Brick City Bowl Preview- Lee County and Southern Lee Matchup By the Numbers

Article Updated Monday, November 4th

The Lee County Yellow Jackets and the Southern Lee Cavaliers will meet this Friday night at Paul Gay Stadium, and as usual, the game will determine a Tri-County 3A Conference Champion and seedings in the State 3A & 3AA playoffs.    Below is a look at the numbers for both teams as we get ready for the game and what must happen for either team to get the win.

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Records

Lee County          10-0, 4-0

Southern Lee     6-3, 3-1

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Overall Scoring

Lee County          Scoring 45.3 ppg, Allowing 11.7 ppg

Southern Lee     Scoring 28.4 ppg, Allowing 17.7 ppg

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Conference Scoring

Lee County         Scoring 47.5 ppg, Allowing 9.0 ppg

Southern Lee     Scoring 28.5 ppg, Allowing 11.7 ppg

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Common Opponents Outside Conference

Lee County         Beat Hoke County 24-6, beat Northwood 60-0

Southern Lee     Lost to Hoke County 19-6, beat Northwood 47-17

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Total Offense

Lee County          4055 yards, 2389 rushing & 1666 passing

Southern Lee     2704 yards, 1193 rushing & 1511 passing

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Turnover Margin

Lee County         +16 on the season

Southern Lee     +17 on the season

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Observations

This game has brought some exciting moments to local football fans over the years and this year should be no exception.   There is a lot on the line in this one with playoff seedings involved and both teams will be ready.   The Cavaliers should know by now they are in the playoffs and look at this game as an opportunity to increase their seeding for the post-season.   Lee County knows they are in the playoffs as well and are playing for home seeding.   Both teams and fan bases know bragging rights are part of the deal as well.

When Lee County Has the Ball

The Yellow Jackets have a lot of weapons offensively and will be a challenge for the Cavalier defense.   QB Colin Johnson has been steady all year and has passed for over 1600 yards, 19 TDs and 1 interception.   Johnson will rely on leading rusher AJ Boulware (1262 yards on the season) to keep the defense honest and should have opportunities to test the Cavalier secondary.    Lee County has nearly double the yardage of Southern Lee on the ground, and stopping Boulware and RB Larry Baldwin on the ground will be the primary focus for Southern Lee.    Leading Yellow Jacket receiver Tyric McKendall will be back from injury this Friday and he, along with UNC Committ Jayden Chalmers lead the Yellow Jacket receivers.   QB Colin Johnson sees the field as good as anyone in the conference and has thrown to 11 different receivers this season.

When Southern Lee Has the Ball

The Cavalier Offense had to regroup halfway through the season with the injury to QB Thomas Harrington, and replacement QB Deandre McAllister should be given an A+.    McAllister has provided some good numbers since taking the reins to start conference play and is athletic enough to provide some running as well as passing.    Elijah Foxx (28 catches for 564 yards) and Tanoah Lockley (26 for 609) are two of the top receivers in the league and are more dangerous after the catch than most.    Keshaun Mays leads the Cavalier rushing with 448 yards, but the Cavs spread the rushing around like Lee County does with passing.    Bruising RB Rodney Ingram missed the 1^st part of the season but has come on strong as of late and could provide some help on the ground for Southern Lee.     The Yellow Jacket run defense is possibly the strongest part of the Lee County squad and this may require McAllister to prove what he can do in the air.    Getting the ball to Lockley and Foxx will be important for Southern to win this one.

Intangibles

• Playing at Paul Gay Stadium on Senior night will certainly have both teams up for this one.    History has indicated that both teams have had some success on the road in this rivalry, and with Southern Lee bringing a good crowd as usual, the home advantage of being 4 miles down the road shouldn’t be a huge factor.
• Turnovers have been a bright spot for both teams this season and neither has had a game that turnovers have put them behind the 8-ball.    If a team gets on the wrong side of the turnovers this Friday, it will be interesting to see how they react, as neither has had to deal with that scenario this year. 
• Kicking has been interesting for both teams this season.    Despite having good kickers that can kick it deep, both coaches have opted often to kickoff to open areas on the field and eliminate returns.    These short kickoffs sometimes cause panic to receiving teams and mistakes are possible.  Both teams have enough confidence in their defenses to try on-side kickoffs at any point of a game and this should be interesting to watch.    As far as FGs and PATs, both Trey Underwood of Lee County and Southern Lee’s Daniel Pisano are good kickers and both are capable of game winners from 40+ yards.

Brick City Bowl Scores – By the Year (Lee County Leads All-Time 8-5)

2006 – Lee County 56, Southern Lee 33

2007 – Southern Lee 32, Lee County 17

2008 – Southern Lee 24, Lee County 6

2009 – Lee County 55, Southern Lee 7

2010 – Lee County 48, Southern Lee 0

2011 – Lee County 51, Southern Lee 13

2012 – Lee County 49, Southern Lee 0

2013 – Lee County 23, Southern Lee 9

2014 – Southern Lee 14, Lee County 3

2015 – Southern Lee 21, Lee County 20

2016 – Southern Lee 16, Lee County 13

2017 – Lee County 24, Southern Lee 3

2018 – Lee County 26, Southern Lee 2

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Lee County Coach’s Records in Rivalry

Jody Stouffer 2006-08…(3 years)…………………………….1-2

Burton Cates 2009-17…(9 years)…………………………….6-3

Steve Burdeau 2018…(1 year)…………….…..………………1-0

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Southern Lee Coach’s Records in Rivalry

Bill Mazcko 2006-08…(3 years)………………………………..2-1

Eric Puryear 2009…(1 year)………………….…….……………0-1

Tom Paris 2010-12…(3 years)…………………………………..0-3

Don Simon 2013-16…(4 years)…………………………………3-1

Ken Neal 2017-18..(2 years)……………………….…………….0-2

WFJA Sports will air the Lee County Broadcast on 105.5 FM with the Southern Lee Broadcast airing on 1050 AM and 95.1 FM.     Fans can stream either broadcast on the station’s website at www.wfjawwgpradio.com and select the Lee County or the Southern Lee Broadcast.