The final week of the high school football regular season here in Georgia is upon us. Just as the we have seen the last few weeks, five of our six Cherokee County teams will be in action Friday night. First up, the River Ridge Knights will travel to take on Allatoona in a game with big Region 6-6A playoff implications. A win by River Ridge ensures three county teams will make the playoffs. A loss, means two county teams will make the playoffs and neither of them would host a first round game. Next up, the Etowah Eagles will host Rome, as the Eagles look to end their season on a high note against a very strong Rome team. Over in Hickory Flat, the Sequoyah Chiefs will host rival Woodstock, as the Wolverines look to spoil the Chiefs home finale. Finally, the Cherokee Warriors will travel to play Kennesaw Mountain. Cherokee would earn a playoff birth with a 9-point win over the Mustangs, (combined with a Wheeler loss this week). Can they find a way to slow down the Mustang’s explosive offense?
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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
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 Allatoona Buccaneers got a big home win over Sequoyah last Friday to run their region record to 3-2. It was their third straight win and they are a victory away from clinching a home playoff berth. (Something that seemed almost impossible back in early October.) Allatoona is averaging 182.4 yards per game on the ground against just 73.5 yards per game through the air. Most of the work offensively has come by way of running back Jayden Ponder, who is well over the 1,000-yard mark on the season. Perhaps the most impressive group for Allatoona however has been the front seven. Highlighting this group is defensive linemen Mekhi Buchanan, T.K. George, Ezra Odinjor (team leader in sacks), and linebacker Vinnie Canosa.
The River Ridge Knights could still conceivably host a home playoff game, they would need to win on Friday and hope that Woodtsock beats Sequoyah. The Knights had a huge night offensively their last outing as they had three running backs go over the 100-yard mark including, freshman Camden Cox, Isaiah Coughlan, and Daniel Fitchner. The offense is averaging 27.2 points per game while allowing 21.7. Defensively, the Knights have gotten solid play out of their front seven, highlighted by lineman, Ethan Anderson, Brendan Dye, Will Hughes and Brandon Burdette. Last week Hughes tallied three tackles for loss in the victory.
This game will likely be another defensive battle. It will be interesting to see if River Ridge can slow down Jayden Ponder. Not many teams have been able to do so. Conversely, River Ridge has a dynamic offense that should give Allatoona fits. We believe this game will be low scoring and believe the first team to 22 wins; We like Allatoona at home by 4.
The Skinny
The Etowah Eagles will look to break their two game skid as they close out the season against the Rome Wolves. The Eagles have had a turn-around season as Coach Matt Kemper and his youthful Eagles have outpaced their win total from the previous two seasons combined. When we talk about Etowah we certainly know about Xavier Mahoney, the Buffalo (Reece Wehr), Tate Nelms, Jamire Maxime and Frank Mosley. But a name we haven’t written about when discussing Etowah is Drew Doran. The undersized defensive lineman has been a stalwart on the defensive line. He along with Justin Davis, Dravin Cole and Joseph Lago will have their hands full trying to disrupt the Rome offense.
The Rome Wolves are winners of their last six games. They recorded their fourth shutout last week and continued their mastery of Cherokee County teams this season. They Wolves have only allowed one touchdown to teams from Cherokee County. That’s downright dominant. Quarterback Reece Fountain continue to impress, throwing for 2,089 yards. We can’t talk about Rome without talking about their defense, which is allowing just 9.2 points per game this season.
While Rome has secured the region title, we still expect for them to play to win this week. Meanwhile, Etowah will look to build off of their early season success and keep Rome off balance with the dynamic Xavier Mahoney. We believe Etowah can be competitive, but we believe the depth and experience of Rome will ultimately prevail. Wolves by five touchdown.
The Skinny
The Sequoyah Chiefs will look to bounce back this week after falling to Allatoona last week. Last week’s defeat might have cost the Chiefs a home playoff game, (pending some results from this week’s action). The Sequoyah offense was shut out for the third time this season. They are now averaging 12.2 points per game while allowing 22.6. Last week Against Allatoona, the Chiefs allowed just 10 points and held the Bucs offense to 142 total yards. Sequoyah will look to get more production from their offense this week. They will need it if they hope to stay in contention for a home playoff game.
The Woodstock Wolverines were on bye last week. They will close out their season this week as they travel to Sequoyah. The Wolverines have struggled to sustain drives this season, but they can certainly play spoiler and end their season with a big win Friday night. The Wolverines offense is averaging 7.1 points per game and allowing 47.5. Dan Comeau has been the leading passer for the Wolverines this season. Through 8 games he’s thrown for 545 yards and 2-TDs. Drew Burmesiter, Evan McKeller and Carson Gray are the team’s top tacklers with 91, 62 and 58 total tackles respectively.
Woodstock certainly has nothing to lose in this matchup of rivals. The question remains from them of whether they can sustain drives. We don’t believe that’s possible against a very stingy Sequoyah defense. We like Sequoyah by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs improved their chances for a playoff spot last week with a win over Wheeler and broke their two game skid in the process. Kennesaw Mountain got back on track offensively as they were able to get back over the 30 point mark after being held to under 20 points for the last two weeks. The top receiver for the Mustangs this season is Cayden Lee. We’ve mentioned his name before in our previews as he’s one of the top receiver in the state with 74 receptions for 1,101 yards and 13 TDs. The Mustangs have had to turn to junior quarterback Tyson Harmon as senior Caymen Prangley has been out. Harmon has thrown for 465 yards and 5-TDs. With 402 of those yards and all of his TDs coming against Wheeler last week. Defensively the Mustangs are allowing 22.5 points per game. Hayden McDougal leads the defense with 64 total tackles.
The Cherokee Warriors had an early lead last week, but were overpowered by North Cobb. The Warriors can make things interesting in the region this week if they can find a way to defeat the Mustangs. Cherokee we look to build on some of the success they had last week offensively. Quarterback Tanner Savasir continue to show growth each and every week. He’s thrown for 1,271 yards and 12-TDs. The run game has also gotten a lift late in the season from senior Zi Johnson. Senior linebacker Kyan Simmons has now recorded 9 sacks and junior lineman Javon Hobson has recorded 7 as they lead the defense in that category.
The Warriors will have their hands full with another explosive offenses this week. If Cherokee is going to pull the upset, they will likely need to establish the ground game and perhaps need a special teams score. We believe the Warriors will play inspired, but Kennesaw Mountain is just a bit too explosive. Mustangs by 11.