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It is playoff time. The LaGrange football team is no stranger to the postseason as they booked their spot for the fifth straight season under head coach Matt Napier. The Grangers will be hitting the road on Friday night to take on Lumpkin County in what should be a heavyweight showdown. 

This will be the first matchup between the two programs. While the Indians do not have the rich championship history of the Grangers, Lumpkin County has been enjoying its best spell as of late. The Indians won their first ever playoff game a season ago in which they made a run to the 3A state quarterfinals, winning their fist region championship in the process while finishing with the most wins in a season in program history.

The Indians have not quite reached the same heights this season, coming into the playoffs with a 7-3 record and a second-place finish in the region. This is undoubtedly the best three-year stretch in program history as they have won 27 games over the past three seasons, all under coach Heath Webb. 

Lumpkin County is a run-first team having totalled 2,053 yards on the ground and just 813 through the air. Junior Nolan Matthews has a lot to do with that, accumulating 1,149 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns on the season. He is not alone as senior dual-threat quarterback Cal Faulkner has thrown for 800 yards and ran for 664. 

The Grangers have their own dominant running back and quarterback tandem in senior Malachi Fannin-Render and junior Dylan Barber. 

Fannin-Render, who recently committed to playing football at Liberty University next season, has been one of the top offensive players in 3A this season. The senior put together his best season yet, putting up nearly 1,700 yards from scrimmage and 23 total touchdowns. 

Barber, a transfer from Heritage, made the quarterback position his own this season, throwing for 758 yards, running for 753 and scoring 18 total touchdowns to just two interceptions.

The Grangers, much like their counterparts from Lumpkin County, are a run-first team, but are more than willing to open up the pass game and take shots too. The Grangers ran for 2,767 yards in the regular season while throwing for 930 yards as a team. 

Lumpkin County will have to contend with Julian Jones and Denorayon Reid, the Grangers top two wide receivers that have combined to catch 21 passes for 447 yards and six touchdowns.

LaGrange has been without one of their best defenders this season as linebacker Noah Outland, who holds multiple Division I offers, since he exited the Sandy Creek game with a torn ACL. The junior has been replaced by some emerging talent. One of those players is junior Corn Brown. The undersized linebacker has come out and filled some big shoes, racking up 56 total tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception.

The Granger defense also saw the emergence of senior Spencer Stroud. The defensive end has lived in opponents backfields this season, terrorizing quarterbacks to the tune of nine sacks, nine tackles for a loss and 49 total tackles. 

On the back end, opposing offenses have to contend with Kayden Sutton. The linebacker/safety hybrid finished the regular season with four interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, as well as a forced fumble. 

LaGrange will be the visiting team on Friday, traveling up to Dahlonega to take on Lumpkin County at 7:30 p.m. A win on Friday would likely see the Grangers rematch region champions Sandy Creek in round two, but LaGrange is firmly focused on the task at hand first.