Week 3 – TFR Cherokee County Football Previews

Both the Woodstock Wolverines and Cambridge Bears come into this week’s game in search of their first win in 2019. Both teams were in the same predicament a season ago. Cambridge had a bye week last week and will look to get Phillip Michael Collins going this week. Last season, Collins rushed for just over 1,000 yards and 11-TDs. He’s a back that doesn’t mind contact and regularly breaks through arm tackles.

While we expect the Woodstock defense dot get a steady dose of Phillip Michael Collins, they will be trying to settle in at quarterback. Both Robbie Roper and Walker Ormsby have shown some promise under center. If they have time to get the ball into their playmakers hands at receiver, we think that the Wolverines can pick up their first win of the season. Don’t forget about V’ontae Hampton in the backfield either. He showed some promise as well last week against Creekview. We believe that this game will be closer than last year’s contest. But we like for Coach Budde and the Wolverines by 9 this week.

The Sequoyah Chiefs will open region play as they host the Osborne Cardinals. The Chiefs dropped their opener last week and were shut out for the first time since their 2016 playoff loss to Dacula. Sequoyah will look to get Jaden Mitchell going this week. He had a few tough runs last week, but was bottled up pretty good by the Cherokee defense. Aiden Moore, also showed some promise in the run game. Riley Gutmann had an impact at receiver last week for the Chiefs and complimented Myles McGee well. The Chiefs defense had a pretty good outing last week. They seemed to wear down just a bit late in the ball game.

Meanwhile, the Osborne Cardinals have not beaten the Chiefs and three tries and have not won a game since they beat Forest Park back on October 21, 2016. Last week it was Ron Freeman who got into the endzone for the Cardinals, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to KIPP. The Cardinals will have to limit turnovers this week if they want to get into the win column; that has been one of their bugaboos early in the season. We believe the Chiefs will get the victory this week, and we don’t believe it will be that close. Chiefs by four touchdowns

The River Ridge Knights will travel over to West Cobb to take on the Harrison Hoyas this Friday night in a Region 6-6A matchup. After taking a week off, the Knights are looking to bounce back after falling to Etowah in Week-1. River Ridge did show a lot of promise under new head coach Michael Collins. Chase Begin showed some poise under center while Amehre Morrison is a star in the making at running back for the Knights.

The Harrison Hoyas will present a difficult challenge for the Knights this week. The Hoyas enter the game ranked between 2^nd and 6^th in the state depending on the poll.  The Hoyas defense has only surrendered 10 points in two games. Meanwhile, Gavin Hall has passed for over 250 yards and 3-TDs in the first two games. Hall has several weapons at receiver including Jay Ziglor, Marques Owens and Mason Babay. We expect another stout performance from the Hoyas defense, led by Ryan Smith and Victor Pless. We like them by three touchdowns this week over the Knights.

The Etowah Eagles will be looking to bounce back this week as they host the South Forsyth War Eagles on Friday. Quarterback Dalton Miller did throw for over 250 yards and 1-TD, but was sacked seven times. Jackson Manns led the way at receiver, catching 7 passes and going over 100 yards receiving. In Week-1 it was Remington Adams who carried the load for the Eagles at running back, last week Klivert Many was the workhorse.

The South Forsyth War Eagles had a furious comeback attempt fall just short last week against Blessed Trinity, one of the top teams in Class 4-A. For the War Eagles, both Joe Slott and Kyle Durham have led the way at quarterback. The duo is completing 65% of their passes for 610 yards and 3-TDs. But they’ve also been intercepted 5 times. So minimizing turnovers will be key against the Etowah defense. Tre Green has rushed for 193 yards and 5-TDs on the season, so we’d expect for that trend to continue. He’s averaging 4.6 yards per carry. We expect for Etowah to bounce back from last week, but we still think the War Eagles win this one. We like South by 5.

The Creekview Grizzlies travel to face the Allatoona Buccaneers this Friday in another Region 6-6A showdown. The Grizzlies have opened the season with two big wins and a win this week will get them off to a great start in Region play. Brody Rhodes had another big game last week as he eclipsed the century mark in passing and rushing. Meanwhile, Ethan Dirrim is probably the most versatile athlete on the field having an impact on both sides of the ball. Last week, Dirrim had two touchdowns on offense and also had an interception on defense.

The Allatoona Buccaneers had last week off after narrowly losing to Cartersville in Week-1. Dante Marshall will need to be accurate this week, as he only completed 45% of his passes against Cartersville. Sophomore Jylan Thomas got the bulk of the carries at running back for the Bucs in Week-1. Allatoona’s strength will again be their defense. They have always been a physical team. Expect the same this week from guys like Eric Carty, Calvin Rucker and Cam Carty. An “x-factor” in this game could be Allatoona kicker Jude Kelly. Kelly set the school record with a 54-yard field goal against Cartersville. He’s also averaging 49 yards per punt. We think this game will be much closer than last year. This game might come down to a Jude Kelly field goal; but we like the Grizzlies by two in a mild upset on the road.

The Cherokee Warriors will host the North Hall Trojans as the two teams square off for only the second time. Cherokee is coming off a big win against county rival Sequoyah. Keith Adams Rushed for 100 yards and 1-TD and AJ Swann passed for 102 yards and 1-TD.  While the Warriors offense did get into the endzone twice last week, it was the defense that was most impressive. Patrick Dahlen made plays all over the field and intercepted two passes including one to seal the game late in the endzone. Meanwhile TJ Parks, Braesean Parker, Toby Thompson and the rest of the Warriors defensive were harassing the Chiefs quarterback all night.

But don’t expect for North Hall to test the Warriors secondary too much. The Trojans are a run first team. In their first two games, the Trojans are averaging 314 yards per game. Quarterback Trey Sanders has only attempted 9 passes. Senior running back J.T. Fair leads the team with 283 yards on the young season. Cody Smith and Jacob Dickey have also combined for 300 yards on the ground and 2-TDs. The Trojans defense also recorded a shutout last week as they blanked Jackson County 16-0. Two questions this week that we believe will determine the outcome: 1. Whether North Hall’s offensive line will wear down Cherokee’s young front; and 2. Can A.J. Swann be a little more accurate on his downfield throws? Either way, we like the Warriors by 4 this week.