By: Joseph Stuckey

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

This past Friday, the Bulloch Academy Gators made a statement win on the road in Locust Grove, defeating Strong Rock Christian 42-7. With this win, the Gators moved to 6-1 on the season with only their 3 district games left to play before moving into the playoffs. Before district play starts, the Gators get a much-earned bye week.

In their last 2 contests, the Gators have outscored their opponents 98-7 with dominant wins on the road over both Strong Rock and Robert Toombs. It’s hard for me to put my finger on which side of the ball is most dominant for the Gators.

On offense, the Gators keep humming along, with very few possessions that don’t end in points. The Gators have adapted into a little more of a balanced attack this season, adding some efficient passing elements.

On defense, the Gators basically eliminate running plays with a “swamp of gators” tackling the ball carrier, limiting one-on-one tackling. At the same time, the secondary looks improved from last season and is doing a better job of not giving up long passes.

The big question mark for the Gators defense this season is whether they can get back to the defensive standard that led to the state championship in 2024.

In 2024, the Gators allowed only 6.5 points per game in the regular season; currently, they sit at 16.4 points allowed per game. That is still a very impressive number because it’s basically telling the Gator offense that if they want to win the game, all they have to do is score 17+ points, which the Gators have been doing in the first quarter alone recently.

For playoff seeding, the GIAA uses MaxPreps rankings to determine the brackets based on their rating. The Gators currently have a 46.87 rating, which is #4 in all of the GIAA. Just for reference, John Millege Academy, which handed the Gators their only loss this season, is currently #1 with a 52.66 rating.

The 3 remaining opponents for the Gators have an average rating of 22.39, with only Frederica Academy currently in line for a playoff spot. So, I say all of that to say it should be a smooth ride to the playoffs for the Gators.

The goal for the Gators is a top-2 seed in the playoffs, as that would let them host the quarterfinals and semifinals in Statesboro, and then, coincidentally, the state championship would be in Paulson Stadium. The Gators won the 2024 state championship at Paulson Stadium as well.

In my personal opinion, if the Gators win out, there should be no issue locking up a top-2 seed, as Strong Rock was ranked #3 in AAAA and #4 First Presbyterian Day recently lost to Frederica Academy on 9/18.

This means that as the rankings get updated, there will be a major separation between the Gators and their challengers in AAAA.

The Gators could end up as the #1 seed, as current #1 Stratford Academy is 5-1 but does have to play John Milledge in a few weeks.

So if the Gators handle their business and win out, they will be looking at 3 playoff games in Statesboro to potentially capture their 2nd state championship in 3 years.