Two dominant signal callers in Jim Franklin and Hampton Johnson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Aquinas Fightin' Irish will face off against the Athens Academy Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Aquinas sitting on four straight wins and Athens Academy on ten.
Aquinas is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They walked away with a 30-23 victory over Holy Innocents Episcopal.
Aquinas got their win 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. Aquinas also got a significant boost from Eli Hutchinson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 120 yards.
Aquinas was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 264 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Athens Academy didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Rabun County back in October, but they still walked away with a 34-28 victory. 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 win 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. Kj Whitehead did his part for the team as well, scoring a TD off of 93 receiving yards.
Athens Academy's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-0. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 45.3 points per game. As for Aquinas, their record is now 7-4.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Aquinas has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 188.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Athens Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 262.3. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Aquinas suffered a grim 45-22 defeat to Athens Academy in their previous matchup back in August. Can Aquinas avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
