Our first set of week two GHSA-A-Private Playoff previews are listed below. This preview features matchups between Holy Innocents-Calvary Day, Mt. Vernon-Athens Academy, Brookstone-North Cobb Christian, and Wesleyan-Prince Avenue Christian. Congratulations to all of these teams that won their first round game. Best of luck to you all as you play this Friday.
As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to contact me if there are any errors.
Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
After having a bye in the first round, the Calvary Day Cavaliers will host the Holy Innocents Bears. The Cavaliers are averaging 38.7 points per game on offense and are led by quarterback Thomas Carver and running back Jalen Leary. On defense, Calvary is allowing 9.6 points per game. Meanwhile, Holy Innocents has been up and down this season. Offensively, the Bears are averaging 34.2 points per game, but on defense they are allowing 23.1 points per game. Michael Cox leads the Bears on offense with 1,525 yards rushing and 24-TDs. Graham Collins leads the Bears defense with 6 sacks. We don’t think Holy Innocents can generate enough offense to outlast Calvary Day; we like Calvary by 10 this Friday.
The Skinny
The Mt. Vernon Mustangs got a big home playoff win against Savannah Country Day last week. Austin Douglas continues to lead the offense with 1,528 yards rushing and 17-TDs. Blake Kytle leads the Mustangs with 2,283 yards passing and 25-TDs on the season. Mt. Vernon’s ability to compete will certainly not be a question this week. Host, Athens Academy has relied on the running of Len’Neth Whitehead and Peyton Bowles this season. Whitehead is a big physical back that the Mustangs won’t be able to arm tackle. Athens Academy is averaging 32.8 points per game on the season. We think Mt. Vernon will hang around, but ultimately, we like Athens Academy by two touchdowns when the dust settles.
The Skinny
We must admit the score to the Broosktone-Christian Heritage game was a little shocking to us. It just proves that we’ve been wrong before and will most certainly be wrong again. Brookstone is averaging 39.6 points per game on the season. Running back Jeremiah Burgess leads the ground game with 1,140 yards and 17-TDs. As a team, Brookstone has rushed for 2,966 yards in 2018. Host, North Cobb Christian has experienced a bit of a resurgence this season. The Eagles are on a 3-game win streak and have qualified for their first postseason action in school history. This season, the North Cobb defense as allowing only 16.4 points per game. Christian Heritage was the common opponent for both Brookstone and North Cobb Christian. Both teams beat the Lions. We aren’t sure how relevant the point spread is in those matchups. We think North Cobb Christian is flying high and we don’t expect them to be derailed this week; North Cobb by 13.
The Skinny
The Wesleyan Wolves will travel to Bogart to face the Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines. Wesleyan will have their hands full with the young Prince Avenue quarterback, Brock Vandagriff, who has passed for 2,637 yards and 26-TDs. His primary receivers are Mack Simmons (926 yards, 10-TDs) and Christian Parrish (716 yards, 9-TDs). Wesleyan is coming off of a first-round win against Tattnall Square. Freshman quarterback J.C. French has passed for 1,676 yards and 12-TDs. On the season, the Wolves are averaging 23 points per game while their defense is allowing 19.6 points each contest. The weather is forecasted to be cold, so we always wonder how that will affect the quarterback’s ability to pass and how the receivers are also able to adjust to that. We believe that Prince Avenue will be able to handle the elements this week and down Wesleyan by two scores.