The high school football enters the fifth of 12 regular-season weeks on Friday. Here are five games to watch:
*Mill Creek at West Forsyth – This is the big one. Mill Creek, ranked No. 3, is allowing 10 points per game and negative rushing yards for the season against three good opponents (Parkview, Norcross, Dacula). West Forsyth, ranked No. 10, is averaging 40 points per game against three good teams (Carver of Atlanta, Cartersville, Walton). And West Forsyth has Class 7A’s second leading rusher, Peyton Streko.
*South Forsyth at Lambert – Region play begins in Region 6, and these teams enter at 2-1. It’s a region with nice parity, meaning every game will have ramifications on the final standings, which figure to look like a knot in November. The Maxwell Rating project South as a six-point favorite. Also playing this week are North Forsyth at Denmark and Forsyth Central at Gainesville. Region favorite West Forsyth begins its region slate next week.
*Meadowcreek at Duluth: Why is a game between 0-3 and 1-2 teams interesting? It’s a Region 7 opener, and both are on the bubble of making the playoffs, according to the Maxwell Ratings. And it should be close. Duluth is a one-point favorite. Duluth is the third-highest rated team in the region, per Maxwell, and Meadowcreek is fourth, both well behind frontrunners Norcross and Archer.
*North Gwinnett at Archer: Why is a game between 2-2 and 0-3 teams interesting? These are just two good teams that like to play hard schedules. Both are among the top 16 teams in the class, according to Maxwell. Archer, which lost only 15-13 last week to Grayson, is the favorite to win Region 7 over defending champion Norcross, according to the computer. North Gwinnet has bounced back with wins over Parkview and Lovejoy after losing to Alabama power Hoover and Jones County.
*Parkview at Marietta: Two traditionally good programs play at Marietta’s Northcutt Stadium. One has been far more impressive than the other so far, though. Marietta, a 15-point favorite in the game, has beaten McEachern and Camden County handily after a tight loss to No. 5 Colquitt County in the opener. The Blue Devils are averaging 33 points per game against a tough schedule. Parkview is 2-2 with losses to Mill Creek and North Gwinnett.
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