Week 7 is a great week for DeKalb football fans and politicians because there are so many cross county match-ups.
Crossville Lions (0-6) vs Cherokee County (2-4)
Cherokee County comes to town with a record that makes the Lions optimistic, but a closer look tells you that Cherokee County is now healthy and are coming in off of back-to-back wins.
The Tribe is averaging 21 points on the road, while the Lions have given up 26 points per game at Crossville. The black and gold are averaging 40 rushing attempts per contest this season and will have to use their ball control ground game to have a shot at gutting our their first win of the season. There is cause for optimism as the 0-fer could be erased in the friendly confines. Crossville, in their only two home games this season, have lost to Hokes Bluff 22-14, and Douglas 29-28.
Crossville +4
Geraldine Bulldogs (5-1) at Sand Rock (4-2)
Great matchup here as this game may determine who travels the first week of the playoffs and who hosts.
The Bulldogs go to the Rock riding a 5 game winning streak and should have made the necessary adjustments by now to phase the loss of Marcus Davis out of the gameplan. Since Davis went down the Purple have won by an average of 33-8. Senior QB Jake Maddox has the offense clicking and will face a Wildcats team with a similar style of attack.
Sand Rock will try to bounce back after a 15-8 defeat in region to the Rams last week and get the refs back on track...
Geraldine -6
Ider Hornets (4-2) vs Collinsville Panthers (3-3)
The rough and tumble style of the Hornets and the perimeter speed of the Panthers could be the best match-up of the week.
Ider has shocked a lot of people and a win here could lock up a postseason bid. Their physical style will serve them well against a Panthers team that was manhandled up front all night last week against the Section Lions. They'll line up and run right at Collinsville in the exact same fashion that the Lions did last week and hope for similar success.
Collinsville on the other hand should be much improved this week with the possible return of QB Tanner Nelson and LB Brady Osborn, two players who were desperately missed last week. The #HuntFor2k may have ended for Jalyn Martin, but that doesn't mean he can't put up huge numbers. The hog mollies just have to give him a chance to at least get to the line of scrimmage before having to elude defenders like he was forced to do for the last 2 weeks when he was seemingly shutout.
I wouldn't have believed this to start season, but Collinsville goes to the Hornets Nest as underdogs.
Ider -7
Sylvania Rams (3-3) vs Plainview Bears (5-1)
Coined "The Sand Mountain Superbowl" by someone (who knows), this is a rivalry game that never disappoints...sometimes disappoints...really disappointed last season.
The Rams come off of a big region win at the Rock to keep their postseason hopes alive. Cambron is a playmaker and if his line can give him time he can really do some damage, but the line has yet to have a strong performance against a quality opponent. As always, Lucas Wooten is the big play catalyst and Skylar Chaney the backfield workhorse.
The Bears are clicking on both sides of the ball, and even though Josh Gravitt will miss this one with a knee injury the offensive line has really gelled. The Bears will look to overwhelm the Rams on the edge and let "The Human Joystick" run wild in space.
I'm hoping for a great rivalry game...but the film says otherwise.
Sylvania +18
Valley Head Tigers (3-2) vs Fyffe Red Devils (6-0)
The Tigers come back to the den with a playoff birth all but guaranteed after blanking Spring Garden last week. That's good. Hold on to that. Remember that Friday night.
Big Red will line up, run straight at the Tigers and call this one a night early. The Tigers have heart and grit, but they aren't on the competitive level of a #1 ranked Fyffe team.
Maybe both teams will treat this one like a jamboree and get to Week 8 and back in region play healthy.
Valley Head +50
