All six Cherokee County Football teams will be in action this week. It will be the last week of tune-up games for our 6A schools as they jump into region play next week. First up, we take a look at the only game featuring two undefeated teams as the River Ridge Knights travel to face North Atlanta. The Knights have been lighting up the scoreboard early in the season. Will they be able to slow down a potent North Atlanta offense? Meanwhile the Etowah Eagles will travel to Roswell to face Centennial. The Eagles are flying high this season. Can they continue their growth against a physical Centennial team?
Down in Woodstock, the Wolverines will host the Lassiter Trojans. Woodstock has shown some improvement last week against Cherokee. Will that carry over this week or will Lassiter have enough offense to down Woodstock? The Creekview Grizzlies will look to get in the win column this week against North Forsyth. Can the Grizzlies defense ground the North Forsyth passing attack? Finally, the Cherokee Warriors host county rival Sequoyah. Will the Chiefs rushing attack keep the potent Cherokee offense on the sidelines this week?
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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
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 North Atlanta Warriors are 3-0 for the second consecutive season. The Warriors are averaging 38.6 points per game while allowing just 11 with one shutout. North Atlanta has used two quarterbacks this season in Lorenza “Trey” Lennon and Ian Reynolds. Both are mobile quarterbacks that have made plays with both passing and running the ball. Randolph Smith is a big target for the quarterback tandem. Davis Merritt is another receiver that really has some speed for North Atlanta.
The River Ridge Knights edged Sprayberry last week in a wild finish. River Ridge is looking to go to 4-0 for the third straight season. Quarterback Ethan Spector continued last week with his hot hand as he has now thrown for 662 yards and 6-TDs on the season. Spector has the luxury of several playmakers around him including one of the best receiving duos in the county of Jackson Head and Grant Hollier. Mix in two way player M.J. Ayers and Andrew Hand and this becomes an extremely difficult task to cover these receivers. And we haven’t even mentioned the emergence of freshman running back Camden Cox, who is part of a one-two punch with Daniel Fitchner.
North Atlanta’s team speed has the potential to give River Ridge a little trouble this week. However, we believe the Knights offense will be up to the task. We expect a lot of points from both teams, but we like River Ridge in a close one…Knights by 4.
The Skinny
The Centennial Knights were off last week as they will be looking to bounce back from a loss to Roswell in Week-2 of the season. Centennial is a team that we have seen over the past couple of years take steps forward. They had several players that had been thrust into starting positions as freshmen and sophomores now, these players are juniors and seniors and have plenty of game experience. The Knights are led by quarterbacks Tyler Laskaris and Carter Wit, while junior running back Nathan Webster leads the way on the ground with 155 yards and 2-TDs. Perhaps the most imposing figure for the Knights is offensive lineman Daniel Calhoun who is one of the top offensive line prospects in the state, and he’s just a junior.
The Etowah Eagles are 3-0 for the first time since 2015 and a win this week would make them 4-0 for the first time since 2014. The Eagle’s have certainly found some magic in quarterback Xavier Mahoney and while he’s not the only young star on this team, he certainly can be seen as one of the catalysts for their offensive explosion in 2022. Mahoney has thrown for 220 yards and 3-TDs and rushed for 417 yards and 5-TDs. Part of what makes defending Mahoney so tough is that Reece Wehr and Johar Cacho have been effective running backs between the tackles. So opposing defenses have had to pick their poison this season.
Centennial is averaging 17.5 points per game and if they are going to win, they’ll need to find a way to put more points on the board. Etowah is a little more explosive, we like the Eagles by 11.
The Skinny
The Woodstock Wolverines will be back home on Friday night as they look to pick up their first win of the season. The Wolverines are still a young team trying to figure things out. Woodstock has improved week by week. Defensively, the Wolverines did a good job in the first half of keeping the Cherokee offense at bay. Woodstock is still looking to cash in on promising drives, as they have struggled to get the ball in the end-zone, averaging just 7.3 points per game. Isaiah Payton has been a bright spot for the Wolverines. The sophomore back leads the team in rushing with 175 yards and 1-TD, while Adonis Garcia has caught 11 passes for 80 yards.
The Lassiter Trojans were off last week. They picked up their first win of the season two weeks ago against Wheeler. Lassiter is led by dual threat quarterback Bryson Harrison. He leads the team in passing (233 yards, 1-TD) and rushing (154 yards, 1-TD). Rickardo Jackson has been Harrison’s top receiving target with 9 receptions for 109 yards and 1-TD. In their first two games, Lassiter is averaging 15 points per game and allowing 17.5
The Trojans seem to have the edge at quarterback in this matchup. The big question her is whether or not the Woodstock defense can hang in for four quarters to hold Lassiter at bay. If that happens, we believe the young Woodstock offense can make this interesting. At the end of the day, we believe Lassiter has too much experience. Trojans by 17.
The Skinny
The Creekview Grizzlies will be back at home this week as they face the North Forsyth Raiders. Last week, Creekview held Class 5A Calhoun at bay for one half, but could not get over the hump in the second half. Quarterback Austin Guest has now thrown for over 400 yards with 2-TDs on the season. Isaac Hubert took over at running back and went over the century mark and added 2-TDs in the loss. Creekview’s defense again showed it was tough against the run last week. This week, except their secondary to be challenged, as North Forsyth is a more pass oriented team.
North Forsyth got a big win over county rival West Forsyth last week. It was their second consecutive win on the season. North is averaging 30 points per game while the defense is allowing 20.6. The Raiders are averaging 144 yards per game through the air and 90 yards per game not the ground. Quarterback Wes Roberts has thrown for 700 yards and 7-TDs. Logan Curry has been the go to receiver with 17 catches for 298 yards and 1-TD. Ten different receivers have caught passes for the Raiders. Meanwhile, Karson McBrayer, Caleb Bowen and Collin Miller have combined to rush for 253 yards.
North Forsyth has been scoring points in bunches early this season. However, the Creekview defense has been improving steadily each week. The big question is whether or not Creekview can put two halves of football together. While it won’t be easy, we believe they can. We like the Grizzlies by 3.
The Skinny
The Cherokee Warriors got in the books with a win last week over county rival Woodstock. This week, they will look to continue their upward trajectory. Warriors quarterback Tanner Savasir seems to be coming into his own as he has passed for 538 yards and 6-TDs through the first three games. Meanwhile, he has a talented tandem of backs with him in the backfield in Christian Irwin and Malachi Echols. The duo has combined for over 200 yards on the ground and 2-TDs and are doing enough to keep opposing defenses off balance. Meanwhile Kyan Simmons continues to be a big problem for opposing offensive lines. The senior linebacker leads the county in sacks and is one of the leaders in total tackles.
The Sequoyah Chiefs are still in search of their first win after facing a very brutal three game stretch. The Chiefs will finally face a familiar foe this week. Sequoyah will continue to look to establish the ground game. Jackson Hancock is one of the top playmakers in the county and we can expect for the Chiefs to try to get the ball in his hands through the air and on the ground. Sequoyah has also found success with Tyler Bell and Asante Chimanda running the ball as well this season. Sequoyah’s first three opponents are averaging a combined 32.3 points per game while the Chiefs are averaging 14 points per game.
Sequoyah has another big test as Cherokee seems to be finding their stride offensively. We believe Sequoyah will come ready to play and expect them to be competitive, but the Warriors seem to have found more consistency early in the season. We like Cherokee by 16.