As the football season enters its fifth week, here are five questions to be answered with Friday’s games in Class 7A.
1. Can Cherokee end Cartersville’s 62-game winning streak in regular-season games? Both teams are 4-0. Cherokee’s offense is led by the junior trio of QB A.J. Swann (789 yards passing), RB Keith Adams Jr. (487 yards rushing) and WR Adarrius Harshaw (273 yards receiving).
2. Can Lambert win again? The Longhorns are the 12th team in history to start a season 4-0 after finishing 0-10 the previous year and can become the seventh of those to start 5-0. Their opponent is county rival South Forsyth (2-0).
3. How will Milton do against the two-time defending Class 2A champions? Cedar Grove, making its season debut, comes to Milton. Milton QB Devin Ferrell is 30-of-43 passing for 402 yards and has rushed for 109 yards. Jordan McDonald has rushed for 237 yards. DE Lebbeus Overton, the nation’s No. 1 sophomore recruit according to 247Sports, has 5.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for losses and three forced fumbles.
4. How will Tift County do against the defending class 1A Public champion, Irwin County? These teams are from bordering counties, but size usually keeps them apart. This is their first meeting in Ocilla since 1964.
5. Just how good exactly are Parkview and North Gwinnett? Both were in the top five in preseason. North Gwinnett beat Parkview 21-0, and then North lost to Lovejoy 19-6. Both have challenges Friday as North is an eight-point favorite over Archer while Parkview is an 11-point choice over 2019 champion Marietta, according to the computer Maxwell Ratings.
Final note: Harrison, citing COVID-19 issues, canceled its game with Westlake, but region rival Hillgrove stepped in to take on Westlake instead. Hillgrove is a six-point favorite against Class 6A’s No. 3 team. That should be a good one.
Here are the projected margins of victory for games involving Class 7A teams this week.
Brookwood at North Paulding -19
Calhoun vs. Woodstock -22
Cartersville at Cherokee -7
Collins Hill at Alpharetta -28
Dacula at Mountain View -10
Discovery at Berkmar -21
East Coweta at Northgate -14
Gainesville at Forsyth Central -5
Hillgrove vs. Westlake -6
McEachern vs. Newton -11
Meadowcreek vs. Duluth -10
Mill Creek vs. West Forsyth -11
Milton vs. Cedar Grove -2
Newnan vs. Harris Co. -17
Norcross vs. Dunwoody -42
North Cobb vs. Etowah -35
North Forsyth vs. Denmark -28
North Gwinnett vs. Archer -8
Parkview vs. Marietta -11
Pebblebrook vs. Riverdale -5
Roswell at Campbell -38
South Forsyth vs. Lambert -14
South Gwinnett vs. Shiloh -17
Tift Co. at Irwin Co. -11
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