West Forsyth at South Forsyth
When, where: Friday, 7:30 p.m., at War Eagle Stadium in Cumming.
Records, rankings: West is 3-3 overall, 3-2 in Region 6-AAAAAA and unranked; South is 5-1, 5-0 and unranked.
Series history: West leads 2-0.
Last meeting: West won 45-20 in 2013.
What to know: West Forsyth is one of the hardest teams to peg in the county, and the region, really. The Wolverines can look so good in one quarter, one series, or even one play, and then Adam Clack’s team does something baffling just minutes later. So, which West team marches into War Eagle Stadium on Friday for its first big road test: the team that gave up a 97-yard touchdown run, a safety and a 75-yard pick six against Mill Creek and committed five first-half turnovers against Alpharetta, or the group that rolled up 56 points on Habersham Central and hung tough with Northview? Even Clack probably can’t be sure, but as long as Hampton McConnell is healthy and the Wolverines have some semblance of a running game with Grant Torgerson (Austin Reid is probable but has not gone full contact, according to Clack; Grant Anderskow may miss Friday’s game with a quad injury), West has a chance. Safety Drew Wesolowski should return this week after missing the Wolverines’ last two games.
Don’t be surprised is South sticks to what worked so well last week against a quarterback similar to McConnell: use Manny Godswill, Cameron Kline, Robby Johnson and a host of others to generate a pass rush that forces McConnell to throw before he wants to. Mill Creek and Alpharetta proved that running backs can have success between the tackles against West; that doesn’t mean going all-out to stop Tyler LaFlamme is a great solution. Wide receiver Jalen Camp was helped off the field during last Friday’s game after suffering a right leg injury; he’s the War Eagles best deep threat. If Camp can’t go, South quarterback Matt White will look to Kline (83 yards, touchdown last week) and receiver Drew Witalis. South is favored by 10 points, according to the Maxwell projections.
Maxwell Projections: South by 10.