It’s hard to believe that we’ve almost reached the midpoint of the high school football season in the great state of Georgia. This is Part-II of our weekly feature where we preview some of the intriguing high school football matchups.
First up, the Mill Creek Hawks will host the Cedar Grove Saints. The Saints have not shied away from playing top competition. Will they find a way to knock off the defending 7A State Champs on the arm of quarterback E.J. Colson? Down in Middle Georgia, the Northeast Macon Raiders will host the ACE Charter Gryphons. ACE is an up and coming program looking to take the next step and knock off a top ranked region foe. Will the Raiders make it three big wins in a row or will ACE make their next breakthrough?
Our next game will keep us in Middle Georgia as the Northside Eagles will host North Cobb in Warner Robins. The Eagles are looking for a signature win against a 7A opponent, while North Cobb is trying to get back to .500. Will the Northside defense figure out how to slow down North Cobb’s explosive David Ezioumume? Finally, in North Georgia, the Northwest Bruins will host the Darlington Tigers. Darlington will look to ground the pass happy attack of the Bruins; while Northwest is looking to exact a measure of revenge on the Tigers.
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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
Historical records are provided by the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. (ghsfa.org)
The Skinny
The Mill Creek Hawks have won 11 consecutive games dating back to last season The Hawks enter this week with an offense that is averaging 39.3 points per game. They have a balanced attack, averaging 148 yards per game through the air and 163.7 yards per game on the ground. Junior quarterback Shane Throgmartin has been efficient this season completing 75.9% of his passes for 444 yards and 7-TDs and has yet to throw an interception. Senior receiver Trajan Greco paces all of the receivers with 13 catches for 175 yards and 4-TDs. Josh Anglin leads the defense with 22 total tackles while King Joseph Edwards paces the defense with 2 sacks on the young season.
The Cedar Grove Saints will face their third consecutive 7A team. An impressive feat for a 3A school. The Saints are 1-1 against 7A competition this season and after this week’s matchup, they will face another 7A power in Colquitt County. The Saints are averaging 38.5 points per game and seemed to have not lost a step from a season ago. Junior quarterback Elliot Colson has thrown for well over 500 yards on the season and over 8-TDs. Sophomore running back Boden Walker has shown his versatility as a runner and receiver as he’s tops on the team in rushing and receiving.
The Saints have proven they are one of the top teams in Georgia over the past several seasons, so it is no surprise they are scheduling tougher competition in advance of region play. We expect the Saints to keep this game close with Colson’s experience at quarterback. But Throgmartin might have more weapons this week. Mill Creek by 10.
The Skinny
The Northeast Raiders begin region play against one of the opponents that might derail any region title aspirations. The Raiders have bounced back from a Week-1 loss to score impressive wins over Fitzgerald and Carver-Columbus. The Raiders are averaging 22 points per game. A lot of the offensive productions has come from running back Nick Woodford, who has rushed for 457 yards and 4-TDs in the first three games. Woodford has also tossed a touchdown pass as well. Defensively, the Raiders are allowing 19.3 points per game.
The ACE Charter Gryphons have won their opening four games for the second straight season. What’s most impressive about this is that ACE has only been playing football for six seasons. The Gryphons have been obliterating the opposition early in the year, included three shutouts. The Gryphons defense is allowing just two points per game. Meanwhile the ACE offense is averaging 52.5 points per game. Wide receiver Brice Whitley, running back Aaron Davis and quarterback Kaleb Scarbary have paced the dynamic offense.
The Gryphons have been red hot, but they will take a large step up in competition this week. We believe the Gryphons will be able to put s scare into the Raiders, but expect for Nick Woodford to have a big game and that will enough to hold of ACE Charter. Raiders by 8.
The Skinny
The Northside Warner Robins Eagles were off last week after suffering a heartbreaking loss to rival Warner Robins. The Demons are averaging 150.3 yards per game through the air and 111 yards per game on the ground. Quarterback Damien Dee has thrown for 451 yards and 7 TDs and is completing 62.7% of his passes. Keron Milton Jr. Has been his top receiver with 13 grabs for 252 yards and 5-TDs. E.J. Riley leads the team in rushing with 118 yards and 2-TDs. Defensively, Northside is allowing just over 25 points per game. Jarris Coney leads the team in total tackles and sacks (20, 2) while Ricardo Jones leads the team with 2-interceptions.
The North Cobb Warriors picked up their first win of the season last week. The Warriors have had one of the more challenging schedules earlier in the season including two Top-10 teams in Class 7A. Offensively, the Warriors are averaging 29.3 points per game while the defense is allowing 39.6. Quarterback Nick Grimstead has shown accuracy and an ability to beat teams with his running ability as well. He’s paired in the backfield most downs with David Ezioumume who can run in between the tackles and can run away from defenders once he gets to the second level.
We believe this game will be just as close as last years contest. North Cobb is a little more battle tested and despite making the long road trip, we like the Warriors to return the favor and defeat the Eagles by 3.
The Skinny
The Northwest Whitfield Bruins have started off this season on a torrid pace passing the football. Sophomore quarterback Gavin Nuckolls has already surpassed the 1,00 yard mark in passing yards, with 1,144 and 12-TDs. He’s only thrown one interceptions in 124 pass attempts. Nuckolls has completed passes to eleven separate receivers with Hudson Gray (21 receptions, 371 yardes, 5-TDs) and Akendris Douglas (19 receptions, 256 yards, 2-TDs) leading the way. Meanwhile Cameron Collins leads the team in rushing with 216 yards and 3-TDs. The aforementioned Nuckolls is second on the team in rushing with 141 yards.
The Darlington Tigers recorded their first shutout of the young season when they blanked Christian Heritage. Prior to last week’s shutout, the Tigers were allowing 31.5 points per game. However now they’ve improved that to 21 points per game. Offensively, we expect D’Marion Floyd to get the bulk of the carries at running back. This is a Darlington offense that hasn’t lost much steam from last year’s pace as they are averaging 34.3 points per game this season.
The step up in competition should not phase Darlington at all this week as they defeated Northwest last season. However, the Bruins are at home this week and they’ve seemed to found a groove through the air. We like Northwest by 8.