Friday, September 30, 2011

Metro Atlanta GAHSFB preview for 9/30/11 and GPB preview

One of the state’s premiere quarterback match-ups goes down this week when Eddie Printz of Lassiter visits Parker McLeod and the Walton Raiders this Friday in the GPB-TV game of the week. Both junior quarterbacks have college offers as Printz has pledged to SMU while McLeod has received an offer from Louisville. Tyren Jones is making a case for player of the year at Walton after starring the last two seasons at Lassiter. ... Brookwood will host South Gwinnett as the Broncos appear to have gotten past early season struggles with two straight wins including a 56-14 thrashing of Central Gwinnett last week. Look for Mark Crews to try and get plenty of carries for Nick Tompkins, the reigning Atlanta Touchdown Club’s back of the week. ... Hillgrove will host Harrison as Kenyan Drake will look to improve on his eleven touchdowns. ... Kell travels to Pope to face the Greyhounds. The Longhorns are still reeling from a 34-0 defeat to East Paulding a few weeks back. Pope meanwhile is undefeated but needed two overtimes last week to subdue Osborne. ... North Hall is just 1-3 but Imani Cross has been running hard all season long. Cross and the Trojans will try to deny Chestatee a second-ever win in the series. ... No. 2 McEachern is back in action after a week off, hitting the road to face South Cobb. ... Grayson was tapped as No. 7 in the recent USA Today poll and the Rams travel to an improving Shiloh team. ... In the “Battle of Johns Creek,” Chattahoochee hosts Johns Creek as the Gladiators enter undefeated to face the defending AAAA champs. Johns Creek will be looking for revenge after losing to the Cougars 48-14 one year ago.

GPB.org game of the week

Tonight Ringgold faces Heritage in a match-up that means a great deal to the community as Ringgold recovers from tornado damage with assistance from Heritage. Tim James, head coach of Heritage High School, looks at the rivalry as a healthy one. “I think (the recovery) has pulled us together as a community,” said James earlier this week. For all of the feel-good vibes that will be felt before the game, the game itself could end up serving as a playoff elimination game.

“What they did for us, we’re very grateful,” said Ringgold head coach Robert Akins. “But when it comes to Friday night, it’s a competition.” Ringgold enters the game 3-1 and coming off of a loss so the Tigers will be motivated even more so, if that is possible.

Heritage meanwhile is 4-0 but is still seeking its first-ever win over Ringgold. The Generals missed the playoffs by a whisker last year with a 5-5 record, but three losses were by six points or less. James has a strong offensive line led by seniors Justin Adekoya and Luke Sims who pave the way for running back Ethan Thompson and his 109 yards per game. Jake Sampson and Cody Sherlin have also hooked up for a high rate of success through the air. Heritage is seeking its first victory of the season against a team with at least one win to its credit and its first victory in this series. Heritage never beaten Ringgold in a varsity game and senior Brandon Giaccone called this “the biggest game we’ve ever had.”

Ringgold will look to pound the ball on the ground as it has thus far this season. The Tigers average 237 yards on the ground and senior running back Mark Fairbanks appears on pace for another 1000 yard season. Slade Dell and Shaun Anderson also pile up yardage from the offensive backfield.

GPB.org/sports’ coverage begins at 7 P.M. with a special extended pre-game show to highlight the Ringgold recovery efforts.

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