Phoenix seek 2nd straight Region win this Friday
The Sonoraville High School football team could not have picked a better time to win their first region game of the season.
With its 47-12 triumph over LakeviewFort Oglethorpe in an important AAA Region 6 contest last Friday night before a large homecoming crowd at The Furnace, the Phoenix not only snapped a two-game losing streak, but got right back into the middle of the region playoff picture.
Now they will attempt to get back to .500 in the league with their second twogame win streak of the season when they host Murray County.
For the Phoenix, the win against LFO was the panacea they were seeking.
They notched six touchdowns, scored points in every quarter, had a number of big plays, and got 11 points in the kicking game with foreign exchange student Ivan Agua making five of his six extra-point tries and two field goals.
They also had a number of big plays that were called back on penalties, including a 96-yard run, a touchdown throw, kickoff return, and a long punt return. Had flags not come out on those plays, they would have likely topped the 60 or even 70-point barrier.
The game also marked the return of junior running back Zack Lyles, who had the 96-yard touchdown rush reversed. He was possibly the team’s biggest offensive threat when he went down with a leg injury three weeks ago, so his return is a big positive for an offense that already has a number of playmakers.
Sophomore Wyatt Springfield has been more than reliable at keeping their ground game stable with his running ability in filling in for Lyles, but he is also one of the team’s top defenders from his linebacker position and has been an ironman with his double-duty work the first monthand-a-hakf of the season.
One of Springfield’s many jobs is punt returner and he did his job very well Friday night against LFO, taking the free kick return after a safety back 76 yards for a touchdown to break the game open at 31-7 just before half-time.
The Phoenix offense basically rolled the entire game, scoring points in every quarter, with 14 in the first and 23 in the second en route to a 37-6 lead at intermission. They would add an Agua field goal and a fourth quarter touchdown just finished their highest scoring game of the season.
Agua, a foreign exchange student from Spain, has given the team a big boost in the kicking game, having made two field goals and nine extra points in his first two games for his new team.
The Phoenix had their struggles in that
area in their final non-district game against Fannin County, making just two of five extrapoint attempts after touchdowns. And one of those kicks never even got off the ground, as it was a worm-burner through all the linemen’s feet.
The last thing head coach Denver Pate and his team wanted to have happen going forward is to get in an important Region or even playoff game and have a missed field goal or extra point cost them everything they have been working for.
So Agua seems to have brought some stability to that department with his ability, giving Sonoraville one more player who can put points on the scoreboard after touchdowns or on those rare occurrences when the offense stalls.
The red-and-white continue to have one of the top offenses in 3A Region 6, having scored 148 points or almost 30 an outing in the first five games this year.
But the most important thing is that 0-for gorilla in the Region is off their backs and now they can turn their attention towards getting hot over the second half of the season and getting back into the postseason.
Murray County comes into Friday night’s contest against the Phoenix looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Indians defeated Southeast Whitfield County, 35-34, in a season-opening thriller back on August 20th but have not won since and that includes four consecutive losses to start the Region docket.
They have been outscored 189-47 in those games. The Indians are coming off a 2822 loss to Coahulla Creek last Friday and have yielded 28 points in two of their four region games but they also gave up 78 points to Ringgold and 55 to Adairsville in their other two region matchups.
While the win over LFO was desperately needed for their playoff status, the Phoenix still have a lot of work to do at 1-2 in the region.
The good news about that is they play four of the six teams above them in the standings and with that schedule, they still control their own destiny because all they have to do is keep winning games.
Entering the last month of the season, Ringgold is the region leader with a 4-0 record after a 24-19 victory over previously-unbeaten Adairsville last Friday night.
Rockmart is 3-0 and technically tied with the tigers for first place because they have not lost a region game.
Adairsville and Lafayette are then tied for third place at 2-1 while North Murray and Coahulla Creek are 2-2 and Sonoraville is right behind them at 1-2.
So the Phoenix are right there and all they have to do is string a few wins together and they will get to play a week 11 game.
The Phoenix are 3-2 on the year.