Each week, we will preview eight intriguing Georgia High School Football games throughout the state. This is part one of our Eight Greats around the state. This weeks matchups include Cartersville as they host West Forsyth. West looked strong in the opening week, but can they duplicate that effort against traditional power Cartersville? Meanwhile, Bainbridge and Coffee lock horns on Friday night down in Decatur (County). Will this game turn into a quarterback duel between A.J. Wilkerson and Quayde Hawkins?
In Cordele, the Crisp County Cougars will host the Houston County Bears. Crisp won a defensive battle in week one against Tift, while Houston edged Perry. Will the Cougars defense be able to duplicate their performance last week? Finally down in Valdosta, the Lowndes Vikings will host the Griffin Bears. Griffin is a well coached and very talented football team, but do the have the depth to compete with one of the top teams in the top classification in the state?
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The Skinny
The Cartersville Hurricanes got off to a great start with a shutout victory in Week-1. The Stratton Tripp era began as the senior quarterback looks to be the next in-line of successful Purple Hurricane QBs. (He was preceded by Trevor Lawrence and Tee Webb.) Tripp was impressive in one half of play tossing 3-TDs. The Canes are also highlighted by some familiar names, running back Quante’ Jennings (79 yards and 2-TDs on 3 carries) and receivers Sam Phillips and Devonta Ross. Defensively, Amarai Orr and Evan Slocum return to lead the secondary. Both players are veterans and have logged a lot of minutes for the Canes defense over the past few seasons.
Coach Dave Svehla brought his blue-collar mentality to the West Forsyth Wolverines this season and they looked impressive with a victory over Mays last week. The Wolverines were highlighted by Navy commit Daba Fofana who rushed for 110 yards caught six passes for 57 yards and accounted for 3-TDs. Junior tight-end Oscar Delp also had a big night with 3 receptions for 47 yards and 2-TDs. Sophomore quarterback Kegan Stover threw for 156 yads and 4-TDs in the victory. West Forsyth limited Mays to 200 yards of total offense last week. We expect Cartersville to be a much more difficult task for West. The big question is whether or not Stover can be efficient against the experienced Cartersville secondary. This game could be high scoring, but we like Cartersville by 4 over the Wolverines.
The Skinny
Bainbridge and Coffee will face off for the first time in 19 years. The Bearcats were off last week and have an extremely challenging opponent in Week-1. Bainbridge returns quarterback Quayde Hawkins who threw for 1,791 yards and 16-TDs last season. They also return leading rushers Rashad Broadnax (915 yards, 11-TDs in 2019) and Trey Bouie (301 yards, 3-TDs) as well as leading receivers, Braxton Johnson (544 yards, 4-TDs) and Deyon Bouie (510 yards, 6-TDs). Bainbridge’s experience at the skill positions leads us to believe they will improve from the 28 points per game output a season ago.
Meanwhile the Coffee Trojans were reclassified to 5A this season. They got a big win in week one over Drew. A.J. Wilkerson threw for 119 yards and a TD, while A.J. Franklin, Brady Skipper and Dreshawn Taylor combined for 134 yards and 3-TDs on the ground. The Trojans defense recorded a shutout in Week-1. A feat they accomplished four times last season. Defensive lineman Arliss Sutton also scored a defensive TD last Friday. We believe this has the makings of one of the top games in the state this weekend. With both teams returning starters at key positions. Perhaps Coffee has a slight edge with a game under their belt this week, but our gut tells us Bainbridge might be a tad more explosive. We like the home team Bearcats to edge Coffee by 1.
The Skinny
The Crisp County Cougars started the 2020 campaign with a big win over 7A Crisp County on Friday night. The lone score of the game came on a A.J. Lofton to Sirad Bryant touchdown pass in the 1st quarter. Lofton was efficient, completing 80 percent of his passes, but the Cougars only gained 181 yards against 7A Tift County team that includes one of the top junior defensive linemen in the state, Tyree West. Yet, the Crisp County defense was even more stingy as they shut out the Blue Devils and held them to -8 total yards while pitching a shutout. The Cougars defense just might be the strength of the team this season; they are led by Preston Lavant, Christopher Paul, Kamron Moate and Nick Mercer. All four were in the top 5 in total tackles for Crisp last season. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech commit Sirad Bryant is not only the teams leading receiver, but also led the secondary with 6 interceptions last season.
Houston County also got their season off on the right foot as they defeated a very tough Perry squad in Week-1. The Bears now shift their focus to the Crisp County Cougars. Houston broke in new quarterback Christian Lawhorn last week, while Simeon Askew, Javon Lormand and Ty Waters helped carry the load on the ground. Askew scored both touchdowns for the Bears. The Houston County defense limited Perry to 229 total yards in the victory. This week Jalen Jordan, Jayleem Santos, Larry Fields and the rest of the Bears defense will have their work cut out for them trying to contain Lofton, Bryant, Marquise Palmer and the rest of the Crisp County offense. Even if Houston can keep those guys in check, we think the Crisp defense will be a little too much this week. We look for the Crisp defense to shine in this game. Cougars by 10.
The Skinny
Coach Jamey Dubose’s head coaching debut for the Lowndes Vikings was impressive as they defeated Archer in the Corky Kell Classic. Quarterback Jacurri Brown threw for 163 yards and ran for 143 and accounted for four touchdowns in the victory. Justin Lee was the workhorse in the backfield carrying the ball 19 times for 92 yards while Israel Mitchell added 78 yards on only five attempts. The Lowndes defense held Archer to 57 yards rushing. The Vikings also recorded three sacks and two interceptions in the victory.
Coach Kareem Reid looks to have the Griffin Bears off to a great start with a win over rival Spalding in Week-1. Quarterback Quamari Williams tossed three touchdown passes while Appalachian State commit Jordan Favors recorded a pick 6. Linebacker Donovan Westmoreland also had four sacks on defense. We believe the Bears have a fighting chance this week and expect this will be a great litmus test for them as well. We look for this game to be close for three quarters, but expect the Vikings to pull away in the late stages. Lowndes by 10.