The Cherokee Warriors and the Walton Raiders are set to duel on Friday. Cherokee will stroll in with a four game home winning streak (dating back to last season), but they should still watch out: the last time they lost at home was their the 20th matchup with Walton.
Last Friday, Cherokee was just a hair shy of victory and fell 28-27 to Wheeler. The Warriors haven't had much luck with the Wildcats recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Despite the loss, Cherokee got top-tier performance from Tanner Savasir, who threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 57 yards on only six carries.
Cherokee didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Jayce Jones.
Meanwhile, Walton didn't have too much trouble with Marietta on the road on Friday as they won 21-3. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 43rd, while the Blue Devils are ranked 133rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lucas Farrington was his usual excellent self, rushing for 68 yards and three touchdowns. He has become a key player for Walton: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Noriega Thompson handled things on the ground, rushing for 84 yards.
Walton's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB three times. Jake Thorner was especially locked on to Marietta's QB and sacked him twice. Thorner is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made seven or more in the last 13 games he's played dating back to last season.
Cherokee's defeat dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Walton, they now also have a winning record of 4-3.
Cherokee took a serious blow against Walton when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 48-7. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Cherokee was down 35-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
