Believe it or not after this Friday, we will be done with one quarter of the GHSA regular season schedule. Here is part two of our GHSA Football Previews we call Eight Greats Around the State.
First up in Marietta, both Marietta and McEachern will be looking to get back in the win column. Two big time quarterbacks square off in this matchup in McEachern’s Bryce Archie and Marietta’s Tyler Hughes. Who will have the hot hand on Friday night? Down in Fairburn, the Creekside Seminoles will host Westlake. The Seminoles shocked the state in their Week-1 victory over Grayson, but Westlake is one of the hottest team’s in the state. Does Westlake keep rolling or is Creekside a real giant killer?
Meanwhile in Cordele, the Crisp County Cougars will host the Perry Panthers. Crisp lost a lot of talent from last year’s team while Perry’s stock has steadily been rising. Will Crisp have enough to get their first win or will they be overpowered by Perry? Finally, it’s a battle of War Eagles as Marist hosts Woodward Academy. Marist’s defense limited Blessed Trinity to under 200 yards of offense last week. Will they be able to keep Damari Alston and the Woodward ground game in check as well?
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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 Marietta Blue Devils will get back on the field after a bye week. Marietta got a big game from quarterback Tyler Hughes who threw for 302 yards and 4-TDs. Cameron Overton was the beneficiary of many of those passes as he caught 7 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. On defense, it was Emmanuel Olaitan who helped pace the defense with 10 total tackles including 3 tackles for loss.
The McEachern Indians will try to bounce back after being held to seven points last week. Quarterback Bryce Archie was limited to 115 yards passing in the loss. On the season he has thrown for 296 yards and 3-TDs. Archie has a big play threat on offense in Kaleb Webb who has caught 12 passes for 182 yards. ( He was held to just 36 yards receiving last week.) The Indians also have a one-two punch at running back with Makari Bodiford (123 yards, 2-TDs) and Peja Womack (122 yards, 1-TD).
We believe this game should be a shoot-out with two offenses that can put up some points. Marietta has not beaten McEachern at home since 2005…We believe that streaks comes to an end on Friday. Blue Devils by 3.
The Creekside Seminoles were off last week after shocking the state with a win over the defending Class 7-A Champions Grayson. Creekside quarterback Nyqua Lett was efficient in the victory, completing 63% of his passes for 88 yards and 2-TDs. Perhaps the biggest story however was the Seminoles defense as they limited the Grayson offense to 169 total yards. Linebacker Vincent Hill led the team with 16 total tackles including five for loss. Creekside recorded six sacks in the game last week and also forced three turnovers.
The Westlake Lions went on the road last week and put an end to Colquitt’s 23 game home winning streak. While R.J. Johnson was steady last week (67% completions, 203 yards passing, 1 rushing TD), the combination of running backs Joshua Taylor and Jai’den Thomas combined for 125 yards and two TDs. The Westlake defense also forced three turnovers in the victory.
From the outside looking in, this might be a defensive struggle as both teams have shown they can fly around the field on defense. Westlake looks to be a little more explosive on offense, and in our opinion, that gives them a slight edge. We like the visiting Lions by a touchdown.
The Skinny
The Crisp County Cougars will look to get back on track this week after falling last week in their opener. The Cougars lost a lot of talent on defense off of last years team but do have future stars in Amir Dwight, Ke’von Merrell and Barry Walker. On offense, look for the Cougars to rely on the legs of Marquise Palmer again this week as he helps with the transition of new starting quarterback Jack Carter.
The Perry Panthers had a big opening week as they took down Houston County. Quarterback Armar Gordon went off in Week-1 as he threw for 302 yards and 3-TDs. Receiver Daequan Wright caught four passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile it was running back by committee for Perry in Week-1 as seven backs combined to run for 165 yards and 2-TDs.
Expect for the Crisp defense to be a little more stingy this week against Perry, but the Panthers have too many weapons on offense. We like Perry by 10 this week.
The Marist War Eagles opened up their 2021 season with an impressive victory over Blessed Trinity Last week. Andrew Mannelly led the way with 94 yards rushing in the victory. He can be a real weapon for the ground oriented attack as he’s a bruising back that also can run away from defenders in the open field. Marist was dominant on defense keeping Blessed Trinity in check for most of the game and allowing less than 200 yards of total offense.
The Woodward Academy War Eagles are coming off of a big victory of their own, shutting out Hapeville Charter. Damari Alston leads the War Eagles on the ground with 183 yards and 3-TDs, although he was limited to 27 yards last week. Alston is also tied with the team lead in receiving with C.J. Burton. (Both with six receptions for a combined 160 yards.) The Woodward defense has been pretty good through two games allowing only 14 points.
The big questions is will Woodward have enough on defense to slow down the Marist run game. We believe it’s close early, but expect for Mannelly and Marist to grind out another win this week. Marist by 13.