LAMBERT AT LANIER
When, where: Friday, 7:30 p.m., at Lanier in Sugar Hill.
Records, rankings: Lambert 0-0 overall, 0-0 in Region 6-AAAAAA; Lanier is 0-0 overall, 0-0 in Region 8-AAAAA and ranked No. 9 in Class AAAAA.
Series history: Lanier leads 1-0.
Last meeting: Lanier won 27-14 in 2014.
What to know: Here’s the thing: Lambert might lose this game, as Lanier has quickly turned into a top contender in Class AAAAA since opening in 2010. It’s won 14 consecutive regular season games, including an undefeated 2014 regular season on its way to the Region 8-AAAAA championship. This season, Lanier has four of the state’s top 200 seniors, according to 247Sports.com, led by the state’s No. 1 recruit in 6-foot-4, 320-pound defensive lineman Derrick Brown.
But look: Lambert has lost its season-opener the past two seasons, gone 2-6 over its first three games the past two seasons, and yet rebounded to make the state playoffs each time. It’ll be breaking in a new quarterback (Richie Kenney), new running backs (Harrison Pomfret, Ken Dicks, etc.) and almost an entire new secondary, but an all-senior offensive line led by Cincinnati commit Sean Bailey should steady Lambert as it finds its way early on.