We are in the midst of region play here in Cherokee County with all six county teams in action this week. We have five games to preview in this edition of Cherokee County Football Previews. First Etowah hosts Milton. Can the Eagles find a way to slow down the “Milton Express”? The Woodstock Wolverines travel to Etowah in search of their first win, while Roswell and Cherokee will lock horns to determine who might secure that second seed an an all important first round home playoff game.
In Class 6A, the Sequoyah Chiefs face the Cambridge Bears. This is almost a must win for the Chiefs. Meanwhile, the River Ridge Knights will host the Creekview Grizzlies. This game was an overtime thriller last year! Can the Grizzlies exact some revenge or will the Knights continue their stranglehold on county opponents?
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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 Etowah Eagles continue their brutal regular season schedule as they host the Milton Eagles. Etowah’s defense held the explosive Roswell Hornets to just 15 points last week. It’s the second time this season the Etowah defense has answered the bell and slowed down an explosive offense this season. Until Etowah can find some success through the air, they will need to continue to play solid defense and hope for some turnovers and short fields to help get some points on the board. Etowah is averaging 4 points per game while the defense is allowing 27.
Milton Comes in as one if the top teams in the State. They’ve won four straight games and are averaging 37.5 points per game while the defense is allowing 21.8. Milton has stars all over the field. Quarterback Devin Farrell has thrown for 929 yards and 11-TDs. Jordan McDonald joins him in the backfield and has run for 524 yards and 5-TDs. Debron Gatling, Adam Freas and Jack Nickel have combined to catch 50 passes for 661 yards and 10-TDs. Milton has sacked opposing quarterbacks 13 times with A.J. Crawford leading the way at 6. Expect L.T. Overton to also get after Etowah this week.
There is a huge talent disparity in this games. Etowah will really need to force a a few turnovers and find some rhythm offensively to have a chance to pull the upset. That’s possible, but not probable. We like Milton by 30.
The Skinny
The Alpharetta Raiders are in the midst of a five game losing skid. But they have played some of the top teams in the state. All of their opponents have been ranked with the exception of Chattahoochee, whom they beat. The Raiders are averaging 13.6 points per game while the defense is allowing 36.1. Quarterback Ben Guthrie is completing 66.2% of his passes for 1,059 yards and 6-TDs. Matteo Carriere has been Guthrie’s go to receiver with 28 receptions for 305 yards and 2-TDs. The Raiders are averaging 189.5 yards per game through the are and only 77.2 yards per game on the ground.
The Woodstock Wolverines are in search of their first win of the season. They are led on offense by quarterback Dan Comeau who has thrown for 744 yards and 2-TDs. His top receivers have been Brady Williams and Adonis Garcia who have combined for 32 receptions for 401 yards. The Wolverines are still trying to find success on the ground as they are only averaging 39.6 yards per game on the ground. Woodstock has improved offensively over the last few weeks. Preston Lawrence and Benji Shackleford lead the defense with 30 and 31 total tackles respectively.
Both of these teams need a win in the worst way. Although it’s early in the season, we believe the loser of this team will likely be eliminated from the playoffs. Woodstock will be competitive, but Alpharetta has been a little more consistent on offense. We like the Raiders by a touchdown.
The Skinny
The Cherokee Warriors got back into the win column and broke a 3-game skid with a big win over Woodstock last week. Cherokee will now focus their attention to the Roswell Hornets. Cherokee got a big game last week from A.J. Swan who tossed five touchdowns in the victory. Swann has now thrown for 15-TDs and 1,135 yards in six games. Seniors Caleb Richardson, Aidan Moore and sophomore Pops Jameson have filled in nicely or the injured Adarius Harshaw. We aren’t sure if Harshaw will be back this week, but if not, Cherokee has capable receivers. The Warriors are averaging 27.3 points per game while the defense is allowing 20.5.
The Roswell Hornets also got back into the win column last week with a win over Etowah. They were without their starting quarterback last week, but we hope to see Robbie Roper this week in what could be a great quarterback battle. Roper remains one of the top passers in Class 7A even without playing last week. Backup quarterback K.J. Smith completed 72% of his passes in the win. The Hornets will look to running back Ryan Hill (321 yards, 5.7 per carry) to keep Cherokee honest.
While we focused this preview on offense, it will really be up to the defenses to slow down these effective and highly rated quarterbacks. We are going to assume Roper is playing. We like Roswell by 3 if he plays. If he doesn’t, we like Cherokee by 10.
The Skinny
The Cambridge Bears look to keep pace atop the Region 7-6A standings with a win this week. The Bears defense has been one of the best in the region this season, allowing 8 points per game. They’ve recorded two shutouts on the year. Senior Quarterback Zach Harris has thrown for over 700 yards and has a one-two punch with him in the backfield with Jack Marlow and Christian Isibor who recently returned from injury. The Bears are averaging 25.2 points per game.
The Sequoyah Chiefs will be looking to bounce back after last week’s loss to rival Creekview. The Chiefs will be looking to cash in on some of their long drives with points as they weren’t able to sustain drives last week. We know that Sequoyah is going to run the football as they are well over 1,000 yards as a team. The Chiefs are averaging 23.4 points per game while the defense is allowing 24.2 points per game.
The Chiefs secondary will be tested this week. But we believe the real trouble for Sequoyah will be slowing down Isibor and Marlow. This is a must win game for Sequoyah to stay in the playoff hunt. We believe Cambridge’s defense is the real deal. Bears by 8.
The Skinny
The River Ridge Knights will look to get back on track this week as they will be at home for the second consecutive week. The Knights allowed the most points in a regular season game in over two years. Even with the defensive letdown last week, River Ridge is still only allowing an average of 17.6 points per game. Offensively, River Ridge is averaging 30.8 points per game. It will be imperative for the River Ridge defense to slow down Tyler Stevens this week and perhaps make Creekview one-dimensional.
The Creekview Grizzlies were back to their winning ways as they defeated rival Sequoyah last week in convincing fashion. Creekview’s defense was dominant as usual. On the season they are allowing 7 points per game. The defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks nine times and forced seven turnovers. The offense had their biggest outburst in three weeks. They were efficient last week as Mason Hicks completed 92.2% of his passes with 3-TDs. Tyler Stevens continues to lead the way on the ground with 306 yards and 7-TDs.
A win this week by both teams would help keep not only their playoff hopes alive, but also the slim chance of a region title would still remain. Can Creekview’s young offensive line hold up against an impressive defensive line? Or will River Ridge break out offensively. We think the Grizzlies defense carries them this week. Creekview by 3.