Two dominant signal callers in Hampton Johnson and Jim Franklin are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Athens Academy Spartans will square off against the Aquinas Fightin' Irish at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Athens Academy comes in on ten and Aquinas on four.
Back in October, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Athens Academy beat Rabun County 34-28. Given the Spartans' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 86th, while the Wildcats are ranked 200th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of Athens Academy's victory came down to the chemistry between Johnson and his top target Keyon Standifer. Johnson threw for 300 yards and five touchdowns on only 18 passes while Standifer picked up 170 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Standifer's longest reception was for an impressive 68 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per catch total. Another player making a difference was Kj Whitehead, who picked up 93 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Aquinas had no problem doing just that on Friday. They walked away with a 30-23 win over the Golden Bears.
Aquinas got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Franklin out in front who threw for 173 yards and a touchdown while completing 78.6% of his passes, and also rushed for 66 yards on only nine carries. Zion Allen was another key player, rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown on only six carries.
Aquinas was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 264 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Athens Academy's win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-0. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 27.8 points. As for Aquinas, their victory bumped their record up to 7-4.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Athens Academy has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 262.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Aquinas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 188.2. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything went Athens Academy's way against Aquinas when the teams last played back in August, as Athens Academy made off with a 45-22 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Athens Academy since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
