All of the Cherokee County Football teams will be in action in Week-3, with four teams hosting games on Friday night. First up, Woodstock hosts Creekview as the Wolverines look to bounce back from last week’s game. The Grizzlies lead the series and will probably be looking to establish the ground game on Friday night, but can Grant Anderson, Isaac Hubert and the rest of the front seven be able to get pressure on the Wolverines quarterback?
Staying in Woodstock, River Ridge will host Etowah as the Knights look to start the season with three straight wins for the third time in school history. Etowah will no doubt be eager to get back on the field, but can the slow down Amehre Morrison and company.
Over in Hickory Flat, Sequoyah will host the Cass Colonels on Friday. The Chiefs will face another talented young quarterback in Devin Henderson. Can the Chiefs slow down the red hot Colonels, and move the ball against a fairly stout Colonels defense?
Finally, in Canton, the Cherokee Warriors will host the Rome Wolves for the first time in school history. (Although Cherokee’s predecessor, the Canton Greenies did play the old Rome High School in 1924. A game won by Rome 24-0.) The Warriors will need to slow down veteran quarterback Caleb Ellard and running back E.J. Burks. Meanwhile, Keith Adams, Jr. and A.J. Swann are sure to create some problems for Rome’s defense.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share. Best of luck to all teams competing on Friday night.
The Skinny
The Woodstock Wolverines will be looking to bounce back this week after falling to county foe River Ridge last Friday. The Wolverines defense found its stride after falling behind by two scores and even held on to allow the offense to take the lead. Preston Lawrence looks to have settled in and found his stride at quarterback. He threw two touchdown passes last Friday. Several Woodstock receivers got involved in the passing game including David Daniel, OJ Dupree, Sebastian Moss and Wes Bruno.
Creekview is coming off of a bye week after a Week-1 victory. Coach Williams’ Grizzlies got a 100-yard game from running back Tyler Stephens in Week-1 running behind Anthony Dorr, Sam Hartley and the rest of the Grizzlies offensive line. We’d expect Creekview to come out and establish the run game on Friday night with Stevens and A.J. Vaccaro. Meanwhile, Brody Rhodes will look to get the Grizzlies passing attack going this week as they were limited in Week-1. Look for the Grizzlies secondary to be active defending against the Woodstock passing game. Can they limit Woodstock’s big plays in the passing game? Woodstock has allowed back to back 100-yard rushers in the opening two weeks. We can almost assure that Woodstock will be locked in on stopping the run this week. This one will be much closer than last year’s contest. We like Creekview by a touchdown.
The Skinny
The River Ridge Knights are coming off of their first win over a county opponent in school history. The Knights were able to come up with a defensive stand on fourth and short to secure the victory. Amehre Morrison was up to his old tricks as he rushed for 164 yards and 2-TDs, but it was quarterback Carson Lathem who scored the game winning touchdown late in the game. Coach Collins has been telling us about Lathem’s ability to beat you with his legs as well as his arm. Perhaps the unsung heroes for River Ridge was its defense. They held Woodstock to 17 points a week after the Wolverines put up 41 points.
The Etowah Eagles had last week’s game with Forsyth Central cancelled due to COVID concerns. The Eagles will look to get back on track this week as they travel to River Ridge. Etowah is known for their hard-nosed defense and they held the Creekview passing game in check in Week-1. They will face perhaps the best running back in the county this week. Slowing down Morrison will be key. But the Eagles also must get the offense on track this week. With talented players such as Rechsteiner, Many, Moss and Adams, we don’t think it will be too long before Etowah finds their groove. We are putting River Ridge on watch for letdown alert this week after a big win last week…but we still like the Knights by 4.
The Skinny
The Sequoyah Chiefs return home to face the undefeated Cass Colonels on Friday night. The Chiefs were very impressive in the first half against Cherokee last week, mixing up the run and the pass to keep the Warriors off balance. Jaden Mitchell will again be a big factor of the Chiefs primary running back has shown his versatility both as a rusher and receiver out of the backfield. Meanwhile, Aiden Moore and Jack Piskorz have helped to provide balance in the backfield. The Chiefs defense was stingy in the first half of last week’s game, but will need to put together two pretty good halves of football this Friday.
The Cass Colonels are off to their first 2-0 start since 2007 under first year head coach Steve Gates. The Colonels got another big performance from Devin Henderson as he threw for 262 yards and 3-TDs in last week’s win. Henderson, who is only a freshman, has thrown for 416 yards and 4-TDs on the young season. The Colonels defense has only surrendered 24 points in two games. They will need another sound defensive effort to bottle up the Chiefs rushing attach this week. Cass has never beaten the Sequoyah in eight tries. When the former region rivals face off on Friday, expect a game that is much closer than the 19-point average margin of victory in the previous meetings. We like the Chiefs at home this week, in a nail-biter. Sequoyah by a field goal.
The Skinny
The Cherokee Warriors found themselves in a dogfight early last week before running off 27 unanswered points, pulling away late over rival Sequoyah to notch their second win of the season. Quarterback A.J. Swann has now thrown for 521 yards and 5-TDs on the young season. Keith Adams, Jr. crossed the century mark again and now has 309 yards and 3-TDs this year. Meanwhile, Adarrius Harshaw had the breakout game that we expected, catching 6 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. The Cherokee defense buckled down in the second half and shut out Sequoyah in the final two quarters of play.
The Rome Wolves will make the hour and fifteen-minute trip across Highway 20 this Friday. The Wolves are coming of a bye week. In Week-1 their defense recorded four total turnovers including three interceptions. Those turnovers helped propel the Wolves to victory over Rockmart. Rome returns starting quarterback Caleb Ellard and running back E.J. Lackey. Jay Wise led Rome in receiving in week one with 4 catches for 70-yards and 2-TDs. Don’t be surprised if we see the talented freshman running back Caden Williams as well on Friday night. This Rome team might not have the star power that we have come accustomed to seeing over the past few years but expect them to be just as physical and competitive this week. Cherokee will get their money’s worth from Rome this week in what we believe will be a physical match-up. We like the Warriors at home by 6.