For the first time in three weeks, all the Forsyth football programs will be in action this weekend. With bye weeks out of the way for all the local programs, it’s full speed ahead through the final four weeks of the season.
Forsyth Central has dropped two in a row, but has a good chance to bounce back against Lakeside Saturday night in DeKalb County.
The last time the Bulldogs had a Saturday game, it was against a tough Southwest DeKalb bunch. This week, Central takes on a Vikings team that has struggled mightily in an 0-6 start.
True to form, though, Central coach Chris Bennett is taking this opponent as seriously as the rest.
“Our preparation is the same as every week. We worry about things we cancontrol, like ourselves,” Bennett said.
“Lakeside is a very dangerous team. Their record doesn’t indicate it, but they are very athletic and we have to be prepared to play our best in order to have a chance.”
West Forsyth has had two weeks to prepare for tonight’s homecoming match with Johnson’s Knights. A loss to Gainesville two weeks ago means West could need to win all three of its remaining subregion games to nab the second and final state playoff spot out of Region 7B-AAA.
That starts with tonight’s game against a Knights team that has won only one game, but came up just short in a shootout with West Hall a week ago, losing 56-55.
“They have some good athletes that we will have to work hard to try and slow down,” Wolverine coach Frank Hepler said of the Knights. “They scored a lot of points last week versus West Hall. I hope we can have good timing and discipline to execute on both offense and defense. We should have everyone healthy again, which will help out.”
North Forsyth, with an even 2-2 mark in Region 7-AAAAA, is still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but the Raiders’ quarry tonight will be tough to wrangle, as North heads to Norcross to face the talented Blue Devils.
“This week will be a big challenge for us. We played with a lot of passion and emotion last Friday night vs. South [Forsyth], but Norcross is a different type of team,” Raider coach Jared Zito said.
Zito said his team will need to make solid tackles near the line of scrimmage and in the open field, contain big pass plays and limit turnovers to have a chance.
If we want to belong in Region [7-AAAAA], we must go into Norcross and compete for the win instead of trying not to lose,” Zito said.
South’s War Eagles will look to shake off last week’s loss to North tonight, when winless Duluth comes to War Eagle Field.
War Eagles’ coach Wendell Early said he thinks the Wildcats are better than their record lets on.
“They’re athletic, they can run and they’re big,” Early said of Duluth.
“It’s going to be a challenge to ... win. We’re not hitting on all cylinders either right now.”
Early said that sophomore Nick Belyew will lead South at quarterback, and doubts senior Brian Adams will play for the team again.
Early said Adams recently underwent surgery to repair a shoulder injury sustained against Chattahoochee in week 4.