As a resident of Cherokee County, the local football scene has a special place in my heart.
To start the season, we will preview each team and provide an outlook for the season.
Each week, we will preview all county high school teams in action that week. We will provide analysis and insight on the upcoming games.
Each week, we will provide a top 10 ranking for each classification. The polls will be updated weekly through the regular season. New polls will be released on Sunday evenings.
Clinch County and Irwin County will face off for the 43rd time on Saturday morning. This meeting will be for the state title. Clinch County won the state title in 2015 and has won 6 titles overall. Irwin County has been in the state title game seven times but has won only once, when they went undefeated in 1975.
Irwin County bested Clinch 21-7 earlier this season. If the Indians are to win again, they will need a solid performance from QB Will Stephens and RB DJ Lundy.
For Clinch County, it’s not just a matter of slowing down Lundy and Stephens, as Irwin has several playmakers on offense. Clinch has a playmaker of their own in QB Charles McClelland. Look for him to match the performance of Will Stephens this week.
We expect a closer game than the last time, but does the result change…
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This game might be the best state title game of the weekend. Both teams are in search of their first state title. Both Rabun County and Hapeville Charter could be competitive in all but the highest classification in the state of Georgia.
Defense has been the calling card for the Hapeville Hornets this season. They have posted five shutouts this season and are surrendering an average of 7.2 points per game.
Meanwhile offense has been the name of the game for Rabun County. The Wildcats are averaging 44 points per game and their closest margin of victory was their 11 point semifinal victory over Brooks County.
So somethings got to give here. We believe Rabun Will score more than a touchdown, but can Hapeville prevent them from scoring four touchdowns, that should be the key to this game.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share. 
It will be a battle between North Georgia perennial power Calhoun against a Middle Georgia power in Peach County. Both teams are in search of their fourth state title in school history. Calhoun won the state title 3 short years ago. While Peach County in search of it’s first title since 2009.
Peach County has been without star WR Kearis Jackson who suffered a season ending injury two weeks ago. He will certainly be missed this week against Calhoun. Will Peach have enough weapons to offset that loss? They proved they did last week against GAC. Qb Antonio Gilbert had a big week last week and will need a repeat performance.
Meanwhile, Calhoun has been grinding away quietly this season. They have been led by Brain Barton at QB and will need him to clean up a few mistakes from last week as they face another talented defense.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share.
Marist won this game in the with a late TD and two point conversion to edge Blessed Trinity. These teams have met twice before, in which the margin of victory for both contests combined was three points. Marist intercepted QB Jake Smith three times in the first game. If BT is going to exact revenge, he will need to be more accurate.
This should be an exciting game that comes down to the wire. Marist is the more run oriented offense, while BT can beat you on the ground or through the air.
Blessed Trinity is in search of their first state title, while Marist is looking to hoist the trophy for the first time since 2003.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share.
In a battle of two undefeated teams, Rome will look to repeat as state champions. But in order to do so, they will need to slow down a very explosive Warner Robins team. The Demons are in search of their first state title since 2004. Dylan Fromm leads the pass happy attack and the Demons will certainly challenge one the best defensive fronts in the state. It will be interesting to see if Adam Anderson and the Rome front four will be able to get pressure on Fromm. Will Rome be able to get the ground game going again this week?
This is certainly one of the more intriguing matchups this weekend. As always, thanks for reading our preview. Please feel free to comment and share.
The Class 6-A finals will feature a rematch of a regular season Region-1 tilt between the Coffee Trojans and the Lee County Trojans. Lee County got the best of Coffee in the first matchup just over a month ago. The big question mark here will be the health of the Coffee running backs. Both defenses answered the bell last week, which could lend some insight into this game. We don’t expect a ton of point scored in this one, but it should be a great battle by these two south Georgia teams, both in search of their first state title.
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The Final’s are all set. The Colquitt County Packers will make their fifth straight trip into metro Atlanta. This week, it’s another Gwinnett County foe, the North Gwinnett Bulldogs. This game will close out the state football playoffs and be played as the nightcap on Saturday night. We think this will be a high scoring game. The Packers are no stranger to Atlanta or to the spotlight. Can North Gwinnett stay hot. We will find out Saturday night.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and share.
The Class 2-A semifinals will feature 3 teams in search of their first state title. Brooks County is the only team of the four with a title, but that was back in 1994 when the Trojans last reigned as champions. The Trojans have been in the semi-finals in four of the last 10 years. Their opponent, Rabun County, is looking to make the most of their first semi-final appearance.
In the second semi-final matchup, Heard County is also making their first semi-final appearance. While their visitors from Hapeville are appearing in their second consecutive semi-finals. The winners of these games will play on Saturday, December 9th at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
It should be a great Friday of high school football. As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to share and comment.
