Henry Daily Herald

Derrick Mahone

The very first time that a Henry County and Clayton County team met in football, Clayton County walked away with bragging rights.

That was 60 years ago.

Way back in 1952, Jonesboro High defeated now-defunct McDonough High 39-7 on Sept. 19.

Ever since that first meeting between the bordering counties, it seems that Clayton County usually gets the bragging rights. To be exact, in 164 meetings between teams from the two counties, Clayton County has won 122 of those match-ups. That is a 74 percent winning percentage.

So far this season, Henry County holds the upperhand as Locust Grove defeated Morrow last week in a non-region battle between an upstart and a struggling former powerhouse program.

Tonight, there will be three games involving teams from Henry and Clayton counties.

County pride and bragging rights will once again be on the line when No. 8 Riverdale makes the trek to Dutchtown. Jonesboro, which is also ranked No. 8, travels to nearby Eagle’s Landing. North Clayton pays a visit to Stockbridge.

The Riverdale-Dutchtown game appears to be the most evenly matched one on paper as both North Clayton and Eagle’s Landing are still looking for their first wins.

It will be tough for them to get it against the likes of Jonesboro and Stockbridge. In fact, Stockbridge will likely be the only team to prevent a Clayton County sweep.

Lovejoy doesn’t appear to need much more motivation for the season, but the Wildcats might have gotten it from the 11 pollsters in the Associated Press Top 10 poll. Despite its impressive win over Alpharetta last week, the pollsters dropped the Wildcats from the rankings.

Part was due to Parkview’s stunning win over nationally-ranked Grayson and the emergence of North Cobb. The Wildcats became the pollsters’ stepchild.

A young East Coweta squad will likely feel the Wildcats’ frustration and disappointment. Time to make a statement.

McIntosh of Fayette County is 3-0 for the first time in school history, unfortunately it will likely not make it to 4-0 when the Chiefs visit Southern Crescent Stadium to take on Drew.

Henry County and Luella are both winless heading into their non-region contest. After Friday, Luella will get its first win of the season.

Derrick Mahone is the sports editor of the Clayton News Daily/Henry Daily Herald newspapers. He can be reached at dmahone@news-daily.com.

Derrick Mahone is the sports editor of the Clayton News Daily/Henry Daily Herald newspapers. He can be reached at dmahone@news-daily.com.