6A Quarterfinal Preview: Lee County at River Ridge

<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Game:</strong> Lee County (10-1) at River Ridge (11-0)</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Series:</strong> First-ever meeting</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Prediction:</strong> River Ridge 28, Lee County 26</span> &nbsp; <span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Preview:</strong> One of the state’s cinderellas will take aim at the No. 1-ranked team this Friday in Woodstock. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Lee County (10-1) will travel to River Ridge (11-0) this Friday for a Class AAAAAA state quarterfinal matchup. River Ridge is coming off a 42-10 win over Rome while Lee County defeated Brunswick 48-21. The Knights continue to chart new territory — having never advanced past the first round prior to this season — while Lee County is in the state quarterfinals for the fourth-straight season. Lee County won back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018 and over the past four seasons, the Trojans are 50-5 with four region titles.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">River Ridge’s defeat of Rome last week was impressive on every level as it was the Knights’ largest margin of victory this season and Rome’s largest defeat. River Ridge outgained Rome 410-171 and Cherokee County’s best offense (34 points per game) displayed all its pieces. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Amehre Morrison finished with 172 total yards (115 rushing and 56 receiving) with three touchdowns and is now 168 yards short of eclipsing 2,000 rushing yards on the season. Carson Lathem is completing 63 percent of his passes this season while the combination of Jackson Head and Riley Caines continue to perform as reliable targets and playmakers in the passing game. Andrew Bingham — who finished with 75 total yards and two touchdowns against Rome — continues to show versatility as both a runner and receiver. </span> The River Ridge defense was led once again by junior defensive lineman Brian Bradley who finished with a team-high nine tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks. Bradley has come alive in the second half of the season and should be considered one of the better players in Cherokee County. <span style="font-weight: 400;">The Knights’ defense held Rome’s powerful rushing attack under 100 yards and this week will another formidable ground game. Lee County is led by a trio of seniors in the backfield — running backs [player_tooltip player_id="33689" first="Caleb" last="McDowell"] (South Carolina commit) and Preston Simmons along with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="33695" first="Chauncey" last="Magwood"] (Kentucky commit). McDowell finished with 105 yards and two touchdowns against Brunswick while Simmons tallied 83 yards with two scores. Magwood is committed to Kentucky as a receiver and can serve well as a third option in the running game.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The Trojans will run behind their two tackles [player_tooltip player_id="33927" first="Qae’Shon" last="Sapp"] and Zach Cleveland. Sapp holds 11 offers including Alabama, Auburn and Florida. Lee County also uses a three-star tight end [player_tooltip player_id="33958" first="Tyrus" last="Washington"] who holds offers from Ole Miss, Boston College and Cincinnati.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Defensively, Lee County is equally as talented. Linebacker Jaron Willis holds more than 15 offers including Florida, LSU and Auburn while fellow junior Baron Hopson holds 13 offers including Michigan, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Lee County’s only loss this season came in a 38-13 defeat at Lowndes in the last week of September. Friday will be only the fourth away game of the season for Lee County. The Trojans’ two road wins against Tift County and Northside Warner-Robbins were each one-score affairs. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">River Ridge will likely feel confident following last week’s victory and a win this week would make the Knights only the second Cherokee County team in history to advance to a state semifinal. Etowah advanced to the 2014 state semifinals, the furthest ever for a Cherokee County program. </span> &nbsp;