We have finally arrived at the beginning of the high school football season in Cherokee County. This week all six county teams will be in action. First up, the Woodstock Wolverines will travel to face the Osborne Cardinals as both teams look to take the next step in their rebuilding process. Meanwhile, the Etowah Eagles will make a short trip over to East Cobb to take on the Lassiter Trojans. Etowah has put up some impressive numbers in scrimmages, but will that translate to regular season success? The Sequoyah Chiefs host the Lambert Longhorns at Skip Pope Stadium.
Down in Woodstock, River Ridge will host Hillgrove. The Knights will be replacing a lot of starters at the skill positions. Will those new pieces pick up where last year’s stars left off? The Creekview Grizzlies make the short trip over to Milton to face the Cambridge Bears. Last year, the Bears bested the Grizzlies in a defensive slugfest. Can Creekview get redemption over their “Ursa” rivals? Finally the Cherokee Warriors host the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes. The Canes are a perennial power regardless of classification. The Warriors are also in the midst of reloading after losing a lot of experience to graduation. Will these young players be able to step up in big early season test?
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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 Woodstock Wolverines begin their second season under coach Troy Hoff. One of his top players, Adonis Garcia has really made a name for himself. A two way star for the Wolverines, he committed to Appalachian State in the offseason. The Wolverines also return senior quarterback Dan Comeau. They’ll be looking for some consistency at running back and we have seen some glimpses of that in their off season scrimmages. Tyler Douthit and Chase Blalock will anchor the offensive line for the Wolverines. Carson Gray is the team’s leading returning tackler at linebacker.
Osborne hasn’t stricken fear in their opponents on the football field in quite some time. Their last wining season came some 28 years ago. However, we have a hunch that this Osborne team might be turning over a new leaf under third year coach Luqman Salam. The Cardinals have a quarterback with a live arm (Eddie “Deuce” Burr) and he’s got a talented receiver in Joshua Horton that will be playing on Saturdays after he graduates.
Both teams should be able to move the football, but who will be able to sustain drives. In years past, we would have bet the house against the Cardinals, but like we said before, this could be a year where they surprise a few teams. Don’t be surprised to see a lot of points put up by two teams that averaged under 10 points per game last season. We believe Woodstock has just enough to get past Osborne. Wolverines by 4.
The Skinny
The Etowah Eagles will also be breaking in a new starting quarterback as the Jack Strickland era begins at Eagle Mountain. Strickland has put up some impressive numbers in the spring and fall scrimmages. We expect for Joher Cacho to get most of the carries early on as the Eagles look to solidify a starter to go along side Strickland. Tate Nelms has been an anchor for this offensive line the past two seasons and we expect more of the same in 2022. Defensively for Etowah the secondary returns Frank Mosley IV, while Joshua Harding will return to anchor the linebackers. Etowah did lose their top four tacklers from a year ago, so it remains to be seen who else will step up on defense.
The Lassiter Trojans come off of a 4-6 campaign looking to qualify for a playoff birth this year for the first time since 2016. Coach Sean Thom has the Trojans heading in the right direction increasing wins over the last three seasons. This year, they will be looking for a breakthrough behind senior quarterback Bryson Harrison. Harrison threw for 1,200 yards and 8-TDs last season. The Trojans also return their two top running backs from a year ago, in Samuel Gadsden and Jaheim Murray. Needless to say, there is experience in the backfield. However, the Trojans did graduate their top two receivers from 2021.
Etowah has shown a different spark offensively in the scrimmages and if they can keep that going, we believe they kid have a breakout season. Lassiter does have a little more experience. This game will come down to which defense can make stops. This should be a high scoring game. We like the Trojans at home by 2.
The Skinny
The Sequoyah Chiefs are looking to make it back to the post season after a three year hiatus. This Chief’s team sport a few talented juniors that they will rely on offensively in Jackson Hancock and Tyler Bell. Both have the potential to make big plays within the Chiefs run heavy offense. We should see Brady Curl line up on both sides of the line of scrimmage, as he will be relied upon as a leader up front on both offense and defense. Jaxon Nesbitt looks be the heir apparent at quarterback for the Chiefs. Defensively, the secondary looks to be a strong suit for the Chiefs with Ridley Joseph and Bretton Darling joining the aforementioned Hancock in the defensive backfield.
Lambert is coming off their first playoff appearance since 2016. (Losing int he first round to the eventual state champion, Collins Hill.) The Longhorns return starting quarterback James Tyre, who was the team’s leading passer and rusher last season. Lambert also returns two of their top three receivers from 2021 (Brandon Jones and TE Luke Logan). The Longhorns averaged 27.7 points per game in 2022 and allowed 19.3.
Sequoyah will look to establish their dominance on the ground in this game. Defensively, they will need to slow down Lambert’s Tyre if they want to open up the season with a victory. We are big on returning starters at quarterback. We believe Lambert takes this one. Longhorns by a touchdown.
