WATCH: High School Football: Sandy Creek, Douglas County collide in massive early-season matchup

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A pair of rosters loaded with DI talent across the board will collide in the first game of the ‘Drive for the GHSA State Title’ of the 2026 Georgia high school football season on Friday night as the Sandy Creek Patriots will travel to Douglasville to take on the Douglas County Tigers in a high-profile, second-week matchup.

The action will begin at 7:30 p.m. with our ‘Georgia High School Countdown to Kickoff’ pregame show featuring On3’s Rusty Mansell, DawgNation’s Brandon Adams and Score Atlanta’s Landon Knight previewing the matchup ahead of kickoff at 8 p.m.

Friday’s matchup will be broadcast live on Atlanta News First (Channel 46) and streamed live on the Atlanta News First app. From your home, download the free ANF+ app anywhere you stream — FireTV, AppleTV, Roku and YouTube TV — simply by searching for “Atlanta News First” on those platforms. If you are on the go, you can download Atlanta News First for free in the app store on your Apple or Android device. You can also watch live here on the WANF – Special Events channel.

Stay tuned after the game for the ‘Georgia High School Postgame Show’ which will feature DawgNation’s Kaylee Mansell alongside Score Atlanta’s Craig Sager II and Hayden Gilbert breaking down the game as well as covering scores from around the state.

The all-time series between Sandy Creek and Douglas County is split at two games apiece, with the two schools last facing off in 2005. Douglas County and former head coach Phil Williams defeated Chip Walker’s Sandy Creek team 42-6 in the last matchup between the two storied programs.

Now over 20 years later, the Patriots and the Tigers will share the field once again, looking to add an impressive early season win to their 2026 resume.

Sandy Creek is led by head coach Darius Smiley who is now in his fourth season with the Patriots. Last season, Smiley and the Patriots won the school’s fifth state championship and the second since 2022, defeating Jefferson 27-7. The Patriots put together their third-ever undefeated season and scored the second-most points in school history (600) during their state championship run.

The Patriots are coming off an impressive Week 1 victory over Grayson, defeating the Rams 21-13, marking the program’s first-ever victory over the in-state powerhouse. The win over Grayson marks the Patriots’ ninth-straight season opening victory with their last defeat in an opener coming in 2016.

Senior quarterback and Lenoir-Rhyne commit Caleb Hill leads a talented Sandy Creek offense in his fourth season playing varsity football for the Patriots. Last week against Grayson, Hill was making plays everywhere, throwing for 140 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 100 yards rushing, stacking the stat sheet. Freshman wideout Brennan Williams also made a huge impact in the pass game for the Patriots, recording five catches for 83 receiving yards.

With the departure of running back Amari Latimer to the college ranks at West Virginia, the Patriots’ rushing attack remained present, recording 140 yards on the ground as a team.

“We have five guys that we feel can play that spot (running back),” said Smiley. “We are rotating those guys every other play in practice, trying to give those guys as many reps as we can. Of the five, three of them are seniors, one was a kid we were hoping was going to be the guy after Amari Latimer left (Omari Jackson), but he ended up with a hamstring injury during the spring. We will figure it out, who is the guy or who is the one-two punch that we will need as we continue to go through this season.”

Four-star defensive back Corey Hadley (Nebraska-commit) leads a talented defense featuring three-star linebacker JT Austin and four-star junior defensive back Nathan Holston with Hadley in the back end of the Patriots’ defense. Against Grayson last week, linebacker Elijah Ware and Miles Odem led the way with 11 tackles each for Sandy Creek.

On the opposite sideline, this year’s Douglas County team was met with adversity in the first week of the season, losing its opener to Newton in double overtime, 34-27.

With the first week of the season now behind them, the Tigers look to get back on track this week against Sandy Creek, but will have a tall task welcoming in the defending champions to their home turf.

Junior quarterback Trey Byrd was efficient against Newton, completing six-of-eight passes for 92 yards and a passing touchdown while adding 31 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. Junior Justin Spivey provided a spark in the run game, rushing for 74 yards on five carries.

Mississippi State-commit and four-star safety Kennedy Green led the Tigers in total tackles with 14, two tackles for loss, and an interception. Green is part of a talented Douglas County secondary including four-star Georgia-commit Adryan Cole and junior Caleb Ivey.

Along with a talented secondary, the Tigers have one of the best defensive fronts in Georgia high school football including senior Georgia Tech-commit Justin Weeks and junior defensive end Steven McClendon.

“They just need to keep fighting,” said White. “I like the way our kids fought and I like the way they kept playing and we had to battle a couple of injuries, but I think we will be much better moving forward.”