As strange as it might seem, this week ushers in Week-4 of the High School Football season in Georgia. This is Part one of our previews which we like to call Eight Gretas Around the State.
Our first preview features a game between top-1o teams as Borrkwood hosts Mill Creek. Mill Creek holds the edge in the series, but the Broncos looked to have found their stride. Can Mill Creek’s DBs keep the Brookwood receivers in check? Down in Decatur County, Bainbridge hosts Thomasville in a rivalry that started back in 1916. Bainbridge may have one of the toughest early season schedules. Will they be able to slow down Thomasville?
Milton and Hapeville Charter will lock horns in Milton on Friday. Both teams played on Milton’s field last week, albeit against different opponents. Can Hapeville Charter move the ball with consistency against Milton’s opportunistic defense? Finally, the Johns Creek Gladiators will host Westlake. Johns Creek looks to rebound against one of the top teams in Class 6A. Can Westlake’s defense get the job done for the second week in a row?
As always, thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment and share. Best of luck to all teams that are competing this weekend.
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The Skinny
The Brookwood Broncos are off to their first 2-0 start since 2016. The Broncos are led on offense by sophomore quarterback Dylan Lonergran who’s thrown for 780 yards and 7-TDs. Alex Diggs has added 99 yards and 4-TDs on the ground while Samuel Mbake and Denylon Morrissette lead the Brookwood receivers with 27 combined catches for 379 yards and 4-TDs. The Broncos are averaging 41.5 points per game this far. Defensively, Jordan Davenport and Princeton Brown lead the team in total tackles.
The Mill Creek Hawks opened their season with a win over a tough Dacula team. M.J. Patterson got the start for Mill Creek at quarterback and threw for 166 yards and 2-TDs. He was flanked by Josh Battle who rushed for 123 yards in the game. Seven different receivers caught passes for Mill Creek on Friday. The Hawks defensive line is anchored by Brayden Dudley and Prince Morgan while Emon Hill and Caleb Downs will patrol the secondary for Mill Creek. Brookwood’s receivers versus the Mill Creek secondary should be a fun matchup. We have a feeling this game will come down to the wire. We’ll give the edge to the home team. Brookwood by 2.
The Skinny
The Bainbridge Bearcats might be the best 0-2 team in the state. They are in the midst of perhaps one of the toughest pre-region schedules. It doesn’t get much easier for Bainbridge as they host 2A power, Thomasville. It has been the usual suspects for the Bearcats on offense. Quayde Hawkins has thrown for 239 yards and 2-touchdowns while Rashad Broadnax has run for 125 yards on 27 carries. Linebacker Tahari Tate leads the team in total tackles while Zion Bouie has one interception on the season.
The Thomasville Bulldogs have won two straight after dropping the first game to Class A No. 1 Brooks County. Senior quarterback Ronnie Baker has thrown for 491 yards and 4-TDs. He’s also sports a 70% completion percentage. Ricky Fulton has been the workhorse on the ground with 117 yards on 37 carries and a touchdown while Ricardo Johnson leads the Bulldogs receivers with 13 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown. Linebackers Ty Anderson and Dimitrius Myrick lead the team in total tackles. An interesting stat of note, Thomasville has forced 11 tunrovers already this season, (4-INTs and 7-Fumbles). Again, don’t be deceived by Bainbridge’s 0-2 start. They will be in the mix come late November. However, we like Thomasville and their opportunistic defense to keep Bainbridge at bay this week. Bulldogs by 4.
The Skinny
The Milton Eagles finally got their season under way last week as they shut out Johns Creek. Junior quarterback Devin Farrell threw for 215 yards and 2-TDs in the game while Jordan McDonald rushed for 152 yardson 19 carries. Farrell completed passes to seven different receivers including freshman Debron Gatling. Sophomore L.T. Overton and Brendan Doyle recorded two sacks each. The Eagles secondary also intercepted three passes.
The Hapeville Charter Hornets will play their second consecutive game at Milton High School. Last week the fell to another 7A opponent, North Forsyth. The Hornets got behind early and could not complete the comeback. Hapeville could not get a lot going on the ground last week. However, they did have some success throwing the ball downfield. We are not sure of the status of last week’s starter, Eric Brown. Backup Rashad Render did toss a pair of second half touchdown passes for the Hornets. They will look to get pressure on the Milton quarterback with talented linemen like Nick Hunter and linebackers Zavier Carter and Devon Irving. We expect the Hornets to be in the game for the first three quarters, but we believe the 7A Eagles will wear down Hapeville. We like Milton by 16.
The Skinny
The Johns Creek Gladiators come into this game looking to get into the win column. Last week they battled Milton to a scoreless first half, but could not find their way into the endzone. Quarterback Quinn Teeples and running back Dylan Parr will be tasked with getting the Gladiators offense back on track this week. Defensively, look for Cole Nelson, David Alexander and John Stegenga to try and slow down Westlake’s versatile offensive attack.
The Westlake Lions started off their season with a win over Creekside last week. They got a big game last week in the ground with Zina Mulbah who is a shifty back that can run through arm tackles. The Lions also had a good outing from Clemson commit Dacari Collins at wide receiver. The Westlake defense did a great job of keeping Creekside out of the endzone. They stymied Creekside’s passing attack, but did allow 226 yards on the ground. That may be something that the Johns Creek Gladiators will look to exploit on Friday night. We believe the Lions will shore up the rush defense this week. Westlake by 10.