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Patriots at Northgate best bet tonight

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Many of the local teams are either playing on the road or are off tonight, but football fans are urged to take the trip to Newnan to watch what promises to be one of the key matchups in region 4-AAAA when Northgate (2-0) hosts Sandy Creek (1-0).

• Region 4-AAAAA: Fayette County (0-2) hopes to get on track this season in this week’s home game against South Gwinnett (1-1). The Tigers have put up close to 200 yards rushing in both of their games, but have had trouble sustaining drives. If they work hard and have a bit of luck, which has eluded them so far this season, the Tigers could put one in the win column. South Gwinnett lost their opener to North Gwinnett 20-15 and then defeated South Forsyth 21-0.

Starr’s Mill (2-0) is looking good. Their defense has been stellar thus far and their offense, which only clicked at times in their opener against Walton, looked better in last week’s game. Coach Mike Earwood is hoping to cut down on turnovers and see more long drives from his offense in tonight’s game against Spalding (0-2). Spalding has lost to Salem 20-9 and to Upson Lee 14-6, but Earwood saw improvement in their play from game one to game two. The Panthers will need to play hard to assure a 3-0 start.

• Region 4-AAAA: Sandy Creek (1-0) had a week off to prepapre for their game at Northgate tonight. The Patriots looked good in their opener against Villa Rica. They rushed for close to 200 yards and the first-string defense, which played for three quarters, held Villa Rica to 11 total yards. A repeat performance of those numbers would almost guarantee a win. However, Northgate is a more formidable foe. The Vikings have wins over region opponent Woodward Academy (17-0) and Haralson County (29-6). Though it would be very early in the season, with a win the Patriots would sit atop the region standings at 2-0 with Northgate, Douglas County and Woodward all with a region loss.

McIntosh (1-1), which fell to Villa Rica 20-7 last week, is off this week. They will play at Sandy Creek next Friday. Whitewater (1-1) lost to Heard County 26-20 last week. The Wildcats played the McIntosh JV yesterday evening after the paper went to press.

• Region 5-A: Landmark Christian (1-1) won big (54-20) over Cross Keys last week, getting 198 yards passing for four touchdowns from quarterback Matt Moody while Miles King got 244 yards of offense from rushes and receptions and scored five touchdowns. Landmark’s defense was also solid, taking two interceptions back for touchdowns and getting standout performances from Rome Smith, Tim Creamer and Aaron Braxton. Tonight, they travel to take on Social Circle (0-2), a team that has lost to Monroe Area 21-7 and Monticello 20-12. The War Eagles would like to see continued improvement tonight on both sides of the ball.

Our Lady of Mercy (0-2) lost a close one to Walker last week, 14-13. Coach Curtis Barrineau saw a great deal of improvement from his team in the second week and is hoping to see that trend continue tonight when they host Oglethorpe County (1-1). Oglethorpe will give the Bobcats a tough match. They lost their opener to Banks County 30-27 and then defeated North Oconee 38-0 last week. Our Lady of Mercy will need to block well to help their running game get past Oglethorpe’s big defense while the Bobcat defense will need to neutralize Oglethorpe’s speed if they are to nab their first win of the season.

All games scheduled for tonight will start at 7:30 p.m.