The high school football season rolls on in Georgia. This is Part I of our GHSA Football Previews that we like to call Eight Greats Around The State. Our first preview features the Marietta-Grayson matchup. This is perhaps the biggest game in the state in terms of star talent on both sides of the field. The defending 3A State Champion Cedar Grove Saints will make a return trip to face 7-A power McEachern. The Saints are fresh off of a big win in Colorado. Will they be road weary or will they have enough in the tank for revenge against McEachen this season. There’s a big Region 7-5A matchup this week as Kell travels to Rome on Friday night. Rome looks to be back on track, but can they slow down the Kell freshman running back? Our last preview features the Appling County Pirates and the Dodge County Indians. Coach Tomberlain has the Pirates looking like a contender this year in 3-A, but will Dodge County edge the Pirates as they did a year ago? As always, please feel free to share and comment.
Key:
TFR – Turd Ferguson Report
GSWA – Georgia Sports Writer Association
NR – Not Ranked
The Skinny
The Grayson Rams and Marietta Blue Devils will face off this weekend in a battle of Class 7A powers. Both teams come into the game undefeated. Grayson got the best of Marietta last season, but the Blue Devils look the part of a title contender this season. Harrison Bailey has passed for 882 yards and 9-TDs, while Kimani Vadal has rushed for 239 yards and 4-TDs. Arik Gilbert leads the Blue Devils with 24 catches and 415 yards receiving. Ricky White has also caught 21 balls for 270 yards. On defense, seniors Rashad Torrence and BJ Ojulari lead the team in total tackles with 26 and 24 respectively. Ojulari also leads the team with 2.5 sacks.
Grayson was off last week, but proved that they aren’t just a one-trick pony in their win against Tucker two weeks ago. LaFayette Gurvin rushed for over 180 yards and scored on the ground and through the air, for a total of three offensive touchdowns to help pace the Rams offense. Quarterback C.J. Dixon also threw three touchdown passes in the win against Tucker. Dixon has passed for over 475 yards and 5-TDs on the season. This game has all of the makings of a state title match-up. Both teams should be able to score plenty of points. However, we believe Bailey will out-duel Dixon. We like the Blue Devils by a touchdown on the road.
The Skinny
The Cedar Grove Saints return to action in Georgia this week. Last week, the Saints beat the defending Colorado 5A State Champs, Valor Christian on the road. This week, they will get their chance again as they visit 7A power McEachern. Chavon Wright rushed for 129 yards, while Janiran Bonner caught 5 passes for 78 yards and 1-TD last week. Meanwhile Tee Denson had the highlight of the night for the Saints as he returned an interception 100-yards to seal the victory for the Saints. We believe they will need another big outing from Denson and the rest of the defense in order to slow down McEachern.
Meanwhile, the McEachern Indians are off to a hot start offensively. Junior quarterback Carlos Del Rio has passed for 457 yards and 4-TDs while Jordan Simmons has rushed for 75 yards and 4-TDs. Javon Baker leads the Indians in receiving with 9 receptions for 177 yards and 2-TDs while Dacari Collins has caught 7 passes for 160 yards and 2-TDs. The McEachern defense has tallied 5 sacks in their first two games and is only giving up 5 points per game. This should be another great contest similar to last year’s game, but we like the Indians to pull away in the second half. McEachern by 10.
The Skinny
Region 7-5A gets started in a big way as the Kell Longhorns travel to Barron Stadium to face the Rome Wolves. The Kell defense pitched a shutout last week against Lassiter and also kept Mays in check for most of the game in Week-1. The Longhorns defense returned an interception for a touchdown in the game last week. The big question for the Longhorns is whether they can get freshman running back David Mbadinga going on offense.
Rome also had a big win last week as the knocked of North Clayton 63-6. The Wolves scored all of their touchdowns on the ground last week and did it by committee. EJ Burks and Trey Lawrence each had three touchdowns in the victory. This week will certainly be a step up in competition for the Wolves. Rome proved they can light up the scoreboard, but how will they fair against a Kell defense that has only surrendered 12 points this season? We do believe the Kell defense will test Rome, but we think the Rome offensive line will wear them down. We like the Wolves by two touchdowns.
The Skinny
The Appling County Pirates host the Dodge County Indians this Friday in Bagley. Appling is averaging 366 yards on the ground in their first two games. A trio of juniors leads the team in rushing, Sharode Roberts (150 yards, 1-TD), quarterback Jeremiah Holmes (117 yards, 2-TDs) and Keyshawn Walker (104 yards , 1-TD). Senior R.J. Connaway has chipped in 88 yards and 2-TDs on the season. The Pirates have only attempted 13 passes in the two games they’ve played to date. Sharode Roberts also leads the team with 10 total tackles while defensive end Darris Smith leads the team in sacks with 2.5.
The Dodge County Indians will be looking to bounce back after last weeks loss to West Laurens. Daylon Gordon leads the way for the Indians offense on the ground. The junior has rushed for 369 yards and 4-TDs. Although last week he was bottled up by the West Laurens defense and only rushed for 47 yards. Mikhail Carr and Keldrick Beck have been the top receivers for Dodge County combining for 13 catches and 200 yards. Beck has also picked off 3 passes in the secondary for the Indians. We believe that both of these teams will score more than the 21 points combined last season, but we also like the home team Pirates by six this week.