Our second set of 3-A playoff previews are listed below. This preview features matchups between Cook-Westside Macon, Tattnall County-Benedictine, North Hall-Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe, and Hart County-Cedar Grove. The Cook Hornets have had a down year with respect to the last few season. They are young and might be a year or two away before getting back to where they have been. Westside Macon will be no easy challenge for the Hornets this week…Tattnall County will face one of the toughest opponents in the 3-A bracket as they tangle with Benedictine. It could be a long night for the Battle Creek Warriors…North Hall takes a very good rushing attack to far Northwest Georgia to face Lakeview, Ft. Oglethorpe (LFO). Can LFO slow down the Trojans ground machine…Finally, Hart County travels to Decatur to take on the Cedar Grove Saints. What will Hart County’s plan be to slow down one of the nation’s top receivers and one of the state’s top offenses…
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Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Cook Hornets had a down year, but still managed to qualify for the state tournaments. The Hornets get most of their production on the ground. The future looks bright, with freshman running back Jamarion Walker rushing for 1,031 yards on the season. Junior Tre Williams has also added 485 yards on the ground. Unfortunately for Cook, they’ve had some trouble getting the ball into the end zone; they are averaging 17.3 points per game. Conversely, their opponent this week, the Westside, Macon Seminoles, are averaging 29.1 points per game. Leading the way for the Noles is junior quarterback Victor Dixon (1,549 yards, 14-TDs and senior running back Ty Freeman (1,080 yards, 12-TDs). The Westside defense is led by defensive back Nate Brookins, who has intercepted 8 passes on the season. Cook looks to be a year or two away from making a deep run. We like Westside Macon by two touchdowns this week.
The Skinny
Tattnall County has the fewest amount of wins for any of the playoff teams in Class 3-A. The Battle Creek Warriors won just enough to qualify as the 4-seed in Region-2. Tattnall County has had their share of struggles on offense this season. The Battle Creek Warriors are averaging just over 14 points per game. However, Tattnall has not been shut out this season in spite of some of their woes on offense. Benedictine jumps up to class 3-A this season. So far the only blemish on their record is a loss to Class 4-A Blessed Trinity. Benedictine is averaging 40.9 points per game and the defense is only giving up 9.1 points per game. This game could get out of hand in a hurry. We like the Benedictine Cadets by 5 touchdowns this week.
The Skinny
Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe will host a very dangerous North Hall team this week in round one. The North Hall Trojans enter the game averaging 43.1 points per game. Through 9-games, Daniel Jackson led the team in rushing with 862 yards and 16-TDs. JT Fair has added 635 yards as well. The Trojans are averaging just over 5 pass attempts per game. The North hall defense is giving up 10.1 points per game; they’ve not given up more than 21 points in a game this season. Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe (LFO), comes into the game averaging 29.4 points per game. Like the Trojans, LFO depends heavily on the run. Nathan Williams leads the charge for the Warriors with 947 yards and 11-TDs. This might be one of the shortest games in the playoffs this week as there shouldn’t be much passing going on. Regardless of the game time, we like North Hall to come out on top by 10 points on the road.
The Skinny
The Hart County Bulldogs will travel to Decatur to take on the Cedar Grove Saints. Hart County is averaging is averaging 19.9 points per game. The Bulldogs are surrendering 22.3 points per game on defense. They also did not defeat a playoff team during the regular season. On the other hand, the Cedar Grove Saints come into the game averaging 44.2 points per game. The defense is giving up 7.7 points per game. This game will probably get out of hand in a hurry as well. Cedar Grove might call the dogs off, but we won’t be shocked if they win by six touchdowns.