FLOYD FOOTBALL FRIDAY
♦ Five local teams will be in action Friday, with another playing Saturday.
The high school football season marches forward as we arrive in week three. This week features a full slate of games going down. Coosa travels north across the state line to Chattanooga, Darlington, Model, Pepperell and Unity Christian host, while Rome travels to Cherokee. The stage is set, the hype is real. This is week three.
Coosa (1-0) at Lookout Valley
(Tenn.) (2-2), 7:30 p.m.
The Coosa Eagles, flying high after a quadruple-overtime thriller over Trion last Friday, are north of the state line in the Scenic City to face Lookout Valley High School. The Eagles were originally supposed to play the Armuchee Indians, but a quarantine forced the Eagles to hunt down a new opponent.
Eagles head coach Joey Mathis said Lookout Valley came into the picture due to the friendship between himself at Lookout Valley head coach Joshua Payne.
“We just had talked about a similar open
date,” Mathis said in a phone interview. “(I) had looked here in Georgia and we could just never find a common opponent ..., so it worked out and we were able to schedule.” The two schools have never played before. “(The kids) take pride in hopefully putting a quality product on the field every single Friday night,” Mathis said. “A team
that plays hard, regardless of the score.”
The Lookout Valley Yellow Jackets are 2-2 in 2020, their most recent game a 46-19 loss to Brainerd (Tenn.). Tennessee High School football started two weeks before the GHSA.
“They’re going to be well-coached. They’ve got a good program,” Mathis said. “They’re going to be a tough, hard-nosed team and if you don’t go up there and bring your Agame ... they’re definitely a team that can beat you.”
St. Francis (0-2) at Darlington
(1-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Darlington Tigers, after a 32-7 drubbing of Lakeview Academy, remain on home turf as they welcome the St. Francis Knights to Chris Hunter Stadium.
“I thought our effort was really good just like I had anticipated,” Tigers head coach Tommy Atha said on last Friday’s contest. “We made a lot of inexperience mistakes. I was pleased with the way we were able to spread the field Friday. We have a lot of confidence in our ability to run the football, and we were able to throw the ball and catch it effectively, and that’s only going to work in our favor as the year goes on.”
The Knights’ most recent loss came at home against Athens Christian 43-7. The Knights have found the end zone on just two occasions so far this season.
“They’re very athletic,” Atha said on St. Francis. “They’ve got a lot of really good skill players. I know they’re young up front, but they’re going to get better and better every week.”
This is the first meeting between the two schools.
“I’ve known Coach ( Frank) Barden a long time,” Atha said. “I know they’ll be coached up and get better each week so I know it’s a huge challenge for us.”
Trion (0-1) at Model (1-1),
7:30 p.m.
The Trion Bulldogs and the Model Blue Devils lock horns for the 43rd time. It will be senior night at Model High School.
“For the first time, we’re able to see a 2020 opponent on film, so that’s a posi
tive in a sense,” Blue Devils head coach Jeff Hunnicutt said. “We struggle defensively as far as tackling and they have a very good running back. Now these kids have got a game-and-a-half basically under their belt, so they’re really close to us as far as game shape.”
Model is fresh off a 21-20 come-frombehind road win at Lafayette High School.
“I think this is where we should see another jump as far as from game one to two and now two to three. We’ve got to clean up some things offensively as far as turnovers. Defensively, we’ve got to get better tackling. That’s one thing we’re struggling with.
Trion maintains a 25-16-1 series lead in head-to-head. Model is 1-7 in its last eight games against the Bulldogs. The last Blue Devils victory came in 2008.
While senior night typically comes at the end of the season, Model will honor their seniors under the lights
“We’re a senior-led team, so I think you’ll see the maturity come out of our group,” Hunnicutt said.
Bremen (2-0) at Pepperell (0-2),
7 p.m. Saturday
We have not one but two nights of football this week in Floyd County as the Bremen Blue Devils visit the Pepperell Dragons on Saturday at 7 p.m.
“Another quality opponent. Very wellcoached, very sound in what they do offensively and defensively,” Dragons head coach Rick Hurst said. “I think it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Pepperell decided to move the game from Friday to Saturday because of rain expected to move through northwest Georgia.
Hurst said tackling is the big focus prior to Saturday’s tilt, as the previous week’s game film against Heard County was revealing.
“I just feel like if we made tackles at the point of contact, we probably win that game last week,” Hurst said. “One of the biggest parts of the game is blocking and tackling, and tackling-wise, we didn’t do a good job the last couple of weeks and it shows. We’ve concentrated on that a lot this week and, hopefully, an extra day of work will pay off.”
The Dragons currently maintain a 3-21 record all-time against the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils and Dragons first met in 1937, a 33- 0 Bremen win. Pepperell’s last meeting with Bremen came in 1983, a 14-6 Dragon victory.
Rome (1-0) at Cherokee (2-0),
7:30 p.m.
The Rome Wolves are back under the Friday night lights after a bye week last week. This week, they travel to Cherokee High School for their first road contest of the season.
The Cherokee Warriors are 2-0 to start their 2020 campaign with victories over Carver ( Atlanta) in a Corky Kell Classic game and, most recently, Sequoyah, a 4120 home win.
The quarterback battle will feature Cherokee junior AJ Swann and Rome senior Caleb Ellard. Through two games, Swann has thrown for 523 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Ellard went 6-for-13 for 75 yards, two touchdowns and one pick against Rockmart in the season opener. Ellard also had one rushing score.
The bulk of carries for both sides will likely feature senior EJ Burks for Rome and junior Keith Adams Jr. for Cherokee. Burks notched 89 yards on 16 carries and one score while Adams registered 308 yards of 33 carries and three trips to the end zone.
Fideles (1-1) at Unity Christian
(2-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Unity Christian Lions, fresh off their 30-18 victory over defending state champ Peachtree Academy, return to Grizzard Park to officially welcome in the new home turf with Fideles Christian Rangers.
“Big win for our program, ... but we’ve got to build on that,” Lions defensive coordinator Samuel Mumpower said. “We’re trying to mantain our focus. What we worked on this week was really just improving on what we did last week against Peachtree.”
The Rangers are 1- 1 in 2020, coming off their first victory 56- 14 over Praise Academy.