The Skinny
River Ridge will be looking to prove that the last two seasons weren’t just a flash in the pan as the Knights open up at home against Hillgrove. River Ridge will be replacing a lot of key pieces at the skill positions on offense. Ethen Spector looks to have gotten the nod at quarterback while Daniel Fitchner will take over at running back. The offensive line welcomes back John Faletra, Reed Albers and Joseph Hornbuckle. Of course we can’t talk River Ridge offense without mentioning Jackson Head. We feel like we’ve been mentioning this young man’s name for years. He enters his senior season as one of the top tight-ends in the State. Head led the Knights with 47 receptions for 695 yards and 10-TDs last year. Defensively, the Knights will leann on Brendan Dye and Brandon Burdette at linebacker and M.J. Ayers and Andrew Hand in the secondary.
The Hillgrove Hawks are looking to improve on their win total from 2021 as Justin DeShon is in his second season as the head ball coach. The Hawks were competitive in games early in 2021, but could not get much traction in region play. Hillgrove will break in a new quarterback as Toryn Wilkins looks to be the leader in the clubhouse for the Hawks. Hillgrove will also be looking for a new leading running back. Jonathan Owusu could be a name that emerges at receiver for the Hawks. Hillgrove may look to the defense early in the season to help hold opponents at bay will the young quarterback get’s settled into the offense.. The Hawks leading tackler Zion Rutledge returns for his senior season along with three of their other top tacklers from a season ago.
Both teams are in a rebuilding phase of sorts. River Ridge will need to find consistency through the air. That will certainly be helped if they can establish the run. That might be easier said than done against the Hillgrove defense. Nevertheless, we like the Ridge by 3.
The Skinny
The Creekview Grizzlies have been one of the most consistent teams on the football field since the school opened. The Grizzlies did make an early exit in the playoffs last season, but return several juniors who were starters as sophomores last year. They will be breaking in a new quarterback in Austin Guest, but Guest was able to take meaningful snaps last season. He will be joined in the backfield by newcomer Nigel Agyemang at running back. He will have big shoes to fill with the departure of Tyler Stevens (USAF). The Grizzlies strength will be along both lines of scrimmage. On the offensive line, senior center Anthony Caraballo will join juniors Cam Mears, Pierson Sears and Andrew Rosinksi to form what might be the counties best offensive line. Meanwhile, Becket Singleton, Trey Thomas, Griffin Jane and Isaac Hubert will make things difficult for opposing offenses this season. This is a defense that really gets after opposing quarterbacks.
For the Cambridge Bears, they proved last season that they are not a team to be overlooked. Their defense was equally as impressive a year ago, as they shut out the Grizzlies to get their first win in the series. The Bears defense returns leaders Elliot Kuykendall along the defensive lines and Brooks Morley at linebacker. These two helped lead the Bears defense that allowed just over 18 points per game last season. Meanwhile, the offense returns three top weapons including the two top running backs Jack Marlow and Christian Isabor, while Will Taylor is poised to have another great season. The senior led the Bears in receiving last year with 45 receptions for 914 yards. Preston Clemmer will take over as the starter at quarterback and he looks to have plenty of proven weapons around him to help lead the Bears to another playoff appearance.
We can be sure that Creekview won’t be looking past Cambridge this season. Can the Grizzlies defense stymie Isabor and Marlow and also put pressure on Clemmer? Meanwhile, can the young Grizzly skill players grow up quickly against an experienced Cambridge team. Make it two in a row for Cambridge. We like the Bears by 6.
The Skinny
The Cherokee Warriors will start the 2022 campaign with a tough test as the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes come calling. After advancing to the post season for the fifth time in six years, the Warriors will be replacing most of their players at the skill position on offense. Sophomore quarterback Tanner Savasir takes over for the now departed A.J. Swann (Vanderbilt). He will have a youthful group of receivers including Jayce Jones, Pops Jameson, Weston Bergman and Gracen Sexton. Peyton Butler is the lone senior in the receiving unit. Defensively, Javon Hobson will anchor the front four along with Kyan Simmons at linebacker and Ryane Martin Jr in the secondary. Last season, the Warriors averaged 23.3 points per game and allowed 24.7
The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes enter the 2022 season looking to maintain their position as one of the top teams in Class 5A. The Canes will be breaking in a new a quarterback, but do return running back Malachi Jeffries, who rushed for 607 yards and 12-TDs in 2021. The Canes also return their top receiver, Collin Fletcher. Johnathan Cline and Malachi Tolliver will anchor the offensive line this season and will be the key for this offenses’s success in 2022. Defensively Myles Forristall is the team’s leading returning tackler. He’ll be joined by two-way player Jaden Akins, as they will look to make things very uncomfortable for Cherokee’s first year starter.
Expect to see Cartersville mix things up defensively to try to confuse Cherokee’s young starting quarterback. Cherokee must be able to establish some balance on offense to help him out. Meanwhile, expect Cartersville to try and establish dominance at the line of scrimmage on offense. We think Cartersville edge on the line of scrimmage is the difference. Canes by 12.