River Ridge had a dream season in 2020.
The Cherokee County school had recorded just one winning season (8-2 against a non-region schedule in 2011) and made one playoff appearance (2012) since opening in 2009. However, in their second year under head coach Michael Collins, the Knights turned everything around.
River Ridge put together a 9-0 regular season in 2020, won its first region title and advanced for the first time to the quarterfinals, where it was eliminated 49-31 by eventual runner-up Lee County to finish with an 11-1 record.
“This has meant the world to our school, our community, these young men, and I’m just so happy to be a part of what these young men have accomplished this year with everything that’s been going on [with COVID] and everything that’s still going on,” Collins said after the loss. “It gave us something to hang on to for a while. It was just an unbelievable run. I hate that it’s over, but now we can sit back and appreciate how good of a run it was.”
The good times have continued into 2021 for the Knights, who are 4-0 overall and 1-0 in Region 7-6A after their 33-7 victory over Chattahoochee last week in the opening game of region play. River Ridge is a leading candidate to win the title this year, but it’s not the only contender in what has been a strong region through the first five weeks of the season.
Here’s a look at the other teams in Region 7 and how the playoff race could shake out.
Creekview was the preseason pick of the computer Maxwell Ratings to win the region championship, but the Grizzlies (3-1, 0-1) find themselves in an early hole after opening region play with a 7-0 loss to Cambridge last week. Creekview finished in second place last season after losing to River Ridge 2017. The Grizzlies begin a tough stretch of games against Sequoyah, River Ridge and Riverwood on Oct. 1.
Cambridge (3-0, 1-0), the third-place team in 2020, is unbeaten through three games for the first time since 2014. The victory over Creekview last week puts the Bears in prime position to earn their second consecutive playoff berth, which would be a first in the school’s 10-year history.
Two of the region’s other top playoff contenders will get a chance to measure up against each other Friday when Riverwood travels to Johns Creek.
Riverwood was an 11-1 region champion in Class 5A two years ago but slumped to 4-5 last season. The Raiders are 4-0 this year, including a 32-10 victory over Centennial last week, and are allowing just six points per game. Johns Creek had a down year in 2020, finishing 4-5, but still managed to earn a playoff berth, losing to Allatoona in the first round. The Gladiators are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the region, their only loss coming against No. 3 Carrollton (41-28) on Aug. 27.
Sequoyah (2-2, 0-1) failed to make the playoffs the past two seasons but went six times in seven seasons from 2012 to 2018. The Chiefs could have a tough time finding enough victories to get back this year, especially after losing to Johns Creek 41-20 last week.
Chattahoochee and Centennial would be considered the long shots, at best, in the eight-team region. Chattahoochee is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the region after the loss to River Ridge last week. The Cougars have reached the playoffs just once (2017) since coach Terry Crowder’s last season in 2012. Centennial is 0-4 overall (0-1 in the region) and has lost a school-record 23 consecutive games since a 38-28 victory over Northview in the final game of the 2018 regular season.
Here are the Maxwell preseason projections for the final Region 7 standings:
1. Creekview
2. Johns Creek
3. Sequoyah
4. River Ridge
5. Cambridge
6. Riverwood
7. Chattahoochee
8. Centennial
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