Thomson's '02 team surges to win

BEST WINS

The results are in.

Thomson's 2002 Bulldogs rallied late to win an online poll asking readers to rank the best football teams in area history. The 2002 Class AAA champions were down 60 votes after the first four days of voting.

Shortly after, the Bulldog faithful logged on to dust the 1989 Lincoln County Red Devils , the eventual second-place finisher, beginning late Tuesday evening. Thomson had 343 of the poll's 700-plus votes by the end of voting Friday evening.

The 1986 Silver Bluff Bulldogs were the top write-in entry with 12 votes. The write-in ballots included votes for the 1963 Lincoln County Red Devils, the 2000 Silver Bluff Bulldogs and the 2005 Strom Thurmond Rebels.

The most unusual votes were for the 1974 Harlem baseball team and the 2007 Evans Knights. Apparently, someone believes those boys will be pretty good.

WHO'S HOT: Strom Thurmond's Coco Hillary. The distraction-filled week fostered a competitive flame within the quarterback with the laid-back persona. His passes and decision-making never seemed more crisp in getting the Rebels past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

WHO'S NOT: Lincoln County's health. An injury-riddled year - even the team trainer went out with open-heart surgery - did not lighten Friday with the loss of kicker Vance Tarver for the year and another day-to-day ding to the hip of Rontae Norman.

LAST WEEK

1. STROM THURMOND 28, MANNING 7: TWO STARTERS WERE KICKED OFF THE TEAM. IMPRESSIVE RUNNING BACK JAKAR HAMILTON BARELY TOUCHED THE FIELD BECAUSE OF A BUM ANKLE. NO PROBLEM. LEE SAWYER'S MOTIVATIONAL WORK FOR THE GAME WAS SUPERB COACHING.

2. AIKEN 24, SOUTH AIKEN 21: SOUTH AIKEN COACH DAN PIPPIN FELT HIS TEAM PLAYED AS WELL AS IT HAD ALL YEAR.

3. WASHINGTON-WILKES 26, TEMPLE 0: NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE HERE THAN IN LINCOLN'S STRONG WIN, EXCEPT THE PLAYOFF SHUTOUT.

THREE BIG GAMES

1. Augusta Christian (11-1) vs. Porter-Gaud (9-3): The Lions go for a SCISA Class AAA state title in Orangeburg. They won 21-14 earlier this year.

2. Thomas Jefferson (11-2) at Robert Toombs Christian (10-1-1): The Jaguars have run for over 4,600 yards this year and get senior Ty Brett back despite what should have been a season-ending injury this past week.

3. Westside-Anderson (11-1) at Aiken (11-1): No public school playoff offers this level of play.

FINALLY: Glenn Hills standout running back Ricky Young went through the season as the best player in the area without a Division I-A offer. No more. The 5-foot-9 Young received his first offer over the weekend from Middle Tennessee State.

MORE RECRUITING: Although no offers have materialized yet, two other players have received top-tier interest of late. South Aiken defensive end Dekoda Watson has received elevated interest from both Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Lakeside safety prospect Chris Drayton has also had increased attention from Tennessee.

GOLDEN YEARS: The seniors on the Laney team finished an impressive run despite a 13-7 road loss to unbeaten Grady, going 39-14 in their careers with a pair of trips to the Georgia Dome. They held the Knights to 20 points below their scoring average in their home stadium.

MISSING MAN: Despite the losses, Strom Thurmond is expected to welcome senior safety Tavine Brannon back to the lineup this week. He's recovering from a slightly fractured left shoulder. Brannon, out since the start of region play, was an all-region performer last year.

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.