We have reached the final week of the regular season of high school football in Georgia. There is still a lot to be determined this weekend as all six Cherokee County football teams are in action. We will preview the Cherokee Milton game in our Eight Greats Around the State later this week.
First up Creekview hosts Johns Creek. The Grizzlies and the Gladiators both look to claim the No. 2 spot and a home playoff game with a win this week. Down in Woodstock, the River Ridge Knights will host the Cambridge Bears. Cambridge has been resurgent over the last few weeks, but will they find enough offense to outlast River Ridge?
The Sequoyah Chiefs will host the Centennial Knights on Saturday. The Chiefs are playing for a playoff spot, with some help, while the Knights are playing the role of spoiler. Meanwhile, Woodstock will travel to Roswell in a winner take all match. Can Woodstock pull the upset and qualify for the playoffs?
Finally, the Etowah Eagles will host the Alpharetta Raiders on Friday as they are in search of their first win of the season. With a win, the Raiders should all but clinch the No. 3 seed in the region.
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 Creekview Grizzlies will host the Johns Creek Gladiators as they look to keep a stranglehold on the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game next week. Creekview had their game canceled last week, so they should be fresh. As we mentioned in last week’s preview, The Grizzlies welcomed back one of their star receivers, Andrew Cloy and also exploded for the most points offensively this season as they downed Chattahoochee two weeks ago. While the offense looks like they are catching their stride, we have beat the drum all season about their defense. It’s a defense that has recorded 41.5 sacks and forced 13 turnovers on the season.
The Johns Creek Gladiators also had their game against River Ridge canceled last week. They still have their sights set on a region title with a win and some help from Cambridge this week. 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 Gladiators certainly have the talent to match the Grizzlies, but can they be as physical as Creekview. That’s easier said than done. We like the Grizzlies by 11.
The Skinny
The River Ridge Knights are looking to claim an outright region title with a win on Saturday. After a pair of one possession victories, the Knights have outscored their opponents 66-16 in the last two games and have not allowed a second half touchdown since October 2nd. Going into last Friday, junior running back Amehre Morrison was the leading rusher in Class 6A with 1,480 yards and 20-TDs. Quarterback Carson Lathem has thrown for 1,086 yards and 11-TDs and he’s got a few good receiving options in Jackson Head, Riley Caines and Andrew “Big Play” Bingham. River Ridge is allowing 15.8 points per game.
The resurgent Cambridge Bears have won four of their last five games as they are trying to earn a playoff berth. The Bears got a big game from their running backs last week as Phillip Michael Collins and Christian Isibor rushed for a combined six touchdowns in last week’s victory over the Chattahoochee. The Cambridge defense is giving up an average of 16 points per game in the last three outings. If they can continue that trend and find a way to slow down Morrison, we believe they have a fighting chance. They really need to jump on River Ridge early and often, because the Knights have been lights out in the second half of games this season. With all that said, we like River Ridge by 10.
The Skinny
The Sequoyah Chiefs got a big win on the road without one of their star players this past Friday. Without Jaden Mitchell, the Chiefs used a couple of unusual suspects in Peyton Lucas and Evan Sengstock to help power them to a victory on Friday night. The win put the Chiefs in position to clinch a playoff berth if they can win on Saturday, but will also need a River Ridge victory over Cambridge as well. The Chiefs are now averaging 19.8 points per game, while the defense is allowing 26.8 points per game. The defense kept Riverwood in check most of the night. Sequoyah has won three of their last four games.
The Centennial Knights are looking to close this season out with a win. Their game last week against Creekview was canceled. 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 Tennessee commit is a big and physical wide receiver that is definitely a matchup-up problem for most high school secondaries. Centennial is averaging 10.5 points per game while allowing 34.8 points per game. If the Knights can throw the ball downfield with accuracy, this could be an interesting game. However, the Chiefs seemed to have tightened up in the secondary since the Cambridge game. We like Sequoyah by two touchdowns this week.
The Skinny
The Roswell Hornets look to bounce back this week after an upset loss to Alpharetta threw a monkey wrench into the Region 5-7A playoff picture. A Hornets win would guarantee a playoff spot, while a loss could have them watching the postseason from home. Roswell is averaging 29.2 points per game, but allowing 18.5 points per game. The Hornets use a balanced attack of Ryan Hill and Ryan Stephens at running back (the duo has combined for 1,066 yards and 11-TDs), while Robbie Roper has thrown for 1,747 yards and 16 TDs. Marquis Willis leads Roswell with 42 receptions for 666 yards and 5-TDs.
The Woodstock Wolverines can qualify for the playoffs outright with a win this week combined with an Alpharetta win over Etowah. In order to do that, the Wolverines will need to bounce back from a loss to Milton last week. Woodstock did show some explosiveness on offense behind the young quarterback Dan Comeau. Comeau threw the ball early and often last week to a number of receivers including Hudson Burns, Omar Dupree, Wes Bruno and UGA commit David Daniel. Burns led the way with 150 yards on 10 receptions last week. Defensively, the Wolverines will need to get pressure on Robbie Roper and slow down Ryan Stephens and Ryan Hill if they are going to have a shot to pull the upset. We expect Woodstock to come out fighting, but believe Roswell is just a little more talented this season. Hornets by 13.
The Skinny
The Etowah Eagles have one more shot to get their first win of the season in Friday night and can play spoiler with a win. The Eagles jumped out to a lead last week against Forsyth Central, but could not hang on. As has been the case all season, they’ll need to find a ways to score more points to have a chance this week. The Eagles are averaging 7.8 points per game while allowing 27.4.
The Alpharetta Raiders secured a playoff spot lost week with an upset win over Roswell. This week, the Raiders will look to solidify the No. 3 seed with a win. The Alpharetta defense and special teams came up with big plays to change the momentum of the game last week in their big win. On the season, Alpharetta is averaging 24.2 points per game while the defense is allowing 22 points per game. Can Alpharetta finish the drill this week and slow down Klivert Many and the Eagles? We think they can. Alpharetta by three touchdowns.