While we typically bill this post as ‘Eight Greats Around the State’, one of the games we were set to preview (Blessed Trinity/St. Pius), has been cancelled due to COVID concerns. In any event, this preview will feature three of the other great matchups around the state of Georgia on Friday night.
First up, in a battle of the War Eagles, Woodward Academy will host Marist. Woodward will look to get back on track after their week off. Woodward was able to move the ball in Week-1 but failed to find paydirt. They’ll have their hands full with a very talented Marist team that boasts one of the best offensive lines in the state. Will Marist be as dominant as they were last week against a Class 5A opponent?
Meanwhile, down in McDonough, The Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy Chargers (E.L.C.A.) host Pace Academy. Pace had their hands full with Holy Innocents’ last week. Can they find a way to derail Josh Rogers and the E.L.C.A. ground game?
And finally, we go back to Tiger this week to preview Rabun County as they host the Jefferson Dragons. Rabun County outdueled Prince Avenue Christian in a game that highlighted two of the nation’s best quarterbacks. Jefferson will bring in a pretty good quarterback of their own as well as a very strong rushing attack. Does Gunner Stockton and Rabun County have enough for an encore performance to knock off the Dragons?
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The Skinny
The Woodward Academy War Eagles will host the Marist War Eagles for the 53rd time at Graham Hixon Field on Friday night. Woodward will be looking to get back on track after being shut out in their first game. The War Eagles were able to get Damari Alston on track, as he rushed for 164 yards, but he could not find paydirt in Week-1. Senior quarterback Banks Snellings was efficient completing 70% of his passes, but was also picked off a couple of times as well. Eight different receivers caught passes for Woodward in Week-1. The Woodward defense did hold E.L.C.A. to just 165 total yards in the loss with two sacks and an interception. All that to say, we think Woodward will be just fine going forward. But the War Eagles will need to clean up some penalties from game one.
Meanwhile, the Marist War Eagles got their season started with a win over Holy Innocents. (A game that was put together on relatively short notice.) The strength of this Marist team looks to be upfront behind linemen Steven Nahmias, Davis McKenna and Ian Erickson. (Nahmias is a power-5 recruit while McKenna has committed to Harvard.) The War Eagles will also have versatile tight end and Syracuse commit Derek McDonald up front as well. Quarterback Hayden Richardson spearheads the Marist offense and also has a compliment of backs with him including Lincoln Parker (Army commit) and Andrew Mannelly. Joshua Moore (Stanford commit) leads the Marist secondary and should also see time at receiver on offense. The aforementioned Parker will also line up at linebacker for Marist. This might be one of the most star-studded Marist teams that Coach Chadwick has had in recent memory. But they will be tested by Alston and Woodward. We think the Marist offensive line will eventually wear down Woodward Academy. We like Marist by 11.
The Skinny
The Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy Chargers are off to another fast start this season. The defense has posted back to back shutouts, and last week Josh Rogers broke the school rushing record with 410 yards and 7-touchdowns. Rogers, who was bottled up in Week-1 with nine carries for only 1-yard, had his breakout game in just over 3 quarters of work. Rogers has the luxury of running behind an offensive line anchored by Florida State commit Bryson Estes and Zechariah Owens. The Chargers have only attempted 13 passes on the year but they’ve also amassed 653 team rushing yards. Defensively, Charis Spence has already recorded seven sacks in two games, while Colton Hardeman has chipped in with 4 sacks.
The Pace Academy Knights got a late fourth quarter touchdown to get past Holy Innocents in Week-1 14-7. The Knights got 215 passing yards and 2-TDs from quarterback Evan Smith-Rooks. Jordan Sloan caught four passes for 107 yards and was the recipient of both of Rooks’ TD passes. Justin Johnson, Hevin Brown-Shuler and Frank Caldwell led the team in tackles with 12, 11 and 10 respectively. Caldwell also recorded two tackles for loss. Pace Academy will need another big game receiving from Sloan and a big effort from their defensive front to slow down E.L.C.A. We believe E.L.C.A. will have success running the ball again this week and defeat Pace. Chargers by 15.
The Skinny
The Rabun County Wildcats will have another tough test as the Jefferson Dragons come to town this week. As many know, the Wildcats are led by South Carolina commit Gunner Stockton at quarterback. Stockton has thrown for 340 yards, rushed for 270 yards and accounted for 9 total TDs. He is joined in the backfield by speedy sophomore Lang Windham. Windham has rushed for 261 yards and a touchdown in two games this season. Adriel Clark leads the Wildcats with 12 receptions for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Defensively, Hoff Windham, Turner Grimmett and Will Turpin lead the team in total tackles. The Tigers defense has also intercepted 5 passes on the season.
The Jefferson Dragons had a big night last Friday as they put up 61 points in a victory over Central Gwinnett. The Dragons steamrolled their way to 576 rushing yards in the victory last week. Quarterback Malaki Starks had 177 yards on seven carries and 3-TDs to help lead the dominating offensive performance. While Starks and the likes of Reese Johnson, Colton Jones, Carter Stephenson and the rest of the Jefferson ground machine were churning out yards, the defense was just as outstanding last week, limiting the Black Knights to 156 total yards and also intercepted two passes. We expect for linebackers Kadin Bailey, Paxton Corkery and Lineman Jahiem Hardy to make things a little uncomfortable for Gunner Stockton and the Wildcats offense. This game has the potential to be an absolute track meet. We don’t believe Jefferson will put up 61 points on Rabun County, but we do think the Dragons will outlast the Tigers on the road. Jefferson by 6.