Baldwin kept the good times going last Friday night, handling Hepzibah 35-26 at Braves Stadium.
The Braves are now 2-0 for the first time since 2023.
A win this Friday night at Dublin would mark the program’s first 3-0 start since 2020. Incredibly, it will be the first matchup between Baldwin and Dublin in more than 50 years, despite being separated by only 45 miles.
The two program’s met annually from 1958 to ‘75, but then the series came to a grinding halt. The Irish have won 15-out-of-the-17 contests.
At this point, Dublin is a much smaller school, with Baldwin having nearly twice as many students.
Nevertheless, the Irish enter the game as the favorite.
They’re currently ranked No.
2 in the GPB Sports Class AA poll, while Baldwin competes in Class AAAA.
Dublin is well-known for its Wing-T offense, while Baldwin had one of the most porous run defenses in the state of Georgia last season.
Overall, Baldwin allowed 36 points per game in 2025.
The Braves’ D contained Hepzibah’s run-heavy offense in the first half last Friday, but the Rebels got it going in the second half, which gave Baldwin fans some bad flashbacks to last year.
Hepzibah finished with 252 yards rushing, and Dublin will be even more formidable.
Regardless, it will be a nice test for Baldwin’s defense, which brought in a slew of new assistant coaches on that side of the ball during the off-season.
Conversely, Baldwin quarterback Kamden Patterson will be tough to deal with for the Dublin defense. Patterson went 17-23 passing for 307 yards against Hepzibah, bringing his season stats to 35-47 passing for 643 yards and seven touchdowns.
Never before has a Baldwin quarterback put up stats like that in consecutive games.
Senior B.J. Armstrong really shined last Friday night. With the game scoreless in the second quarter, Armstrong sent a jolt through Braves Stadium, taking a short tunnel screen pass 66 yards to the house. Armstrong also scored two rushing touchdowns, each on a direct snap.
Armstrong also stood out on defense. If all of that wasn’t enough, Armstrong handled the punting duties for the Braves.
Armstrong’s second rushing touchdown of the evening upped the lead to 35-20 with 1:06 left in the game, but the Rebels scored a garbage time touchdown to make the final score 35-26.
The Braves got the run game going against Hepzibah, which was one of the goals heading into the game. Tailback T.J. Hooks ran very well, racking up 110 yards on 22 carries.