Published 7:00 am Thursday, August 20, 2026 Friday night lights are back in Baldwin County this week as the hometown Braves host neighboring rival Washington County in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Braves Stadium. No team has taken the field against the Braves more than the WaCo Golden Hawks. Friday marks the 46th all-time meeting between the two programs separated by 35 miles. The Hawks own the head-to-head lead 22-21-2, so third-year Baldwin head coach Kevin Patterson and his team will be looking to square things up at deuces across the board this week. Patterson got only an abbreviated live look at his team during its lone preseason scrimmage against his BHS head coach predecessor, Jesse Hicks, and East Laurens on Aug. 7. The dress rehearsal was cut short by a first-half fight, but the Braves’ current leader did have some takeaways. “Once we got settled, I thought we played good team football,” said Patterson. “I was impressed with our defense and our offense. We moved the ball, but we’ve got to learn how to finish drives.” Penalties, snapping troubles and two drops on what would have been “sure touchdowns” according to the head coach forced Baldwin to leave some points on the table. The Braves return their starting quarterback in junior Kam Patterson (son of the head coach) and leading rushers, but are replacing a stable of receivers after the top three pass-catchers from a season ago graduated. “Hopefully it was jitters because it was their first time in those live…
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