Our first set of 4-A playoff previews are listed below. This preview features matchups between Woodward Academy-Carver, Richmond Academy-Mary Persons, Heritage-Marist, and Cedertown-St.Pius. The Woodward Academy War Eagles are on the road against the Carver Columbus Tigers. Both teams are averaging over 35 points per game, so the scoreboard operator at Kinnett Stadium could be busy on Friday…Richmond Academy visits Mary Persons. Will the Musketeers be up to the task of stopping J.T Heritage and Quen Wilson…Heritage travels to Marist as the teams meet for the first time ever. Marist has had a week off to prepare. Has the sting of the loss to Blessed Trinity gone away…Finally, Cedartown visits St. Pius. The Cedartown defense has been pretty good this season, but can they defense bottle up Connor Even and Michael Benefield. This might be the toughest 1 vs 4 matchup in the 4-A bracket…
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Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Woodward Academy War Eagles will travel to Columbus to take on the Carver Tigers. Woodward had a little bit of a fall off this season, but they are a very talented football team. Led by Tahj Gary (1,054 yards, 11-TDs) and quarterback Mark Wright, (926 yards passing, 400 yards rushing, 18 total TDs), the War Eagles are averaging 38.5 points per game on offense. Meanwhile, Carver quarterback Jaylen Joyner has passed for 1,838 yards and 21-TDs and running back Khairi McCoy, who has rushed for 1,103 yards and 10-TDs. Carver is averaging 35.3 points on offense. The defense is giving up 19.2 points per game. Anthony Watts has intercepted 5 passes for the Tigers. If Carver can bottle up Gary, it could be a long night for Woodward, but we don’t think that’s going to happen. This one should be close, but we like Woodward to edge Carver by 6.
The Skinny
The Richmond Academy Musketeers started out the season with six straight victories, but lost three out of their last four games to end the season. The offense has been productive, scoring 27.3 points per game while the defense is giving up a very respectable 16.7 points per game. Torri Taylor rushed for 1,001 yards on the season with 11-TDs. Meanwhile, Mary Persons continued its dominance this season, scoring 46.7 points per game on their way to an undefeated regular season. J.T. Hartage has passed for 2,097 yards and 21 TDs while Quen Wilson has rushed for 1,299 yards and 21-TDs. Mary Persons is one of the best teams in 4-A and we expect them to prove that this Friday. We like the Bulldogs by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Marist War Eagles will host the Heritage (Catoosa) Generals in first round action. Marist is averaging 33.2 points per game while the defense has been stingy as well, giving up just 10.2 points per game. The War Eagles lost a close contest to the No.1 ranked Blessed Trinity Titans by a field goal. Meanwhile, Heritage has shown they can score points in bunches as well, as they are averaging 31.7 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Nick Hanson has passed for 1,874 yards and 18-TDs while Jeffery Curtis has rushed for 1,060 yards and 14-TDs. But the Generals defense is giving up 37.6 points per game on the season. That could spell trouble for the Heritage against a disciplined Marist attack. We look for Marist to pick up the win by 17 this week.
The Skinny
The St. Pius Golden Lions have won 9 consecutive games after a week one loss to No. 1 ranked Blessed Trinity. They will host the Cedartown Bulldogs in Atlanta. The Golden Lions are averaging 34.9 yards per game and are led by quarterback Connor Egan and running back Michael Benefield. St. Pius is yielding 16.1 points per game on defense. Cedartown is a dangerous team at 5-5. All of their losses this season have ben by 7 points or less, including a one-point loss to Cartersville. Their defense has kept them in most games, only giving up 15.5 points per contest. We expect this to be tightly contested as well, but like the Golden Eagles to prevail by a six points.