All six Cherokee County Football teams are in action this Friday night, including three games with intra-county matchups. All matchups have playoff implications as some teams jockey for position while others fight to keep post-season hopes alive.
First up, Cherokee travels to Alpharetta. Both Cherokee and Alpharetta still have hopes of hosting a first round playoff game. Can A.J. Swann and Keith Adams, Jr. continue their productive seasons against an Alpharetta team that is growing in confidence? The other region 5-7A game features the Battle of Towne Lake. This will be the 21st meeting all time between Woodstock and Etowah. Woodstock needs a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Can they defeat their neighborhood rival this week or will Etowah play spoiler?
In Region 7-6A, Creekview will host Chattahoochee. The Grizzlies look to solidify the No. 2 spot in the playoffs this week. Can the defense again rise to the occasion and slow down the pass-happy Cougars? Finally, the River Ridge Knights continue their historic season as they host the resurgent Sequoyah Chiefs. Two really good running backs square off in this. Will Amehre Morrison have another big game on the ground or will Sequoyah’s Jaden Mitchell shine brightest on Friday?
Best of luck to all of the teams competing on Friday night. As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share.
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The Skinny
The Alpharetta Raiders are coming off the bye week looking for another win against a Cherokee County program. The Raiders had their biggest scoring outburst last week as they scored 45 against Woodstock. On the season, the Raiders are now averaging 24.2 points per game while allowing 21 points per game. Despite their record, the Raiders are still in position to host a home playoff game if they can win their final three games. Alpharetta’s three losses come to teams that are all or have been ranked at one point in this season.
The Cherokee Warriors got back into the win column this week with a big victory of county and region rival, Etowah. Keith Adams, Jr. continues to lead the Warriors on the ground with 1,001 yards rushing and 11-TDs. Adarrius Harshaw (30 receptions, 552 yards, 5-TDs) and Brady Bocherer (28 receptions, 365 yards, 7-TDs) are the leading receivers for the Warriors. Junior quarterback A.J. Swann has thrown for 1,610 yards and 17-TDs. The Cherokee offense is averaging 29 points per game while the defense is allowing 14.5 points per game. Senior linebacker Braesen Parker leads the team with 102 total tackles, while Tyler Goddard has recorded 80 total tackles and Toby Thompson has 75 total tackles. Sophomore Kyan Simmons leads the defense in sacks with 4. Cherokee’s offense will have another tough test against Alpharetta defense, but we believe the Warriors will have just enough with Swann and Adams to get past the Raiders this week. Warriors by 5.
The Skinny
The Woodstock Wolverines will look to get back on track this week as they face neighborhood rival, Etowah. The Wolverines are really getting their passing game in gear with sophomore quarterback Daniel Comeau. Going into the bye week, Comeau was the second leading passer in the county with 896 yards and 8-TDs. Both Wes Bruno and Sebastian Moss are in the top-3 in receptions in the county as well. The Wolverines are averaging 20.1 points per game this season. However, the defense is allowing 28.7 points per game. UGA commit David Daniel leads the Wolverines defense in total tackles with 61 while Carson Gray leads the team with 13 tackles for loss.
Meanwhile, the Etowah Eagles are still looking to get things figured out this season. The Eagles struggled to get into the endzone last week against a tough Cherokee defense. Klivert Many is now over 500 yards on the season, with 553 yards and 4-TDs on the season. Fellow senior Brock Rechsteiner is the team’s leading receiver with 19 receptions for 308 yards. Etowah is only averaging 7.1 points per game while the defense is allowing 28.8 points per game. Etowah has been all but eliminated from an opportunity at a playoff berth, while Woodstock still has a slim chance if they win out. We expect Etowah to score a few more points this week in the rivalry game, but we like Woodstock and their super sophomore quarterback to win this game. Wolverines by 9.
The Skinny
The Creekview Grizzlies bounced back this past week with a big victory of the Riverwood Raiders. As, they have done most of the season, the Grizzlies relied on a stingy defense and ball control on offense to help control the game. Last week it was Cole Hasty and Tyler Stevens finding paydirt for the Creekview. It was the third shutout of the season and the defense has only allowed five offensive touchdowns all season. (That’s 29 quarters of play, counting overtime.) By now you, should know their names, but Grant Anderson, Sam Minozzi and Isaac Hubert have become a real problem for opposing quarterbacks. They spend most of their time in the backfield harassing quarterbacks or stifling rushing attacks and are only allowing 8 points per game.
The Chattahoochee Cougars will try to bounce back from their loss to Sequoyah last Saturday. It’s the second consecutive loss for Chattahoochee who will need to win out to secure a post season berth. The Cougars have showed a propensity to put points on the board as they are averaging 27.6 points per game. Southpaw quarterback Jaylen Smith can beat teams with his arm and with his legs. His two top receivers are his twin brother Jahmal Smith and Jordan Palmer. They will certainly look to test the Creekview secondary. The Cougars are allowing 32 points per game on the season. The big question for Chattahoochee is whether or not the offensive line can give Smith enough time to find the mismatches in the secondary. As we love to say, that’s possible, but not probable. We like Creekview by 17 this week.
The Skinny
The River Ridge Knights are back at home this week. Last week, the Knights got off to a slow start before scoring 24 unanswered points in the second half to remain undefeated. River Ridge is now averaging 33.2 points per game while the defense is allowing 16.8 points per game. Amehre Morrison got back on track rushing for over 200 yards and a touchdown. By our accounts, the junior running back has now rushed for 1,367 yards and 18-TDs. Quarterback Carson Lathem also threw a pair of TD passes and rushed for another in the victory on Friday. The Knights defense gave up a late second quarter touchdown pass last week, but otherwise stood tall last week.
The Sequoyah Chiefs, who looked like they could be headed for a winless season have turned things around in the past two weeks. The Chiefs stormed back from a 7-point deficit twice and scored the final 16 points of the game to remain in contention for a playoff berth. While Jaden Mitchell rightfully garners most of the headlines for the Chiefs offense, sophomore quarterback Matthew Traynor is showing off his leadership skills in guiding Sequoyah to comeback victories in back-to-back weeks. Sequoyah’s defense looked much improved against the pass on Saturday. Which is impressive considering the Chiefs played two games in six days. The big question this week is whether or not Sequoyah can slow down Amehre Morrison, which is much easier said than done. Meanwhile, the Knights will have their hands full slowing down the Sequoyah Wing-T. River Ridge has never beaten Sequoyah…Ever…In fact, River Ridge is only averaging 3 points per game in the series against Sequoyah. That changes this week. We like “Little Brother” by 14 over Sequoyah.