It is getting to crunch time in Cherokee County as teams jockey for position to qualify for the State Football playoffs. This week, five of the six county teams will be in action as we enter the last three weeks of the regular season.
The Cherokee Warriors will travel down to Raider Valley to face the Walton Raiders. Both teams are coming off a win last week. Can Cherokee string together a run to make the playoffs, or will Walton have another big game running the ball? Next up, the River Ridge Knights will host the Rome Wolves. River Ridge will look to stay in contention for a home playoff game, while Rome will be looking to move closer to winning another region title. Can River Ridge break through against Rome or will the Wolves continue to show their mastery of Region 6?
Staying in Woodstock, the Etowah Eagles will host the Allatoona Buccaneers. Both teams like to run the ball, but they go about it in different ways. Etowah will look to spread Allatoona out, while Allatoona will line up in a traditional set. Which team will be more physical at the point of attack this week? Finally, the Creekview Grizzlies will look to get back on track as they host the Woodstock Wolverines. Can Woodstock spoil Creekview’s home finale or will Creekview stop the losing skid?
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Special thanks to the Georgia Helmet Project for providing each team’s helmet. You can find all of their work here: http://gahelmetproject.com
Historical records are provided by the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. (ghsfa.org)
Special thanks to the Georgia Helmet Project for providing each team’s helmet. You can find all of their work here: http://gahelmetproject.com
Historical records are provided by the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. (ghsfa.org)
The Skinny
The Walton Raiders got back on track last week with a big win over Kennesaw Mountain. The Raiders were one of our picks in the preseason to host a playoff game in Region 5, and that is still in front of them as they only need to win out to do so. The Raiders had leaned more heavily on the pass this season, but last week, Makari Bodiford had a breakout game as he rushed for 267 yards and 4-TDs. Bodiford has rushed for 958 yards and 11-TDs. Meanwhile, Junior quarterback Jeremy Hecklinksi has eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark passing as he has thrown for 2,084 yards and 20-TDs.
The Cherokee Warriors picked up a much needed region win their last time out as they held off Osborne. The Warriors were able to capitalize on some of Osborne’s miscues to help establish a 14-point halftime lead. There was a familiar face in the backfield, as Cherokee turned to senior Zi Johnson and he delivered with a team high 66 rushing yards and a touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Tanner Savasir added to his passing totals as the first year starter has now thrown for 1,149 yards and 11-TDs.
Our opinion hasn’t changed that to qualify for the playoffs in this region, Cherokee will have to win at least two region games. That might be a tall task as the Walton offense seems to be clicking on all cylinders. We like the Raiders over the Warriors this week by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The River Ridge Knights will from the bye week ready for the home stretch. The Knights are conceivably also still in the hunt for a home playoff game, although they need some help. The River Ridge offense has looked to become more balanced but they are averaging a few more yards through the air (179.3) than on the ground (133.6). The Knights are averaging 28.4 points per game while the defense is allowing 17.1. Sophomore quarterback Ethan Spector has thrown for 1,114 yards and 9-TDs. Senior Jackson Head leads all receivers with 30 receptions for 365 yard and 4-TDs. Defensively, the Knights have sacked opposing quarterbacks 10 times and have forced 9 turnovers.
The Rome Wolves will look to continue their march towards a region title this week. The Wolves have dominated region opponents to this point. In region play, Rome is outscoring the opposition 164 to 19. That’s an average of 54.6 points per game and allowing just 6.3. And even more impressive, the last two region victories were shutouts. Quarterback Reece Fountain continues to have a fantastic junior season, as he has up to 1,597 passing yards on the year.
These two teams have met three times, and the margin of victory in those three games is 39 points. The last time these two teams played, it was River Ridge that handed the Wolves a loss, (in the 2nd round of the playoffs in 2020). We can expect for that to be in the back of Rome’s mind as they come to Woodstock this week. River Ridge’s offense has been pretty good this season, but we just don’t believe they can keep up with Rome. We like the Wolves by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Etowah Eagles got their first region win last week defeating cross-town rival Woodstock by three touchdowns. It was the usual suspects for the Eagles, as both Xavier Mahoney and the Buffalo, Reece Wehr scored twice route to the victory. We’d be remiss if we did not mention that Last week, Will Zazzara had a big game receiving with two touchdowns. We don’t talk about them much but there is a quartet of receivers for the Eagles that have made timely plays this season including the aforementioned Zazarra, Malone Pesqueira, Mason Mancini and Ethan Weidner. The Eagles are now averaging 27 points per game while the defense is allowing 22.4. Etowah has not lost a game this season when they have scored 25 or more points.
The Allatoona Buccaneers are coming off of their final bye week of the season. The last time out, Allatoona picked up their first region win. While the Bucs have only won two games this season, they still have everything in front of them, as they can conceivably still host a home playoff spot. Allatoona is averaging 22.1 points per game while the defense is allowing 23.7. The Bucs will continue to rely on running back Jayden Ponder, who leads the team with 900 yards rushing and 6-TDs. The Bucs defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks 19 times, with Ezra Odinjor leading the way with 9.
These two teams both like to run the ball but in different ways. Expect for Allatoona to line up in the I-formation and really try to punish the Etowah front four. Conversely, the Eagles will try to spread the Allatoona defense out to find running lanes for dual threat quarterback Xavier Mahoney. This game might come down to a defensive stop, and we believe the Bucs are a little ahead of the Eagles there. We like Allatoona by 4.
The Skinny
The Creekview Grizzlies will look to end their two game skid as they host county and region rival Woodstock. The Grizzlies struggled last week to find consistency on offense, so we can almost guaranty that they will look to get back to the basics and establish the run game behind Isaac Hubert. The Grizzlies have been a tale of two teams; at home they are averaging 29.7 points per game. They are averaging 6.5 points on the road. Overall on the season, Creekview 17.2 points per game while the defense is allowing 17.6 points per game.
The Woodstock Wolverines are coming off a game with their highest point output of the season. The Wolverines are still in search of their first win of the season. While they have been eliminated from post season contention, they can still play the role of spoiler as they go on the road to Creekview this week. Woodstock got touchdowns from Sherrod Elly, Drew Burmeister and Adonis Garcia in the loss last week. The story remains the same for Wolverines this week, can they sustain drives long enough to get their defense a rest and can the keep the game close going into the fourth quarter?
We’d like Woodstock’s chances a little better if they were hosting the Grizzlies this week, but that is not the case. For whatever reason, Creekview has been much better at home this week and we expect for that trend to continue. We like the Grizzlies by four touchdowns.