Raiders loot Bulldoggs in 35-21 win

Habersham Central senior linebacker Sawyer Burgess (14) celebrates with his teammates after his interception during a game between Winder-Barrow and Habersham Central at Raider Stadium on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

The Habersham Central High School football team (4-2,2-0) took down the Bulldoggs (3-4,21) 35-21 on homecoming night at Raider Stadium on Friday, Sept. 26. The Raiders are now 2-0 in the region.

“I mean, we still got four region games to play,” HCHS Football Head Coach Benji Harrison said. “If you want to accomplish the goals that you want to accomplish, and that’s to have an opportunity to play for a Region Championship, an opportunity to host a game. You knew this was one that you had to win.”

The Raiders’ offense came in hot in the first half by scoring 25 unanswered points on Winder-Barrow. Junior quarterback Paris Wilbanks feels the offense is getting better each week.

“I think that’s the minimum we can do,” Wilbanks said. “I think we’re only going to get better from here. My connection with the receiver is getting better here and the offensive line played their tail off, and they’re getting better every week.”

Habersham Central’s defense was due up first in the beginning of the first quarter and the task at hand was to contain Winder-Barrow’s star-studded senior Demetrius “MJ” Dowdy who was already over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. The Raidersdefense held their own and forced Winder-Barrow to punt for the Habersham offense to start at their own 22 yard line.

On the first play of the drive, junior quarterback Paris Wilbanks connected with senior wide receiver Tylon Davis for 45 yards. The drive continued with a lot of good runs by senior running back Donnie Warren, but the drive would stall at WinderBarrow’s 12 yard line for senior kicker Camden Meads to kick a 30-yard field goal to take the lead of the game.

The Raider defense came in hot with tackling Dowdy in the backfield, a sack by senior lineman Jackson Adams, then an interception by senior linebacker Sawyer Burgess to give the offense the ball in Winder-Barrow territory with about four min- utes left in the first quarter.

Warren wasted no time by rushing for 34 yards for a touchdown and The Raiders would go up 10-0.

In the next drive, junior linebacker CJ Davis brought the Bulldoggs punt unit out with a sack on third and 10.
The Raiders offense would drive down field at the end of the first quarter and lead Warren to score at the goal line and score a two-point conversion after a Winder-Barrow penalty to go up 18-0 with over 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Warren was a machine, breaking the school record for rushing attempts in a single game; he rushed 40 times for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
On the next kick off, Davis forced a fumble on Winder-Barrow returner Giovanni Tuggle, then junior linebacker Parks York would recover it at WinderBarrow’s 39 yard line.

Habersham Central would not get anything going and had to punt for the first time in the game, but that did not matter, because the defense would give the ball right back to the offense with a Yorks interception at Habersham Central’s 44 yard line. The offense would go on a four minute and 40 second drive for 10 plays, 56 yards to lead to a Wilbanks seven yard connection to junior tight end JJ Rucker.

Dowdy would finally get going by breaking off for a 64-yard rush that led him to score on a six-yard rush. Winder-Barrow would continue its momentum by intercepting a pass from Wilbanks to make it 25-14 at halftime.

“We wanted to run the football,” Harrison said. “We wanted that clock to move. If we were on the field, then number three was standing over there, because Dowdy, he’s a good player. I thought it was a really good complimentary football tonight. We knew we weren’t going to shut Dowdy out, but I said, we hold him somewhere around that 100-yard mark, we’ll be fine just when he gets up in the 180s. They put up a lot of points, so I thought our guys did good.”

The Raiders did not let the 14 unanswered points faze them by taking control of the third quarter, taking over seven minutes on 15 plays and 65 yards for Wilbanks to throw a 17-yard pass to junior wide receiver Jay Feltus in the right corner of the endzone to go up 3214. Feltus had five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Harrison said the play was originally an inside zone, but Wilbanks change the play at the line of scrimmage for a favorable matchup for Feltus up against a corner.

“That’s just him having confidence in himself, having confidence in his guys, and knowing that we trust him and shows you that he’s a pretty mature player,” Harrison said.

Winder-Barrow answered right back with a 58-yard rushing touchdown by Dowdy with over three minutes left in the third quarter to make it 32-21 Dowdy rushed 17 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns.

On the next offensive drive, Habersham Central went for it on fourth and nine at Winder-Barrow’s 27. Wilbanks tried to make something happen, but was picked off by Tuggle.

Wilbanks had an off and on game by going for 10-24 for 162 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions; he rushed for 47 yards.

The Raiders defense would force a punt on Winder-Barrow’s next drive. That led the Habersham Central offense to take about seven minutes off the clock on 12 plays for 70 yards for a Meads field goal to ice the game for a 35-21 win. Junior defensive back Gio Ethridge was all over the place with 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and three pass break ups.

“I know that they’re not playing as well right now record-wise, but I know they are the defending region champion,” Harrison said. “So we’re going to get ready to play. We’re going down there. It’s a tough place to play. We gotta be prepared. We gotta have fun with this, and we get over it and this one just makes that next one that much bigger.”

Habersham Central heads on the road to play the reigning regional champions Clarke Central on Friday, Oct. 3. The Gladiators are 1-1 in the region.