Sandy Creek made the AAAA playoffs the past four years. That won’t happen this year, mainly because the Patriots have dropped to Class AAA.
Sandy Creek, under the leadership of head coach Chip Walker in his second year, will play in region 6-AAA against teams such as Carrollton, Cartersvile, Central, Carroll, Cedartown and Cass. Joining the Patriots in the region will be Haralson County and Villa Rica, both of whom played in region 4-AAAA last year.

To say 6-AAA is a tough region would be an understatement. Including Sandy Creek, five teams from that region made the state playoffs last year. Obviously this is a new year with new teams, but each of these schools have traditions of playing competitive ball.

Sandy Creek will have a different look than they did last year at a number of positions. The Patriots return six starters on offense and five on defense.

The defensive line is one of Sandy Creek’s biggest strengths. Seniors Rickey Nicholson (6’1, 270) and Fred Jones (6’5, 230) are two leaders on defense and much of the rest of the defense needs to be completely replaced. Junior Jordan Littlepage and senior Tim Russell, the team’s leading receiver, will be playing linebacker and Josh Holt will be playing defensive back.

The coaches feel they have a lot of talented younger players who will get some significant playing time on defense, as well as on the offense, which also has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Quarterback Jake Turing, a senior, returns after passing for over 1,000 yards last season. He will have two key receivers to throw to this season, Russell, a senior, and Braxton Lane, a sophomore. Another possibility is Chris James, a transfer student from East Coweta High School. As for the running game, seniors Kody Green and Rashid Hollis will share time at fullback and senior Brad Bush and junior Josh Williams will play at tailback. Other than senior Shelley Anthony, 6’3, 265, coaches see the offensive line as wide open.

The line will consist of younger players who may not have received a lot of playing time in the past and therefore aren’t very experienced.

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