By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The schedules are out.

The Georgia High School Association has released the football schedules for all of the teams in the state, including the Callaway Cavaliers, LaGrange Grangers and Troup Tigers.

Callaway, LaGrange and Troup are playing the same 10 opponents from last season, although the locations are different in some cases.

The three local teams will all play each other for a second consecutive season.

First up will be the showdown between LaGrange and Callaway on Sept. 6, and Troup and Callaway will meet on Sept. 20.

In the final county showdown of the season, Troup and LaGrange will square off on Sept. 18 in a Region 5-AAAA game.

Troup beat Callaway and LaGrange last season to claim the county championship.

For LaGrange, the season begins on Aug. 23 when it travels to Heard County to face the defending Class AA state champion.

LaGrange then plays Callaway and Hampton before opening its region schedule on Sept. 17 against Central-Carroll.

LaGrange plays region opponents Cedartown, Cartersville, Troup, Sandy Creek and Chapel Hill before closing the regular season with a non-region game against Shaw.

The Grangers went 2-8 last season, but they made major strides from the 2017 season when they were 0-10.

LaGrange was competitive in nearly every game last year, and it closed the season with a come-from-behind 16-14 win over Shaw.

LaGrange recently wrapped up spring practice with a strong performance against Hardaway in a scrimmage game.

While Hardaway won 26-21, LaGrange was ahead 21-7 before head coach Chuck Gibbs emptied the bench and got everyone in the game, including the rising freshmen.

“Our job was to try to get 86 kids a chance to get a couple of snaps,” Gibbs said.

One of the bright spots for LaGrange was the performance of senior quarterback Charles Crawford, who did a nice job leading the offense.

“He’s substantially bigger, substantially stronger, substantially faster,” Gibbs said of Crawford. “He has great poise.”

Running backs Andre Canty and Caleb Ross ran the ball well, and the offensive line was effective.

Defensively, LaGrange’s starting unit shut Hardaway down after the opening series.

“Overall, after that first series, the defense locked in and played Granger defense,” Gibbs said.

At Troup, optimism is high after a 2018 season that was the finest one in the history of the program.

Troup went 12-2 and made it to the Class AAAA semifinals before losing to defending state-champion Blessed Trinity.

Troup’s non-region schedule is the same as it was a year ago.

Ridgeland, which went 8-4 last season and made it to the second round of the state playoffs, visits Troup on Aug. 30 for the opener for both teams.

Troup then plays Columbus, Harris County and Callaway before beginning its Region 5-AAAA schedule at Chapel Hill on Sept. 27.

Troup plays Sandy Creek, LaGrange, Cedartown, Central-Carroll before closing the regular season with a home game against Cartersville on Sept. 8.

Troup and Cartersville have played for the region championship the past three seasons, with Cartersville getting the upper-hand each time.

Last year, both teams were 9-0 when Cartersville beat Troup.

Troup wrapped up spring practice with a 42-21 win over Newnan.

When the starters were on the field, Troup dominated and was ahead 21-0.

After Newnan tied it at 21-21, Troup scored the final three touchdowns to win 42-21.

“I felt like the guys were relaxed. I felt like they played relaxed,” Troup head coach Tanner Glisson said. “I felt like they knew what to do. I felt like they’d been coached. We were physical. The first half was very impressive for a spring game in my opinion.”

The Tigers moved the ball at will even though all-state quarterback Kobe Hudson didn’t take one snap.

While Nick Schweizer threw three touchdown passes, Hudson played wide receiver and defensive back.

Hudson made a handful of big plays at defensive back, including some tackles behind the line of scrimmage that thwarted Newnan drives.

“We need him to be at the top of the game,” Glisson said of Hudson. “He played well on defense.”

Callaway, coming off another exceptional season under head coach Pete Wiggins, will once again begin its season at Opelika on Aug. 22.

Callaway plays LaGrange, Cross Keys and Troup before beginning Region 5-AA play on Sept. 26 against Temple.

Next up for Callaway are region games against Bremen, Lamar County, Spencer, Heard County and Jordan.

Callaway went 11-3 last season and reached the state semifinals before falling to Rockmart.

Callaway traveled to Troy University for its spring game, and it beat Charles Henderson 33-29.

Even without senior Cartavious “Tank” Bigsby, one of the state’s top running backs, Callaway moved the ball effectively.

Charlie Dixon did a solid job at running back, and quarterback Demetrius Coleman made some big plays in the passing game.

“We played a good football team in Charles Henderson,” Wiggins said. “I think we found out a lot about what we’ve got to do better, and we got to see things that we did well. The game was a physical game. It was good for us.”

Callaway, LaGrange and Troup all have busy summer schedules on tap with daily workouts, camps, and seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 competitions.

Official preseason practice begins on July 25, and teams can hold their first full-contact practices on Aug. 1.

SCHEDULES

CALLAWAY

Aug. 22 – at Opelika

Sept. 6 – at LaGrange

Sept. 13 – vs. Cross Keys

Sept. 20 – vs. Troup

Sept. 26 – vs. Temple

Sept. 4 – at Bremen

Oct. 10 – vs. Lamar Ccounty

Oct. 19 – at Spencer

Oct. 25 – vs. Heard County

Oct. 31 – at Jordan

LAGRANGE

Aug. 23 – at Heard County

Sept. 6 – vs. Callaway

Sept. 13 – vs. Hampton

Sept. 27 – vs. Central-Carroll

Oct. 4 – at Cedartown

Oct. 11 – vs. Cartersville

Oct. 18 – vs. Troup

Oct. 25 – at Sandy Creek

Nov. 1 – at Chapel Hill

Nov. 7 – vs. Shaw

TROUP

Aug. 30 – vs. Ridgeland

Sept. 5 – at Columbus

Sept. 12 – vs. Harris County

Sept. 20 – at Callaway

Sept. 27 – at Chapel Hill

Oct. 4 – vs. Sandy Creek

Oct. 18 – at LaGrange

Oct. 25 – at Cedartown

Nov. 1 – vs. Central-Carroll

Nov. 8 – vs. Cartersville