Woodward Academy and Marist will go on the road to face reigning champions from other states in the second weekend of the high school football season.
Fifth-ranked Woodward Academy will face McCallie, a three-time defending champ in Tennessee’s Class 3A Division II, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium.
Woodward Academy is coming off a victory against another state champion, defeating Trinity Christian 37-19 last week. Trinity Christian was Georgia’s Class A Private champion last season before moving up to Class 4A this year. Jalen Woods had 294 passing yards, Ben Grice had 159 receiving yards, and Sam Reese had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.
The War Eagles are trying to become the fourth Georgia team this season to beat a reigning out-of-state champion after Buford, Prince Avenue Christian and Commerce accomplished the feat last week.
McCallie has won 17 consecutive games.
Marist will take on Pike Road, the reigning champion of Alabama’s Class 5A, and both teams will be trying to bounce back from a loss. Marist fell behind 27-7 in the first half and eventually lost to Gainesville 34-23 in Josh Niblett’s debut as the Red Elephants’ head coach. Pike Road lost to Hillcrest of Tuscaloosa 28-21 following a dominant 14-0 season in 2021.
Marist got within 27-23 against Gainesville on a 71-yard touchdown run by D.J. Mazzone with 9:05 left, but the War Eagles got no closer despite holding Gainesville to minus-7 total yards in the second half.
Here are some of the other notable games this weekend involving Class 6A schools. All games are Friday.
*Camden County at Brunswick: Garrett Grady’s debut as Brunswick’s head coach was a successful one as his Pirates defeated Andrew Jackson of Florida 23-13 in Week 1. Now, the Pirates face a Camden County team that was stunned by Class 2A Columbia 13-10 last week. Brunswick has won 13 consecutive regular-season games, while Camden has lost eight of its last nine overall.
*Eagle’s Landing Christian at Blessed Trinity: These private schools moved up one classification this year after winning multiple state titles in lower classes. Blessed Trinity is ranked No. 6 in Class 6A, and ELCA is No. 1 in 2A. The have met only twice, with Blessed Trinity winning both (24-21 in 2021, 38-14 in 2020). ELCA’s Brandon Hood rushed for 204 yards in a season-opening win.
*Perry at Houston County: Houston County will look to avenge a 36-13 loss to Perry in last year’s season opener. Perry was off last week and is ranked No. 4 in Class 4A. Houston County’s Antwann Hill was the leading passer in Region 1-6A in Week 1, completing 20 of 25 attempts for 260 yards and a touchdown in a 41-7 victory over Sumter County. Ricky Johnson had nine catches for 121 yards.
*Hughes at McEachern: Top-ranked Hughes continues a rugged non-region portion of its schedule when it heads to one of Cobb County’s premier programs. Hughes was impressive in its opener, picking up a 47-16 victory over Spartanburg, the No. 4-ranked team in South Carolina’s highest class. Prentiss “Air” Noland passed for 193 yards and four touchdowns, two to Jovanni McGee.
*Northside-Warner Robins at Peach County: Northside fell out of the top 10 after a 27-21 loss to Class 5A No. 3 Jones County. The Greyhounds held Northside to 222 total yards (40 passing). Peach County of Class 3A has played Northside close of late, as five of the last eight meeting have been decided by eight points or less, although Northside won six of those eight and leads the series 13-5.
*St. Pius at Flowery Branch: These teams split relatively close regular-season games the past two season, and they come into this meeting off of even closer games last week. Class 5A Flowery Branch beat Decatur 39-38, while St. Pius defeated Dacula 10-7. St. Pius got the winning touchdown on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Will Moreman to Jack Tchienchou with 8:17 remaining.
*South Paulding at Carrollton: Carrollton beat South Paulding twice when the teams met as Region 5-6A rivals the past two years, although both teams finished tied with Rome for first place in 2021. Carrollton is in Class 7A now. The game will feature a matchup between quarterbacks Kasen Wiseman of South Paulding (committed to Kansas) and freshman star Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis of Carrollton.
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