We have reached the penultimate week of the high school football regular season here in the great state of Georgia. Once again, five of our six Cherokee County teams will be in action Friday night. First up, the Cherokee Warriors will host the North Cobb Warriors. Cherokee will look to slow down the North Cobb rushing attack while also counting to improve their rushing offense. Next up, the Creekview Grizzlies will log their travel miles as they visit Rome to face the Wolves. We will see if the Grizzlies can find a way to solve the Rome riddle. The Sequoyah Chiefs will also log their fair share of miles this week as they travel over Acworth to face Allatoona. The way these two teams play defense, this game could be over shortly after 9pm. Finally, the River Ridge Knights will host the Etowah Eagles. Both of these teams need wins to stay alive in playoff contention.
As always, thanks for reading. While you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe so you won’t miss any of our coverage. Please feel free to comment and share.
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 Cherokee Warriors are looking to keep their playoff hopes alive this week. Last week, the Warriors had a tough go of it as they fell to Walton. The Warriors fell behind early and weren’t able to keep pace with the Raiders. The Warriors have dropped five of their last six games. Cherokee is averaging 17.2 points per game and averaging 29.6 Running back Zi Johnson has been a bright spot over the last two weeks for Cherokee as he has transitioned back over to running back this season.
The North Cobb Warriors survived a scare from region rival Kennesaw Mountain. We’ve mentioned this before, but since losing Malachi Singleton to injury, quarterback Nick Grimstead to lead the team. He’s had plenty of help from running backs Ben Hall and David Mbadinga. The Warriors are winners of their last four games. Overall, North Cobb is averaging 26 points per game while allowing 15.6. A win this week would clinch a share of the region crown for North Cobb.
Cherokee has struggled a bit lately against the run. Unfortunately, North Cob has seemed to found their stride rushing the football. It goes without saying that Cherokee will need to take care of the football and try to find a way to run the ball. We believe that’s possible, but not probably. We like North Cobb by five TDs.
The Skinny
The Rome Wolves continued their mastery of Region 6-6A last week with a big win over River Ridge. The Wolves are averaging 40 points per game and allowing 10.3 points per game. However, during region play, Rome is averaging 54.7 points per game and allowing just 6.5 points per game including two shutouts. The Wolves are also winners of their last five games. Quarterback Reece Fountain has continued to put up big passing numbers as he’s thrown for 1,935 yards this season.
The Creekview Grizzlies snapped a two game losing skid as they defeated county rival Woodstock last week. The Grizzlies got over 280 yards rushing last week and were paced by Isaac Hubert. The senior running back has now rushed for 821 yards and 12-TDs to help pace the Creekview offense. The Grizzlies are averaging 19.5 points per game and allowing 15.6. Creekview kept their playoff hopes alive with their win last week. Can Creekview find a way to score points on the road this Friday night?
Rome has been head and shoulders the best team in region play to this point. The Wolves can clinch a home playoff spot with a win this week and the region title. Creekview could also clinch a playoff spot with a win on Friday, depending on some other results in region play. We believe the Wolves will continue their mastery of Region 6 this week. Rome by four touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Allatoona Buccaneers won their second straight game last week as they came from behind to defeat Etowah. The Bucs kept their playoff hopes alive with the win. Senior running back Jayden Ponder rushed for 191 yards a touchdown in the victory. Ponder has now rushed for 1,091 yards and 7-TDs on the year. Meanwhile, Vinnie Canosa, T.K. George, Mehki Buchannon and Ezra Odinjor played with a chip on their shoulder as they held Etowah to just 16 points last week. Allatoona is now averaging 22 points per game while allowing 22.7.
The Sequoyah Chiefs come off the bye week with hopes of hosting a playoff game. The Chiefs have won four of their last five games. The key for Sequoyah in those victories has been their defense, they are allowing 24.2 points per game, however, in their four wins, they are allowing just 7.7 points per game. The Chiefs defense has allowed freshman quarterback Colby Martin time to develop in his role as starter. The Chiefs are averaging 13.7 points per game, which has been more than enough to secure victories during four of their last five games.
This might be one of the quickest played games this season. Both teams will look to establish the ground game. If Allatoona can avoid turnovers, they could jump right back into the playoff discussion. Meanwhile the Chiefs defense might be one of the most underrated units in North Georgia. We believe the first team to 21 wins this ballgame. We like the Allatoona by 1.
The Skinny
The River Ridge Knights will look to get back into the win column and keep their playoff hopes alive this week. The Knights were unable to string together drives last week and did not take advantage of all of their opportunities. River Ridge is averaging 25.7 points per game and allowing 21.8. The Ridge is currently averaging 171 yards per game through the air and 124.1 yards per game on the ground. In their five wins this season, the Knights are averaging 35.8 points per game. However, in their three losses, the Knights are averaging just 9 points per game.
The Etowah Eagles will look to keep their playoff hopes alive this week as they travel across Woodstock to take on River Ridge. Etowah has dropped three of their last four games. They are averaging 25.6 points per game while the defense is allowing 22.2 points per game. We expect that Etowah will work to establish the ground game this week against the Knights with quarterback Xavier Mahoney and the Buffalo, Reece Wehr. Meanwhile, Etowah’s defensive backs have been up to the task all season, whether defending through the air and in run support. It will be a great matchup to see if Frank Mosley and Jamir Maxime can continue shut down the River Ridge wide receivers.
We are interested to see if River Ridge will look to attack Etowah’s secondary, or if the River Ridge defense will be able to contain Etowah’s young stars. We think the River Ridge will defend home turf this week. Knights by 8.