October 22, 2025 — On Friday night, familiar opponents will take the field for the Cobb Schools version of a border war. The Lassiter Trojans (2-3 region, 5-3 overall) will take the three-mile bus ride down Sandy Plains Road with intentions of putting a damper on the Sprayberry Yellow Jackets’ season (4-1, 7-1). If it is true that “familiarity breeds contempt,” these 5A-Region 6 foes are sure to have a spirited contest.
“Many of our players went to the same middle school as their players,” Sprayberry Head Football Coach Pete Fominaya explained. “Many of these boys have been playing against each other for years. This is a game that is on everyone’s calendar, and the community really looks forward to it.”
Lassiter Head Football Coach Sean Thom believes these games require players to overcome a mental barrier and weather the emotional rush.
“With many of these rivalry games,” Thom said, “they have tense moments in them because of the familiarity, and we have tried to remain focused on controlling our process more than anything else. Our message has been to continue putting the work in each day because we value what hard work does.”
Both teams have had time to put in the hard work, as each comes off a bye week. That extra week of preparation for this game could prove pivotal.
“We focused first and foremost on getting healthy,” Coach Thom reported. “Obviously, at this point in the season, a lot of guys are banged up, and we wanted to make sure we were doing everything possible to get them to the finish line. After a few days of focusing on us, we used some cheat time to introduce Sprayberry’s schemes and get a few days ahead as far as preparation goes.”
Coach Fominaya’s team also looked inward with the extended time between games.
“Our focus on the bye week is always to work on us,” Coach Fominaya said. “Our staff does a deep dive into the things we need to improve on, and we make those things points of emphasis. Whether it’s special teams, creating or limiting turnovers, our team always has an inward focus on bye weeks.”
No doubt that the Jackets also gave some attention to the passing attack that Lassiter will bring to this game. The Trojans’ senior quarterback, Mitch Seaman, has thrown for nearly 1,500 yards this season, with almost 800 of those yards going to his favorite target, junior wide receiver Collins Price. Collins's twin brother, Dalton Price, has 242 yards receiving as well.
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“Lassiter has an explosive offense,” Coach Fominaya acknowledged. “Their passing game may be the best one we have seen all year. We will need to minimize the big plays and get off the field on third down. Our offense needs to sustain drives and take care of the football, and we should be in a good position to have success.”
His Sprayberry offense is loaded with big-play talent as well. The Jackets average over 230 yards rushing per game with senior running back Jrue Keeling and senior quarterback Jaden Duckett leading the team in the ground game. However, don’t forget about the Georgia-commit, senior running back Kealan Jones, or the Alabama-commit, senior wide receiver and defensive back Jorden Edmonds. Both can unleash explosive plays at any time.
“We believe to knock off a team like Sprayberry, we have to be good in all three phases of the game.” Coach Thom said honestly. “Offensively, we must possess the football and not turn it over. Defensively, we must have our best game tackling this week. And in the special teams game, we feel like we need to make a game-changing play.”
The Trojans are aiming to secure a winning record for the season while the Jackets are competing for a region title. With Sprayberry averaging 40 points per game and Lassiter averaging over 31 per game, this promises to be a high-scoring matchup.
“Our biggest focus is to control what we can control,” Coach Thom said, “and let the outcome fall where it may. The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”
Coach Fominaya knows that tomorrow will be here soon.
“With Lassiter being a rivalry game,” he said, “you know our players will be ready for a big game, and they will want to represent our community positively on Friday.”
Game time is 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
h/t Sprayberry photos courtesy Kelli Stoudenmire
h/t Lassiter photos courtesy Audrey Moss Media and Ed Turlington ET Images
