Week 4 – TFR Cherokee County Football Previews

The Sequoyah Chiefs will make the long trip up to Dalton this week to take on the undefeated Catamounts in a Region 6-6A battle. Sequoyah got a big win last week against Osborne. The Chiefs racked up 185 yards on the ground against Osborne as they were often working with a short field. Jaden Mitchell scored touchdowns on the ground and through the air and sophomore Aiden Moore led the Chiefs with 66 yards rushing. The Sequoyah defense pitched their first shutout and is only surrendering 7 points per game on the season.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t heard of Jahmyr Gibbs, then we aren’t quite sure where you’ve been. Perhaps a well kept secret through his junior season, Gibbs has come out with two outstanding performances to open up his senior campaign. In two games, he has rushed for 603 yards and 12-TDs. Junior Maurice Howard has also chipped in 227 yards and 2-TDs. Quarterback Landon Allen has not had to throw too much, but he is completing 67% of his passes for 308 yards and 4-TDs. The Cats leading receiver is junior Hunter Noland. He’s caught 8 passes for 157 yards and 1-TD. Caleb Hernandez and Mauricio Quintero lead the Catamounts in total tackles on the season, both with 18. This game will come down to whichever team can have the most success running the football. That’s what both teams do best. Sequoyah will be the best defense that Dalton has faced to date. We believe the Cats are a little more experienced this season and that should be the difference. We like Dalton by two touchdowns at home.

The River Ridge Knights will look to bounce back after last weeks loss to Harrison, one of the top teams in Class 6A. It doesn’t get any easier as the Allatoona Buccaneers come calling this week. If River Ridge is going to pull the upset this week, we suspect it will involve a lot of Amehre Morrison. The sophomore runs with a combination of power and speed and is always a threat to break a long run. But the Knights will have to get the passing game going to keep the Bucs off balance.

Last week against Creekview, Allatoona got a big night from senior running back Alex Wilson who rushed for 116 yards on 16 carries. Meanwhile, Asante Das caught three passes for 123 yards and a touchdown for the Bucs. From all accounts it was a bend but don’t break performance in last weeks victory. We expect for the Bucs to be physical again this week. Defensively, Eric Carty and Calvin Rucker will surely make it difficult for the Knights to get going. We like the Bucs by four touchdowns this week against the Knights.

The Etowah Eagles look to put the brakes on a two game losing skid this week as they host the Pebblebrook Falcons. By all accounts, the Eagles have their full compliment of running backs available in Remington Adams, Klivert Many, and Nick Maddox. These backs, coupled with Dalton Miller’s ability to pass accurately should make for a lethal combination once the Eagle’s enter region play. Miller passed for over 300 yards in last week’s heart-breaking loss to South Forsyth.

The Pebblebrook Falcons were off last week and had some time to regroup after being downed by Hillgrove back on August 30^th. The Falcons were able to get some points on the board in Week-1 against rival South Cobb, but we believe that quarterback Jaquavios Jones will have his hands full with the Etowah defense. For both Etowah and Pebblebrook, turnovers doomed them in their last respective outings. Etowah is our pick to win this game this week. We like the Eagles by 10 over an athletic, but young Pebblebrook squad.

The Creekview Grizzlies will look to bounce back this week as the travel to Osborne in another Region 6-6A matchup. The Grizzlies connected for some big plays, but costly turnovers did them in against Allatoona. Brody Rhodes continues to lead the Grizzlies in passing (536 yards 6-TDs) and rushing (247 yards 1-TD) on the young season. Junior Cole Hasty has also chipped in 118 yards on the ground. We probably sound like a broken record, but Ethan Dirrim will probably be the best athlete on the field again this week. He leads the team with 20 catches for 252 yards and 3-TDs, while Andrew Cloy has caught 12 passes for 161 yards and 2-TDs. Senior Linebacker Lake Bowman continues to lead the defense with 25 total tackles on the season. The Grizzlies defense has racked up 17.5 sacks already in just 3 games. The bulk of those have come from senior lineman Nick Weeks (5.5 sacks), senior linebacker Jackson Partain (4 sacks) and freshman linebacker Isaac Hubert (5 sacks).

Meanwhile the Osborne Cardinals will look to get into the win column for the first time this season. Last week, the Cardinals were shut out by the Sequoyah Chiefs, 48-0. If Osborne is going to get a win this week, they’ll need to find some way to get more points on the board. Through three games, the Cardinals are only averaging 5 points per game. They are still going through some growing pains under second year head coach Russ Isham. We don’t expect the Grizzlies to make it much easier this week. Osborne might have the better band this week, but this could get out of hand on the field. We like the Grizzlies by six touchdowns.

The Cherokee Warriors are 3-0 for the first time since 2007. This week, they head over to Kennesaw to battle the Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs. The Warriors defense was up to the task of keeping North Hall’s offense out of the end zone last week as the Trojan’s only score came on special teams. AJ Swann had a big night last week passing for 248 yards and a touchdown, while Keith Adams rushed for 81 yards and 2-TDs. Brasean Parker (43 total tackles), Patrick Dahlen (36 total tackles) and Brandon Byrd (35 total tackles) continue to lead a Warriors defense that has not allowed an offensive touchdown in 8 quarters.

Meanwhile, the Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs enter Friday’s contest in search of their first win. The Mustangs graduated a very large senior class this past spring and for many of the players stepping in, it’s been a trial by fire in the early going. The Mustangs defense made improvements from week one, but the offense is still not firing on all cylinders. Coach Carmean does have some young talent, but the Cherokee defense will be a tough matchup for the young Kennesaw Mountain quarterback. We think the Mustangs defense will keep them in the game early, but expect for Cherokee to wear them down. We like the Warriors by 17 this week.