failed to win at least one playoff game.
The one thing the Trojans haven’t been able to do is finish things off and win a state championship.
They came close in 2010, falling to Sandy Creek 14-7 in the state-championship game, and they lost in the quarterfinals to eventual state-champion Peach County last year.
This year’s team hasn’t been quite as strong as those two teams, but the Trojans are still an awfully dangerous ball club.
While many of the names have changed, Branch said the Trojans look the same to him.
“They lost a ton of people, but when you have a great program, the faces change, but the next guys step up,” Branch said. “They still have guys wearing the same numbers that look like the other guys. They’ve never had a shortage of team speed. They have one of the best track programs in America. They don’t look any different. They just have new guys carrying the ball.
“They lost a lot of their skill players. Now they have new guys. They’re fast, and they’re good. The scheme is the same. They’re a tough matchup.”
LaGrange heads into the game with some momentum after dispatching Troup last week.
The Grangers had lost back-to-back region games to Fayette County and Sandy Creek, and they were fighting for their playoff lives against Troup.
LaGrange fell behind 7-0 before scoring the next 35 points en route to a 35-20 victory.
The Grangers dominated the game with a powerful offense, as well as a defense that had one of its best performances of the season.
Troup finished with less than 200 yards of offense, and that included just 69 rushing yards on 39 attempts.
“The other night, I was excited about a lot of the things we did,” Branch said. “Troup has run the football well against some good teams.”
Offensively, meanwhile, it was more of the same for the Grangers, who have scored at least 30 points in seven of their past eight games.
Even in the one game where the Grangers didn’t reach 30 points, a 47-13 loss to Sandy Creek, they amassed nearly 400 yards against the state’s top-ranked Class AAAA team.
LaGrange is led by junior quarterback Zach Giddens, who has been terrific this season.
Giddens has a number of weapons to choose from, including big-play senior wide receiver Dee Smith, as well as gifted running backs Benny Gray and Demoton Boyd.
Also stepping to the forefront in recent weeks has been wide receiver Tavone Rivers, who had a big touchdown catch against Troup.
“I feel like offensively, we can move and score on anybody,” Branch said. “I haven’t seen anybody yet I didn’t think we couldn’t move on and score on.”
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