Football Game Preview: Banks County Leopards vs. Athens Academy Spartans + How To Watch

Banks County hasn't had much luck against Athens Academy recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Leopards will venture away from home to challenge the Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Banks County has given up an average of 35.4 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Banks County's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Rabun County last Friday. They were dealt a 35-0 loss at the hands of the Wildcats. While losing is never fun, the Leopards can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 316th, while the Wildcats are ranked 95th).

Meanwhile, Athens Academy had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.3 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They blew past the Patriots 43-21. With the Spartans ahead 36-7 at the half, the game was all but over already.

A big part of Athens Academy's win came down to the chemistry between Chap Chapman and his top target Keyon Standifer. Chapman threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 passes while Standifer gained 161 total yards and five touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave Chapman a new career-high in rushing yards (58).

Special teams was a major factor in the game for Athens Academy, racking up 11 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Standifer, who ran a punt back for a touchdown.

Athens Academy's victory bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Banks County, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.

Banks County was dealt a bruising 41-6 loss at the hands of Athens Academy in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Can the Leopards avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.