We are down to the final two weeks of the regular season of high school football here in Georgia. However, there is still a lot to be settled with regards to playoff seeding. Here are our Week 11 Cherokee County Football Previews.
In our first game, Woodstock will host the Milton Eagles. Woodstock hopes to keep their playoff hopes alive with a victory, while a Milton win would move them one step closer to a region title. Meanwhile, the Etowah Eagles will travel to Cumming to take on the Forsyth Central Bulldogs. This is a makeup game from a COVID cancellation earlier this season. Both teams have been elimanted from post season play but are looking to end the season on a high note.
Speaking of COVID, Creekview’s game against Centennial has been canceled this week. Since we took the time to write the preview, we included it here anyway. (Welcome back Andrew Cloy!) There’s a big matchup in Johns Creek for sole possession of the No. 1 spot as Johns Creek hosts River Ridge. Johns Creek is loaded with talent, but can they turn River Ridge’s dream season into a nightmare on Friday? Finally, Sequoyah travels to Sandy Springs to take on Riverwood. Will Sequoyah be able to slow down the Riverwood passing attack?
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 Woodstock Wolverines picked up their first win in three games last week as the downed neighborhood rival Etowah. In the process the Wolverines kept their playoff hopes alive. The defense scored twice in the victory. As we’ve mentioned before, the offense will need to get clicking with sophomore quarterback Dan Comeau. He’s steadily climbing up the ranks of passing yardage leaders in the county. The Wolverines are up to 20.6 points per game in scoring offense, but the defense is allowing an average of 26.8. That might not bode well against this week’s opponents.
The Milton Eagles are fresh off of a Saturday victory against long-time rival, Roswell. The Eagles jumped out to a three-score lead, but almost allowed the Hornets to get right back into the game. Milton is averaging 26.8 points per game while the defense is allowing 9.8 points. We finally had a chance to watch the Eagles play this season. Here are our takeaways. Devin Farrell throws a really good ball and he’s “slippery” when he scrambles out of the pocket. Debron Gattling is just a freshman at wide receiver, but he is going to be a big-time playmaker. Speaking of playmakers, L.T. Overton is better than advertised on the defensive side of the ball. I mean outright scary good. Jordan McDonald is pretty good running back. And let’s not forget the feisty Zack Tumminia at defensive tackle who can plug up a lot of gaps. We expect for Milton to end Woodstock’s playoff chances this week. We like the Eagles by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Forsyth Central Bulldogs wind down their season with a rescheduled game that was seemingly lost earlier this season. The Bulldogs lean heavily on the run. As a team they’ve amassed 1,258 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. Peyton Streko (304 yards, 4-TDs) and quarterback Bronson Landreth (242 yards, 2-TDs) have led the way on the ground this season. The Bulldogs have only attempted 88 passes this season. That’s more than the 67 they attempted last season, but expect a steady dose of ball contral from Central. The Bulldogs are averaging 22 points per game, but allowing 23.7 points per game.
The Etowah Eagles will be looking to end their season on a high note over the next two weeks. Running back Klivert Many is closing in on 700 yards rushing on the season for Etowah and has 6-TDs on the year to help pace the offense. Establishing the run game will be key for the Eagles this week. Etowah is only averaging 8 points per game this season, but they have been competitive throughout. Lane Cantrell continues to lead the Eagles in total tackles. If Etowah can keep this game low scoring we like their chances this week. We believe it will be lower scoring, but we like Central by a field goal at home.
The Skinny
The Johns Creek Gladiators still have their sights set on a region title and can accomplish that goal be winning the last two games of the season. Running backs Dylan Parr and Tank Pritchett have helped to pace the Johns Creek offense. The Gladiators are averaging 20.2 points per game in the season. While they’re defense is allowing 19.7. The defense is led by linemen Cole Nelson and David Alexander while Terian Williams, John Stegenga and the aforementioned Pritchett help patrol the secondary.
The River Ridge Knights can wrap up a region title with a win this week. River Ridge got another big game from Amehre Morrison who has gone over 100-yards rushing in all but one game this season. The junior is one of the top backs in the state with over 1,480 yards and 19-TDs on the season. But he’s not the only weapon on offense, receivers Jackson Head, Riley Caines and the versatile Andrew “Big Play” Bingham have all come up with big games for the Knights offense…and we haven’t even mentioned the ever-steady quarterback Carson Lathem. Meanwhile, the Ridge’s defense is only allowing 15.8 points per game and Brian Bradley is becoming a real problem for opposing offensive lines. But with all of that said, don’t expect for River Ridge to blow out Johns Creek this week. The Gladiators are battle tested. We think it’s very possible Johns Creek can knock of River Ridge this week. We just don’t think it’s probable. It will be close, but we like River Ridge by 4.
The Skinny
The Centennial Knights will be looking for their first win of the season win they host the Creekview Grizzlies. The Knights have used a few quarterbacks this season including Zaire Goff, Jett Miller and Tyler Laskaris as the try to find a combination that works best. Whoever is under center this week will look to get the ball to Julian Nixon at wide receiver. The UT commit is a big and physical wide receiver that is definitely a matchup-up problem for most high school secondaries. One of the biggest problems for the Knights is that they have not been able to get into the endzone with much consistency as they are only averaging 10.5 points per game while allowing 34.8 points per game.
The Creekview Grizzlies welcomed back on of their star receivers, Andrew Cloy and also exploded for the most points offensively this season as they downed Chattahoochee last Friday. In his return, Cloy caught three passes for 55 yards and 2-TDs. Meanwhile, Tyler Stevens churned out 222 yards and a touchdown in the win. Stevens has now gone over the century mark four times this season and has 793 yards and 6-TDs on the year. The Creekview defense is still only allowing 9.6 points per game. The Grizzlies have tallied 41.5 sacks and forced 13 turnovers. The Creekview defense against the Centennial offense makes us think that this one can get out of hand. Creekview won’t need a ton of points this week, but we think they’ll top the 38 they scored last week. We like Creekview by 30 this week.
The Skinny
The Riverwood Raiders will be fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive this Friday night. They will also be looking to stop a four-game skid after they won their first three games of the season. During the losing streak, Riverwood is averaging 13.5 points per game, but allowing 22.7 points per game. By now it should come as no surprise that quarterback Avery Smith will look to get the ball to his playmakers Donovan Logan and Khalil Anderson. The Raiders will operate primarily out of the shotgun and look for favorable matchups in the secondary. And when Smith can’t find those matchups, he’s a threat to scramble down field.
Much like Riverwood, the Sequoyah Chiefs are fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. A win this week would go a really long way for Sequoyah. They’ll need to bounce back from a loss last week to compete against a talented Riverwood team. Sequoyah will need another big game from senior Jaden Mitchell and sophomore quarterback Matthew Traynor. Mitchell has now rushed for over 800 yards on the season with 8-TDs. While the Chiefs have been able to find the endzone this season, they are only averaging 18.8 points per game, while the defense is allowing 28.1 points per game. They will have to get that under control this week or they may be watching their playoff hopes slip from their grasp. This might be a good matchup for the Chiefs however, since they can key in on the quarterback. We anticipate a close game, but like the Chiefs by two this Friday.