As we move into week-9 and the last third of the regular season, county teams are jockeying for playoff seeding and to keep post-season hopes alive. Etowah got a big win last week against neighborhood rival Woodstock, but this week, the face the high-flying Walton Raiders. The Raiders are ranked No, 2 in class 7A and by all accounts are the favorite to win the region. Can Etowah pull the upset…After a week off, the Creekview Grizzlies will visit the River Ridge Knights. Will the Grizzlies have any rust from the off week and can River Ridge catch the Grizzlies napping this week…The Sequoyah Chiefs secondary will be tested as South Cobb and dual threat QB Aeneas Dennis come to town. The Chiefs are looking for a win to keep pace with Allatoona and Harrison in their tightly contested region…Finally, Woodstock will travel to Tommy Baker field to take on the Cherokee Warriors. Both teams need this win, but Woodstock can ill-afford to drop to 0-2 in region play with games against Roswell and Walton still to come…
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Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writers Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Etowah Eagles will travel to Raider Valley to take on the No. 2 ranked team in the state, the Walton Raiders. The Raiders played without Austin Kirksey last week and outlasted rival Lassiter. Walton boasts plenty of star power, including running back DJ Soyoye and receivers Dominick Blaylock and Kendall Alford. We expect that Kirksey will be back this week and will be looking to add to his 941 yards and 6-TDs. The Raiders are only giving up 20.6 points per game and have picked up wins against Mill Creek and defending 7A state champion, North Gwinnett.
Etowah got a big game from Nick Maddox last week against region rival Woodstock. Maddox rushed for 184 yards including the game winning touchdown with under two minutes to play last week. The Etowah offense has had some fits and starts this year and are only averaging 17.4 points a game. They’ll need to put more points on the board against a very explosive Walton team this week and play a mistake free ball game. Even then, we think that Walton will outscore the Eagles. If Kirksey is back this week, it just makes it that much more challenging for the Eagles. We like Walton by 20-points this week.
The Skinny
The Creekview Grizzlies had a week to rest after a hard-fought win last time out against rival Sequoyah. The Grizzlies garner the highest ranking for any Cherokee County football team, coming in at No. 2 in all major publications around the state. The Grizzlies defense will have to stop the run oriented River Ridge attack. Andy Davis has been great in run support from his safety position this season. The rest of the Grizzly defense is pretty darn good as well. Expect to hear the names of Potts, Schwartz, Rocks, Hanaford to name a few when Creekview is on defense. There is no surprise that the Grizzlies offense all starts up front with a very talented offensive line including names like Clenney, Taranto, Williams, and Pendley. These road-graders pave the way for Cade Radam who has 830 yards this season.
In the preseason, we had a chance to talk to coach Wynn about his biggest challenge this season, he said we just can’t beat ourselves. That seems to happen from time to time this season for the youthful Knights. The team is improving each week. The Knights have had growing success on the ground with Chico Ward and freshman Amehre Morrison. This is a tall task for River Ridge to pull the upset. We like the Grizzlies by 24.
The Skinny
The Sequoyah Chiefs got back on track last week with a win against county and region rival River Ridge. The Chiefs played sound defensively last week and they will need more of that type of play this week as they host an athletic South Cobb football team. We know the usual suspects for Sequoyah, but the Chiefs have been getting some great play from Christian Hodgins, Connor Johnston, DJ King, Myles McGee and D’Angelo Smith. The running game and passing game were effective for the Chiefs last week against county foe River Ridge. We expect that South Cobb will see a steady dose of Cole Jacobs, DJ King and Jackson Smith.
South Cobb will counter with dual threat quarterback Aeneas Dennis. Last week against Dalton, Dennis passed for 196 yards and rushed for 124 yards. Bryson Boone is the Eagles big play wide receiver, while Desmond McDowell leads South Cobb’s ground attack. Defensively, the Eagles are surrendering just over 33 points a game. So if they are going to pull the upset this week, they’ll need to force some turnovers and get Dennis, Boone and McDowell going offensively. We think it’s certainly possible, but not probable…Chiefs by three touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Woodstock Wolverines travels to Tommy Baker field in search of their first region win as they take on the Cherokee Warriors. Woodstock welcomed back Ryan Martin last week, but will be playing with a new signal caller, Walker Ormsby the rest of the way. Last week, Martin rushed for 100 yards while Ormsby passed for 212 yards and 3-TDs. Sebastian Moss had a breakout game last week and is an additional weapon for Ormsby and the Wolverines. The Wolverines will need to tighten up a bit on defense as they face a much-improved Cherokee team this week.
The Warriors would put themselves in a very good position to make the post season this year with a win on Friday night. Much of Cherokee’s success can be attributed to their defense which flies all over the place. Guys like McKinley Hunter, Kerwin Majano, Grant Hornbuckle and Grant Mogelnicki are routinely making plays for the Warriors defense. Offensively, the Warriors are led by quarterback Landon Ergle; who has passed for over 1,000 yards this season. Mogelnicki and Garret Miles have combined to make a formidable duo in the backfield. In their 3 wins, the Warriors defense surrendered 22.6 points per game. In their 4 losses, the Warriors gave up 31 points per game. Needless to say, if Cherokee is going to win, they’ll need a stout defensive performance. We think that the Warriors bounce back this week and beat Woodstock by 4 points.