It’s hard to believe that the first three quarters of the high school football season is coming to a close. That can only means that playoff races continue to heat up. In this edition of our Eight Greats Around the State, we will take a look at games that have either region title or home playoff implications.
First up, in Region 5-7A the prohibitive favorites, North Cobb and Walton will square off. Will North Cobb be able to push Walton around or will the Raiders tame the Warriors? Next up, in Waynesboro, the Burke County Bears will host the Benedictine Cadets. Both teams overcame scares last week and look to take control of the region with a win on Friday. Will the Cadets survive another game on the road or will Burke County dethrone the champs?
Over in Dallas, East Paulding will host Langston Hughes. While we know East can score points, we are curios to see if their defense can hold Hughes in check. Finally in Dublin, the Fighting Irish host the Bleckley Royals. Bleckley looks a little more explosive on offense this season, but can they put a halt to the Dublin ground game?
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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 North Cobb Warriors are winners of their last three games and have a big win under their belt as they knocked off Top-10 Milton their last time out. What was most impressive was how North Cobb was able to dominate the line of scrimmage as David Ezioumeme was able to rack up 326 yards and 4-TDs. That performance helped propel him to the top of the leader board in rushing entering last week as he’s racked up 933 yards on the year. We have to give a shout out to that offensive line including Zach Addison, Elvin De La Cruz, Jason Grier, Alex Kolev, Ryan Muriana, Dom Moody, James Roe and Javian Vaughans. They’ll need another big game this week. Defensively, the Warriors have been prone to give up some points, allowing 32.6, yet some of that is due to the competition they’ve faced, which include 3 Top-10 teams in Class 7A.
The Walton Raiders look to be primed for a run at a region title this season. If that is going to become reality, they’ll need to continue their red hot scoring. The Raiders are averaging 55 points per game and have scored over 60 points twice. Senior quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski has thrown for over 1,200 yards and 16-TDs and has only been intercepted once in 119 attempts. Cameron Loyd continues to shine at receiver this season with 24 receptions for 481 yards and 4-TDs. Hunter Teal and Wyatt Sonderman have also been reliable targets for the Raiders this season. Walton has been equally as good on defense, allowing 16.2 points pre game. Wendell Gregory is the team leader in sacks with 5, while linebacker Ashton Woods continues to lead the team in tackles.
Walton had their slimmest margin of victory of 20 points last week. They’ve outclassed all of their opposition, but this North Cobb team won’t be afraid of Walton. After all, last season they beat the Raiders on the road by 27. We believe this game will be much closer and Walton should be able to match North Cobb score for score. Raiders avenge last years loss. Walton by 8.
The Skinny
The Burke County Bears and Coach Franklin Stephens have picked up where long time coach Eric Parker left off and are off to their best start since 2017. Burke passed a big test last week defeating Wayne County. The Bears are averaging 178.2 yards per game on the ground and we expect them to continue that trend this week. A’merre Williams leads the way with 481 yards and 6-TDs. Quarterback Sean Vandiver has thrown for 716 yards and 8-TDs. Burke is averaging 28.8 points per game. Meanwhile the defense is allowing 13.5 points per game and has forced 9 turnovers. Linebacker Brandon Lively leads the team in total tackles (69) and sacks (4.5).
The Benedictine Cadets are also off to their best start since 2017. The Cadets are averaging 36 points per game. Prior to last Friday, the Cadets were averaging 335 yards per game. Quarterback Luke Kromenhoek continues to be reliable for the Cadets with 995 yards and 11-TDs on the season. Kromenhoek has also shown an ability to scramble with over 313 yards rushing and 4-TDs. Meanwhile, Na’Sear Samual and Bryce Baker have combined for over 600 yards on the season. Defensively, the Cadets have forced 12 turnovers and are allowing just over 14 points per game.
While both teams will still have to play out the schedule, this game should determine the number one seed in the region. The Cadets defense yielded a lot of yardage last week, so we can only guess they will be looking to shore that up this week. Burke County will push Benedictine, but we like Kromenhoek and the Cadets by 3.
The Skinny
The East Paulding Raiders are winners of their last three games. The Raiders have used two quarterbacks as Chantz Bouknight and Baylor Thomason have combined to throw for 1,290 yards and 12-TDs in five games this season. The Raiders have relied a little more on the passing game this season as they are averaging 218 yards per game through the air and 128.2 yards per game on the ground. Junior running back Javen Parker leads the ground game with 657 yards and 8-TDs. The Raiders have made strides on both sides of the ball as they are averaging 36 points per game and the defense is allowing 17.1 points per game.
The Langston Hughes Panthers find themselves in a precarious position with little room for error if they want to host a first round playoff game. The Panthers remain one of the top teams in the classification. They are averaging 39.3 points per game with an offense that’s powered by Prentiss “Air” Noland. In five games, Nolan has thrown for 983 yards and 11-TDs. Justus Savage and Dorian Page continue to lead the Panthers on the ground as they’ve combined to rush for aver 1,100 yards thus far. Similar to their opponent, the Panthers are allowing 17.1 points per game.
The winner of this game will put themselves in great position to host a home playoff game. Hughes has a little more star power on both sides of the ball and on paper has played a more challenging schedule. It won’t be a cakewalk this week, as the Raiders are vastly improved from a season ago. We just believe the Panthers are too deep. Hughes by 16.
The Skinny
The Dublin Fighting Irish are 4 points away from being undefeated on the season. Nevertheless, the Fighting Irish are averaging 34.6 points per game. They are also averaging 244.4 yards per game on the ground and just 28.2 yards per game through the air. They’ve only attempted 26 passes on the year. Xavier Bostic leads the ground game with 404 yards and 5-TDs. Kameron Hampton has chipped in 250 yards rushing on the season. The Irish defense is led by the aforementioned Bostic with 22 total tackles. Brandon Chatman leads the team with 4 sacks. They’ve also shut out two of their five opponents.
The Bleckley County Royals are winners of their last two games. The offense has been effective this season, averaging 34.1 points per game, including three games where the scored over 40 points. Royals quarterback Kam’Ryn Everett has thrown for 530 yards in four games this season with 7-TDs. Marcus Newson and Tyrek Mack lead the team in receptions and receiving yards. The aforementioned Everett and sophomore back Joshua Stanley lead the team in rushing. The Royals defense is allowing 23.6 points per game.
Dublin won this game going away last season, but we have a feeling these two teams are a little closer than last season’s 18-point win. We’ve mentioned this before and we believe it applies here, the ground game of Dublin should hold the ball just enough to keep the explosive Bleckley offense on the sideline. Fighting Irish by 8.