Three games to watch this Friday

Game: Cherokee (7-1, 2-1) at Alpharetta (2-3, 1-1) Previous meeting: Alpharetta won 21-18 (Nov. 2014) Series: Alpharetta leads 1-0 Prediction: Cherokee 27, Alpharetta 17 Preview: Cherokee kept itself in contention for a region championship last week and this week travel to face one of the more talented teams in Region 5AAAAAAA. Cherokee (7-1, 2-1) will visit Alpharetta (2-3, 1-1) this Friday and will look to keep pace with Roswell and Milton — both with undefeated 2-0 region records — in the race for the No. 1 playoff seed. The Warriors defeated Etowah 35-6 last Friday and were dominant on both sides of the ball. The win guaranteed Cherokee a third-straight state playoff appearance, an accomplishment achieved only once before in program history (2002-04). Cherokee’s offense has been balanced this season and continued that trend last week. Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="33908" first="A.J." last="Swann"] finished with 191 passing yards and two touchdowns while fellow junior [player_tooltip player_id="33903" first="Keith" last="Adams Jr"]. tallied 127 rushing yards with three touchdowns. The Warriors were without their dynamic wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="33934" first="Adarrius" last="Harshaw"] against Etowah but senior Brady Bocherer stepped up with career highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (119). Shaw said Harshaw will be back to full availability at Monday’s practice. Cherokee’s defense kept its interception streak alive last week and has recorded at least one interception in every game this season. Austin Trimble and Riley Lyons have been arguably the best cornerback duo in Cherokee County this season (five combined interceptions) and Lyons may see additional action moving forward on offense. Lyons recorded one catch for 35 yards last week. Despite its sub-.500 record, Alpharetta has played well against several of the state’s best teams. The Raiders played both North Cobb and Collins Hill to one-score defeats and trailed Milton 21-20 at halftime before Milton scored 14 unanswered points in the second half. Alpharetta head coach Jason Kervin is in his first year with the Raiders after 12 years at Hoover (AL), one of the best programs in the country. The Raiders’ defensive coordinator, John Thompson, has 31 years of experience as a Division 1 coach with stints as the defensive coordinator for the University of Florida, Ole Miss and South Carolina. The Raiders have Division 1 talent in their defensive backfield with safety [player_tooltip player_id="33681" first="Jaden" last="Slocum"] (Stanford) and [player_tooltip player_id="33739" first="Dylan" last="Merrell"] (Duke) and senior middle linebacker Vito Perri has drawn college attention from Army, Yale and Jacksonville State among others. Offensively, Merrell is will be used in the running game and possesses breakaway speed from that position. Tylan Johnson (5’8”, 205) serves as the “Power back” for the Raiders offense and is capable of wearing down a defense with his ability to break tackles. Alpharetta’s passing game will test the Cherokee defense as well. The Raiders regularly use the play-action to allow their receivers a chance to get behind the opponent’s secondary and quarterback Ben Gutherie is a capable passer and runner of the football. Game: Sequoyah (2-5, 2-2) at River Ridge (7-0, 4-0) Previous meeting: Sequoyah won 13-0 in 2019 Series: Sequoyah leads 13-0 Prediction: River Ridge 35, Sequoyah 24 Preview: Two wins in six days have brought Sequoyah fully back into the playoff picture and this week the Chiefs will square off with the county’s lone undefeated team. Sequoyah (2-5, 2-2) will travel to River Ridge (7-0, 4-0) this Friday for a Region 7AAAAAA matchup with playoff and region championship implications. A third-straight win for Sequoyah would put the Chiefs in prime playoff position with two weeks remaining while a win for River Ridge would likely set up a de facto region championship game next week with Johns Creek. Sequoyah is coming off wins against Cambridge (44-41 on Monday) and Chattahoochee (23-14 on Saturday). The Chiefs have rallied following a shutout loss to Creekview and it’s been senior running Jaden Mitchell who’s led the way. Mitchell scored four touchdowns against Cambridge and finished with 141 yards and two scores against Chattahoochee. On the season Mitchell has 886 total yards — 694 rushing and 192 receiving — to go along with 12 total touchdowns. Defensively, freshman defensive back Jackson Hancock had one of the best games all season for a freshman in Cherokee County. He finished with a team-high 11 tackles with two tackles for loss against Chattahoochee. Avery Born and Kemar Plummer each recorded sacks against Chattahoochee and will need to perform well again this week against the dynamic River Ridge offense. River Ridge is coming off a 31-7 home win over Centennial and this week entered the top-10 of the AAAAAA rankings for the first time in program history. Amehre Morrison continued his historic season finishing with 195 yards and one touchdown which kept him atop the AAAAAA rushing leaders list with 1,356 yards. Junior quarterback Carson Lathem continues to develop chemistry with his receivers and finished last week with touchdown passes to Andrew Bingham and Micah Martineau. Along with Riley Caines and Jackson Head, Bingham and Martineau’s rhythm with Lathem continues to progress week to week. River Ridge held Centennial scoreless in the second half and as good as the Knights’ offense has been this season their defense has been equally impressive. After allowing a season-high 35 points to Chattahoochee the first week of October, the Knight’s have allowed 13 points per game over their last three contests. Senior safety Scotty Rutherford is third in Cherokee County with 72 tackles and also leads the county in points scored by a kicker with 41. Game: Chattahoochee (2-4, 1-3) at Creekview (5-2, 3-1) Previous meeting: Chattahoochee won 45-21 (Sept. 2011) Series: Chattahoochee leads 2-0 Prediction: Creekview 23, Chattahoochee 6 Preview: Creekview finished its Friday night contest on Monday evening and will continue to trudge the region schedule this week at home. Following a power outage at its stadium on Friday night, Creekview played the final seven minutes of its game against Riverwood this past Monday and secured a 19-7 win. It was a welcomed bounce-back win for Creekview (5-2, 3-1) following a last-second loss two weeks ago to River Ridge. The win also keeps the Grizzlies’ alive for a potential region championship. Creekview will host Chattahoochee (2-4, 1-3) this Friday on a shortened schedule but with three regular season games remaining the urgency should remain high. Offensively, Creekview has relied heavily on its offensive line this year led by seniors Anthony Dorr and Sam Hartley along with junior Brandon Dabrowa. The Grizzlies’ offensive line has allowed for Tyler Stevens and Brody Rhodes to account for a combined 1,039 with seven rushing scores. Stevens sits fourth in Cherokee County with 571 rushing yards and has added 15 receptions for 190 yards with two scores. The Grizzlies’ defense remains one of the best in the state, allowing eight points per contest. Creekview held Riverwood 27 points below its season average and will face a Chattahoochee team coming in averaging 28 points per contest. The Cougars’ defense, however, is allowing 32 points per game which is second-worst in Region 7AAAAAA. The Cougars have a dynamic playmaker at quarterback in [player_tooltip player_id="29831" first="Jaylen" last="Smith"], who leads the region with 1,489 passing yards and 15 touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id="33803" first="Jordan" last="Palmer"] (6’4”, 190) and Smith’s twin brother Jahmal serve as the primary receiving options and have combined for 998 yards with 10 scores. Palmer has multiple Division 1 offers and Williams said the Grizzlies aren’t taking anything for granted against the Cougars passing game.