By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – While the LaGrange Grangers and Troup Tigers will take the week off, the Callaway Cavaliers will continue their challenging non-region schedule with a game at Upson-Lee on Friday night.

LaGrange and Troup are both off this week as they prepare for the start of Region 5-AAAA play.

Callaway will put its 3-0 record on the line when it visits Upson Lee, which is 2-1.

Also this week, the Lafayette Christian School Cougars (0-4) will look for their first win when they visit Crosspointe Christian School in Williamson.

Troup (4-0) completed its non-region schedule with a 62-10 win over Lamar County, while LaGrange (0-4) lost to East Coweta 42-10.

Callaway remained unbeaten with a 42-13 victory over Columbus last week.

Now, Callaway prepares for Upson-Lee, which won its first two games before losing to Griffin 17-7 last week.

Upson-Lee opened with a 34-6 win over Shaw before beating Columbus 43-19.

“We’ll meet on Sunday, watch a lot of film and get ready for a tough opponent next week in Upson-Lee,” Callaway head coach Pete Wiggins said following last week’s win. “It’ll be on the road, so it’ll be a test. And we have to continue to work.”

The Cavaliers gave up points for the first time all season last week, but they continued to roll.

Callaway excelled in all phases of the game, including special teams, with DQ Wilkerson returning two punts for a touchdown.

Also, Noah Stephens had a punt that rolled out of bounds at the 2-yard line, and that led to a safety.

“DQ Wilkerson had a great night tonight,” Wiggins said. “I felt like our special teams changed the momentum and made some big plays. I’m real proud of those kids.”

Troup and LaGrange will use this week to prepare for the all-important region schedule that begins on Sept. 22.

LaGrange will host Central-Carroll in its region opener, while Troup will visit Chapel Hill.

It’s been smooth sailing for the Tigers, who are averaging 41 points per game, and Montez Crowe is enjoying a brilliant season at quarterback.

In four games, Crowe has thrown for 1,316 yards, and that included a 429-yard effort in last week’s win over Lamar County.

“It’s an excellent feeling for a quarterback to know I’ve got an offensive line that can block for you, and receivers that can catch it and take it the distance,” Crowe said.

LaGrange remained winless, but it did put points on the board for the first time this season.

Matt Rainey made a field against East Coweta, and Jakoby Smith threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Ogletree with 19 seconds left in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Grangers, they gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown to Gerald Green to fall behind 35-10 at the half.

Lafayette Christian is 0-4 after losing to Crisp Academy 60-34, and it will look for a breakthrough win this week.

The Cougars are 0-2 in the region, but they still have an opportunity to reach the state playoffs.

“We’ve got to win out in region,” Lafayette Christian head coach Nate Shaw said. “That’s three more games.”