Class 5A blog: Creekside-Cartersville tops week’s best games

Top 10 teams battle: Westlake vs. Creekside

Top 10 teams battle: Westlake vs. Creekside

No. 2 Creekside is looking to take down another one of the state’s major players this week when it travels to play No. 5 Cartersville.

The Seminoles (2-0) have already beaten defending Class 7A champion Grayson and Class 6A No. 3 Westlake, one of its biggest rivals. Cartersville (2-0) played for the state championship last year and is perennially among the best programs in the state.

The game will be televised by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Creekside is led on offense by quarterback Nyqua Lett, who has thrown for 205 yards and three touchdowns, and running backs Kamauri Davis and Cameron Burch. The quick physical defense features Vincent Hill (29 tackles), Javeon Miller (five sacks) and sophomore cornerback Ricky McCrary.

Cartersville quarterback Jake Parker has thrown for 346 yards and three touchdowns and has a pair of productive backs in Malachi Jeffries (132 yards, five TDs) and Khristian Lando. Top tacklers on defense are Kace Adams, Jaylen Benham and Jake Brasfield.

Cartersville won last year’s game 21-18.

Northside vs. Warner Robins: No. 1 Warner Robins has won the last four meetings in one of the top handful of rivalries in Georgia. Both teams had last week off – it was a scheduled bye week for Warner Robins, while Northside didn’t play thanks to Howard’s forfeit.

First-year starting quarterback Christon Lane has thrown for 436 yards and four touchdowns and Malcolm Brown has rushed for 340 yards and five touchdowns. The deep receiving corps is led by Daveon Walker and Deuce Petty, a pair of speedy game-breaking players.

Starr’s Mill at Sandy Creek: The Fayette County rivals renew hostilities for the 10th time. Starr’s Mill broke a two-game losing streak to the Patriots a year ago with a 10-7 win. Starr’s Mill (2-1) has lot of weapons in the backfield, chief among them B-back Brandon Mathis, who has rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Sandy Creek Geimere Latimer is a two-way threat – he’s thrown for 460 yards and four touchdowns and run for 80 yards and two touchdowns – and has a number of potential targets, including Miles Thornton, J.B. Phillips and John Hopson.

Perry at Veterans: Veterans (1-1) took a big step last week by going to Jones County and boldly knocking off the Greyhounds in overtime. Junior QB Matthew Bruce has thrown for 382 yards and three touchdowns and run for 152 and two touchdowns. Demare Franklin has 12 catches for a 19.3-yard average. Now the Warhawks have some backyard bragging rights at stake when they host Class 3A No. 3 Perry (2-0). Quarterback Armar Gordon Jr. has thrown for 529 yards and five touchdowns. The Panthers are coming off an impressive 21-0 win over Crisp County. Veterans is 3-0 against Perry since Milan Turner arrived as head coach. Veterans leads the series 7-4.

Ola at Dutchtown: Although the teams have pedestrian records – Ola is 1-2, Dutchtown is 1-2 – this game could decide the Region 4 championship. That’s what happened a year ago when Ola prevailed 20-6 and went on to win its first region title. Ola’s offense is led by Jake Hall, who had 1,834 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. Dutchtown has struggled to find its offensive identity, but remains a strong defensive unit. The Bulldogs allowed Douglas County’s powerful offense to score only nine points last week.

Jones County at Union Grove: The winner will have a leg up in the Region 4 race. Jones (1-2) has scored plenty of points – 104 in three games – but has struggled to stop the opposition. Union Grove (2-1) bounced back from a loss to Spalding and upset then-No. 6 Starr’s Mill last week.

No. 3 Ware County had its game cancelled by Thomson.