It is only the third week of the season but several of tonight’s games will have an impact on a team’s region standings and none may be more significant than......

Creekside Seminoles(2-0) @ Starr’s Mill Panthers (2-0).

How big is tonight’s game between Starr’s Mill and Creekside? Big enough that it will be broadcast on Comcast Sports with a play by play guy, a color commentator and a sideline reporter. A male sideline reporter, no less. How old school.

The Starr’s Mill Panthers are 2-0. They have won by a blowout, 35-7 over Cherokee in the Georgia Dome, and by a hair 21-14 over Rockdale County in overtime last week. Creekside on the other hand has only won by blowout this year, 33-0 in both their wins over Redan and Riverdale.
Both teams have solid offenses and good defenses, but which one is better and are either of them truly great?

Creekside quarterback Eric Berry makes a good case for being great. Last week, he passed for 126 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 177 yards (on 14 carries) for two touchdowns. He also made five tackles on defense and returned a punt for a touchdown. Starr’s Mill isn’t without weapons of their own. Greg Davis and Brandon Witta can wear down offensive lines with their runs and have breakout speed as well and quarterback Robby Davis always seems to be in control leading the offense. The Panther defense has already made a name for themselves this season by capitalizing on mistakes and is ready to pounce should Creekside make one.

This game should have big implications in the region 2-AAAA championship race. The game will be broadcast on Channel 45 on Comcast.

Fayette County Tigers (1-1) @ Whitewater Wildcats (1-1)

One good thing about playing a non-region schedule last year was that the Whitewater Wildcats didn’t have to face local teams hoping to establish a friendly rivalry. This year, they will see all four of the other Fayette County high schools and they will likley see all of them bring their “A” game that night as well.

According to Fayette County head coach Tommy Webb, the Tigers made a huge leap from the first week to the second, rushing for close to 400 yards and getting a complete game on both sides of the ball. Whitewater faced a good Sandy Creek team, made some critical mistakes early on and couldn’t stop a long drive in the second half. Whitewater head coach Amos McCreary said the Wildcats won’t do anything different than they have always done this week, he just hopes they do it better.

Westlake Lions (0-2) @ McIntosh Chiefs (0-2)

It hasn’t been easy for the McIntosh Chiefs, facing two quality opponents in the first two weeks, making some big mistakes on their opening drives, and not scoring a point in either match. Coach Dwight Jones wants to see more intensity from his team, stating that he and his staff have been preaching playing hard since the beginning and he didn’t see that in last week’s 45-0 loss to the Indians.

The Chiefs have another tough match tonight. Westlake has lost two close games to good opponents, 29-22 to Tri-Cities and 25-22 to Douglass. The Lions are led by quarterback Cameron Newton, a 6’6”, 230 pound recent committment to the University of Florida. Newton passed for 273 yards last week, rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another. The Chiefs must capitalize on any Lion mistakes and not make any of their own, especially early in the game.

Sandy Creek Patriots (2-0) @ Franklin County Lions (0-2)

The Patriots have done it all so far this season. They have run the ball extremely well against McIntosh in the first week and also shown some considerable skill passing in last week’s win over Whitewater. They have slowed down a solid ground game from Whitewater and picked off passes at key moments in both games this season. Look for them to put it all together tonight with a balanced attack.

The Lions lost to Madison County 20-18 in the first week and lost last week to Commerce 14-7. Franklin County likes to keep it close and you can bet that Sandy Creek doesn’t want to rely on stopping a team on their final drive again this week.

Jackson Red Devils (1-0) @ East Coweta (1-1)
The Indians get their first home game of the 2006 season tonight and they get a good opponent in the Red Devils. Jackson defeated a solid Union Grove team in the opening week 22-21 and had a bye week last week to get ready for this game. The Indians lost to Buford 35-7 in the opener but defeated McIntosh 45-0 last week.

East Coweta did a lot of their work on the ground, rushing for 303 yards and five touchdowns. Tim McGill and Michael McRae scored two touchdowns, while Stephon Patterson added one. MaDerrius Robinson caught one pass for a 35 yard touchdown from quarterback Doug Saylor. The Indian defense held McIntosh to 104 total yards of offense. They have seen what they can do when they are clicking on all cylinders and they will need to do more of the same this week to get the win.

Northgate Vikings (1-0) @ Woodward Academy War Eagles (2-0)

The Vikings beat Central, Caroll in the season opener and have had a bye week to prepare for their first region match of the season this week. A lot went right for Northgate in the first game. Andre Morris threw for 117 yards and two touchdowns to T.J. Jackson, who had 106 yards receiving and Mike Davis rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown.Gerry Bailey led the team with 10 tackles, while James Searcy had four tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.

The War Eagles hung on to beat Heritage 42-35 in the opener and defated Dunwoody 27-13 last week. In the Dunwoody game, Woodward did it all on the ground, rushing for 253 yards and four touchdowns. Tim Jefferson rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown, while Brandon Wiley rushed for 37 yards and three touchdowns. The War Eagles also had an interception and three fumble recoveries on defense. Northgate can’t make mistakes in this game if they are to get out of College Park with a win.

Pacelli Catholic Vikings (0-2) @ Landmark Christian (2-0)

The War Eagles defeated the Ola Mustangs 42-15 last week and got huge games from quarterback Matt Moody and running back Brian Lee. They also had another outstanding game from the defense. Pacelli will give Landmark a tougher game than Ola. The Vikings lost their season opener to a tough Bowdon team, 20-7, while losing to Manchester 43-19 last week.

The War Eagles need to keep on doing what they doing, which is present a balanced attack - five different people scored touchdowns last week - while also cutting down on mistakes - Moody threw two interceptions, something that better teams will capitalize on.

Our Lady of Mercy Bobcats (0-1) @ Athens Christian Eagles (1-1)

The Bobcats rushed for 186 yards and a touchdown in their season opening loss to Creekview (42-6), but they also fumbled six times and gave up over 300 yards rushing to Creekview. Our Lady of Mercy had a bye week to work on keeping control of the ball and laying more of the groundwork for a program building itself under a new head coach.

The Bobcats are hoping to have more success running the ball, something they did well, while also having a better game defensively and stopping the Eagles from putting a lot of points on the board.

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