Football Recap: Marietta Falls Despite Big Games from Isaac Copeland and Jayden Whiteside

After flying high against Cherokee last Friday, Marietta came back down to earth. The Blue Devils fell 28-24 to the North Paulding Wolfpack on Friday. The defeat continues a trend for the Blue Devils in their meetings with the Wolfpack: they've now lost five in a row.

Jayden Whiteside

Passer Rating

10/10/25 vs North Cobb	163.8
09/19/25 vs Etowah	146.4
10/03/25 @ Walton	126.7
09/12/25 @ Wheeler	123
10/24/25 @ Cherokee	116.9
+ 5 more games

Marietta's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jayden Whiteside, who threw for 263 yards and a pair of TDs, and Isaac Copeland, who picked up 149 receiving yards and one score. Whiteside's passing game has become a key predictor of the Blue Devils' success: the team is 5-2 when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 0-3 otherwise.

Brycen Morris continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for North Paulding, rushing for 121 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Those three rushing touchdowns gave Morris a new career-high. North Paulding also got help from Bryson Niehr, who showed off his sure hands for 100 receiving yards.

Marietta's defeat was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 5-1 and their overall record down to 5-5. As for North Paulding, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 8-2.

The two teams are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. After each having a week off, Marietta and Harrison will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 7:00 p.m. on the 14th. As for North Paulding, they will take on Hillgrove at 7:00 p.m. on the 14th. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 959 yards in their previous games.