Starr's Mill Panthers coach Mike Earwood addresses his football team after their
big region win over Newnan last week. The Panthers could win the region championship
tonight with a win over Fayette County and a Newnan loss to East Coweta. Photo/Jamie
Sheriff.
Everybody wants to go out with a bang and all of the local football
teams have something special hinging on tonight’s games. Whitewater,
playing a non-region schedule this season, finished their season last
night with a home game against North Oconee.
Region 4-AAAAA
Starr’s Mill (8-1) will face Fayette County (1-8) tonight at Tiger
Stadium. The Panthers can win the region title with a win and a little
help from East Coweta. Assuming Lovejoy beats Mundy’s Mill, Starr’s
Mill beats Fayette County and East Coweta defeats Newnan, there would
be a three way tie for th top spot in the region. Starr’s Mill has
defeated a higher percentage of AAAAA teams and would take the top spot.
The Panthers can’t worry about any of that though until after the
game and Fayette County would love to play spoilers to Starr’s Mill’s
title hopes.
The Tigers have had a disappointing season and have been bitten by the
injury bug of late. They will have a lot of young players facing Starr’s
Mill for the first time and a win would make their season and give them
a good launching pad into the offseason. They have their work cut out
for them as the Panther defense played what Coach Mike Earwood felt was
one of their best games last week, citing excellent play from Justin
Dupont, Bradley Connor, Dante Allen and Carter Scurry. Their offense
is clicking as well. Kyle McCreary ran for 171 yards and four touchdowns
last week, getting a big boost from the offensive line.
County rivalries always seem to produce intriguing games and this one
is no exception.
Region 4-AAAA
Sandy Creek (9-0) has been waiting all season for tonight’s game
against Creekside (9-0). It has been assumed for weeks that these two
teams would both be undefeated coming into this game and that the winner
would be crowned region champs. The Patriots have been averaging over
36 points a game and have allowed an average of eight points a game.
Sandy Creek will need to play their best game of the year this week,
getting good offensive performances from quarterback Josh Haney and running
backs Jamal Rome and Reggie Ellington, as well as a solid defensive effort
capable of slowing down a Creekside offense averaging just over 29 points
per game.
McIntosh (4-5) is looking for a win at home tonight against Chapel Hill
(0-9) to give them a .500 season. The Chiefs defeated Haralson County
22-21 last week and got touchdowns from Tyson Sandlin and Jamael Owens.
A win would also give McIntosh their second two game winning streak of
the season. McIntosh has had a successful season running the ball and
their defense has also had success creating turnovers.
Region 5-A
Landmark Christian (5-4, 3-0) will be battling for another region championship
tonight when they host Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (8-1, 3-0).
Landmark has won four games in a row and has outscored opponents 148-59
in that span. Quaterback Matt Moody has come in to his own in recent
weeks, as has Jimmy Edens. The team should be at full strength for tonight’s
game and a win would give them the region title.
Our Lady of Mercy (0-9) will host Mt. Zion, Carroll (0-9) tonight and
the winner will get the fourth and final playoff spot from region 5-A.
The Bobcats have been playing better of late. They were shutout twice
in their first four games of the season but have scored 59 points in
their last four games. Mt. Zion Carroll has had a season similar to Our
Lady of Mercy’s and both will be trying to play their best game
of the season tonight.
All of tonight’s games are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.
Going for the title
