Johns Creek at South Forsyth

When, where: Friday, 7:30 p.m., at War Eagle Stadium in Cumming.

Records, rankings: Johns Creek is 1-7 overall, 1-6 in Region 6-AAAAAA and unranked; South is 5-3, 5-2 and unranked.

Series history: Tied 2-2.

Last meeting: South won 52-21 in 2013.

What to know: Johns Creek’s 42-14 victory over Habersham Central last week ended a school-worst 19-game losing streak that began on Nov. 9, 2012. Quarterback Kevin Nalecz led an offense that piled up 378 yards of total offense. Nalecz rushed for 167 yards and four touchdowns and completed 6 of 10 passes for 106 yards. Matthew Kriteman added 92 yards on 12 carries, Chase Campbell had four catches for 96 yards and Mark Lancaster led the Gladiators’ defense with an interception.

This match-up would seem to be perfect timing for a South team coming off consecutive losses to West Forsyth (27-14) and Alpharetta (24-14) that have put the War Eagles’ playoff hopes in jeopardy. Sound familiar? That’s because South started 7-1 last season only to end the season with two straight losses and miss the playoffs. Tiebreaker scenarios abound in Region 6-AAAAAA, but the possibility exists again for South to have a winning season but not make the playoffs. To avoid that, It would help to get running back Tyler LaFlamme going again. The senior averaged 197 yards in South’s first five games. Since his 435-yard breakout performance on Sept. 26, LaFlamme has averaged just 86 yards in three games. Surely that’s by design as teams have stacked the box to stop LaFlamme.

Maxwell Projection: South by 24.