Can you feel it? Finally! It’s game week. After a long off-season and many questions about whether we would even have a high school football season in Georgia, it’s finally here. Many thanks to coaches, administrators, players, healthcare workers teachers and all of the other community leaders who have helped get us to this point.
This year, the Cherokee Warriors will have the honor of kicking off the first game of the 2020 season as they host the Carver Panthers out of Atlanta on Wednesday in the Corky Kell Classic This is the first time these two programs have met. Other first time matchups this week include Etowah hosting Creekview, Lassiter hosting River Ridge while Sequoyah and Woodstock will face off for the 9th time over at Skip Pope Stadium Friday night.
The Skinny
The Cherokee Warriors will kick off the high school football season in Georgia as they host the Carver-Atlanta Panthers in the 29th Inaugural edition of the Corky Kell Classic. Cherokee is coming off a season in which they advanced to the second round of the state playoffs for the second time in four years under Head Coach Josh Shaw. Three returning juniors headline the Warriors offense: quarterback A.J. Swann, running back Keith Adams Jr., and receiver Adarrius Harshaw. As a sophomore, Swann passed for 2,499 yards and 20-TDs, while Adams breached the 1,000-yard mark with 1,115 yards and 10-TDs. Harshaw and senior Brady Bocherer are the teams leading returning receivers from a year ago. Defensively, Braesen Parker returns as the Warriors leading tackler at linebacker. He’ll have support up front from guys like Toby Thompson and in the secondary from Austin Trimble.
Head Coach Darren Myles and the Carver Panthers are also coming off of a playoff appearance of their own in class AAAAA. This season the Panthers have been reclassified to AAA. Yet, perhaps the biggest challenge will be replacing Jo’quavious Marks, who rushed for over 1,500 yards last season. The heir apparent to Marks look to be Jarveous Brown and Bobby Simms. Last season the two combined for over 680 yards and 7-TDs playing alongside the departed Marks. Defensively, the Panthers return a trio of DBs who combined for six interceptions as well as sophomore run-stopper Aquantis Clemmons at defensive tackle. Clemmons had a knack for stopping opposing running backs in the backfield last season. We should be treated to a fantastic contest to start the 2020 season. However, we give the edge to the Warriors at home this week by two touchdowns.
The Skinny
Coach James Teter leads the Chiefs into this game with some unanswered questions under center. For the second consecutive season, the Chiefs will be starting a new quarterback. Taking the reigns will either be junior Connor Gelatt or sophomore Matthew Traynor. However, Sequoyah will have a familiar face in the backfield with Jaden Mitchell. He rushed for over 760 yards last season. Junior Aiden Moore joins Mitchell in the backfield. The Chiefs defense allowed just less than 20 points per game last season. They return Kemar Plummer and Avery Born on the defensive line as well as Jack Blackman in the secondary.
The Woodstock Wolverines are also in search of a new signal caller as Peyton Lynch, Preston Lawrence and Dan Comeau have been battling to take the reigns for Coach Budde’s offense. Whoever takes over will have weapons on the outside with Wes Bruno as well as Georgia commit David Daniel (who will play both ways). Woodstock also returns their leading rusher V’Ontae Hampton who rushed for 643 yards in 8 games last season. The aforementioned Daniel will also line up in the secondary for the Wolverines. Our hunch is that this game will be low scoring in the first half, but we like the Wolverines to edge the Chiefs by a touchdown.
The Skinny
The Etowah Eagles will start the Matt Kemper era as they host the Creekview Grizzlies on Friday night. Etowah advanced to the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season last year. They will look to Will Curcio and Braden Bohannon to replace last year’s star quarterback Dalton Miller. Curcio and Bohannon will have weapons at the skill position in running back Klivert Many and receivers Brock Rechsteiner, Remington Adams and Caden Moss. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles will look to improve on a team that surrendered an average of 27 points per game last season. Top returns on the defensive side of the ball are linebackers Austin Skinner, Lane Cantrell, Carlos Thornton as well as defensive linemen Jared Weitkamp and Jaden Maddox. Trevor Fair looks to lead the Eagles Secondary.
Trevor Williams begins his second season as head coach for the Creekview Grizzlies. He will have the luxury of returning the most experienced quarterback in the county, Brody Rhodes. Rhodes passed for 1,486 yards, rushed for 419 yards and accounted for 18 TDs last season. The Grizzlies also return their top two running backs Tyler Stephens and Cole Hasty. On the outside, the Grizzlies will look to Andrew Cloy and Dawson Currie to fill the void left by Ethan Dirrim. Up front, Anthony Dorr looks to be the next great Grizzly offensive lineman. On defense, Creekview returns leading tackler Grant Anderson and sack master Isaac Hubert to help lead the front seven. Cale Williams returns in the secondary; he was third on the team in tackles last season. If the Eagles can get consistency under center early, we like their chances. We think it might take them a little time to get that consistency, but we expect this game to be close. We like the Grizzlies on the road by 5.
The Skinny
Coach Sean Thom continues his rebuilding of the Lassiter Trojan program as he begins his second season at the helm. Lassiter had to overcome many obstacles last season but Thom has added some stability to the program. The Trojans were young and inexperienced at many positions last season, but return key players at the skill positions. Those include quarterback Brayden Lind, running back Shai Valencia and receiver Matthew Grachen. The Trojans defense will be anchored in the secondary by defensive backs Tyler Hallum and Samuel Carter IV. Evan Manring is a leader in the linebacking corp.
Coach Mike Collins also enters his second season as head coach of the River Ridge Knights. They will be looking to improve on their three win season. Like many other teams in the county, the Knights will be breaking in a new quarterback, Carson Lathem. Lathem, who can beat you with his arm and legs will have one of the most talented running backs in the county lined up in the backfield with him in Amehre Morrison. Jackson Head is another young playmaker for the Knights. Don’t let his youth fool you. The sophomore is capable of making several athletic plays at his TE/WR position. Defensively, the Knights will look to improve on the 25 points per game they surrendered last season. Linebackers Hunter Deriso, Aiden Bruton, lineman Brian Bradley as well as defensive backs Scotty Rutherford and Conner Gross should be leaders for the Knights on defense this season. We do believe the Trojans will be much improved this season.However, we also believe they will have a tough time slowing down Amehre Morrison and the Knights. We like River Ridge by 8.