The year of the Quarterback in NwGa

Sports, TeamFYNSports

As Northwest Georgia gears up for The Friday Night lights this fall, one thing is quite clear with many Football fans in the area.

There’s a lot of great Quarterbacks this season.

Of the returning QB’s from last season, six of them threw for over 2000 yds with many coming close to that number.

This season could see double that.

This years group of QB’s could not only spell doom for many Schools passing records, they could also lead to the fall of many receiving records as well.

The abundance of great arms could be a huge boost to the guys with the great hands.

North Murray’s Jadyn Rice and Rome’s Martel Hight were the areas only 1000-yard receiver’s last season. They will be looking to repeat that feat this season and could also gain some company in the 1000-yard club.

Henderson to White, Brooker to Gray, and Pate to Bryant could become phrases you hear frequently this season.

Listed below are some of the Top returning QB’s from last season and a few looking for a breakout season this year. (In no particular order)

South PauldingKasen Wiseman (Sr) 2035 passing, 289 rushing, 25 total TD’s.
North MurraySeth Griffin (Sr) 2883 passing, 319 rushing, 32 total TD’s
RomeReece Fountain (Jr) 2312 passing, 64 rushing, 20 total TD’s.
SonoravilleJaxon Pate (Jr) 2193 passing, 658 rushing, 31 total TD’s.
Northwest WhitfieldOwen Brooker (Sr) 2902 passing, 624 rushing, 36 total TD’s
North PauldingBoone Anderson (Sr) 2080 passing, 179 rushing, 14 total TD’s
CassDevin Henderson (Jr) 1562 passing, 855 rushing, 25 TD’s
RockmartJD Davis (Jr) 958 passing, 507 rushing, 20 TD’s
CentralDevan Powell (Jr) 1461 passing, 459 rushing, 21 TD’s.
AdairsvilleJonathan Gough (Jr) 1244 passing, 283 rushing, 16 TD’s
HeritageKaden Swope (Sr) 1069 passing, 737 rushing, 18 TD’s
CalhounTrey Townsend (Jr) The talented Junior will move into the starting role and will look to take this team back to the title game.
DaltonParker McClurg (Sr) The 6’4” 200lb Senior has plenty of talent around him and will be looking to lead The Catamounts back to the Playoffs in the new Region 7-AAAAA
BowdenRobert McNeal (Sr) 1961 passing, 749 rushing, 31 TD’s
Coahulla CreekKace Kinnamon (Sr) 1532 passing, 317 rushing, 14 TD’s
Temple: Cam Vaughn (Sr) 1356 passing, 575 rushing, 14 TD’s
Pepperell: Matthew Waddell (Sr) 1394 passing, 300 rushing, 11 TD’s
Pickens: Sam Streicher (Jr) 1353 passing, 155 rushing, 14 TD’s
Trion: Kade Smith (So) 785 passing, 7 TD’s
Dade CountyBrody Cooper (Sr) 1342 passing, 324 rushing, 16 TD’s
Mt. Zion: Stanley Cross (JR) 862 passing, 11 TD’s
Armuchee: Chandler Desanto (Sr) Desanto will be looking to build off the success from his junior campaign that led the Indians to their first 5-win season in 10 years.
Murray CountyJudah Woodall (Jr) After a productive spring, Woodall will be looking to lead the Indians back into contention in the new 7-AA region.

Several Teams in the area are still looking to fill the Role of QB1. With only weeks remaining before the season kicks off, we’ll all know soon enough just who will be their 2022 Signal callers.

The Shockwave of a potential 11-team region is far Reaching

North Murray Football, Team FYN Sports

The GHSA has recently approved adding Gilmer and Pickens to the already crowded 6-AAA region. If the decision is finalized, the new region will have a total of 11 teams.

The proposed new region schools would be North Murray, Murray County, Gilmer, Pickens, Adairsville, Bremen, Coahulla Creek, Ringgold, LaFayette, LFO, & Ridgeland.

The move could force Region 6-AAA schools to play an all region Schedule, with no out of region games. The games that would be cancelled are some of the areas top rivalries.

Bartow County rivals Adairsville and Cass first met in 1956. This in-county rivalry would now be cancelled for the foreseeable future due to Adairsville having a Region only schedule.

Due to Covid, this years Heritage vs Ringgold game was cancelled. The matchup has taken place every year since Heritage High School has opened. The biggest game in Catoosa County could also be cancelled for the foreseeable future.

North Murray and Dalton have had to scrap their plans for their first ever matchup in week two of next season. A highly anticipated matchup that many projected as a new rivalry in the NW Georgia area.

Whitfield County Schools Coahulla Creek, Southeast Whitfield, and Northwest Whitfield have played against each other for the last several years. The games were relatively close to Home for Coahulla Creek, all within 16-miles of each other. Region 6-AAA school Coahulla Creek, will now replace these games with Bremen and Pickens.

Southeast Whitfield, which is a member of Region 7-AAAA, would be hit especially hard. Southeast has played at least three of the proposed Region 6-AAA schools over the past two seasons. In the seasons prior to 2020, Southeast played as many as six of the schools that will now be in the new 6-AAA. Those games will need to filled on their schedule, but will have to be filled with teams outside of the local area.

Then there comes the playoff spots. Each Region is awarded four playoff spots. If the current realignment plan is approved, Region 6-AAA would have the lowest percentage of teams eligible to make the playoffs in AAA. Regions 1 & 3, which are 5-team Regions would see 80% of their schools make the playoffs. Region 6-AAA would only see 36% of their teams qualify for the playoffs.

North Murray falls to Rockmart on the road 34-13.

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ROCKMART, GA.- Big performances by Rockmart’s Keyshaun McCollough and JD Davis powered the defending Region champs past North Murray 34-13 on Friday.

Play began with Rockmart fumbling away their opening possession of the game handing North Murray the ball at midfield.  The North Murray offense failed to reach the end zone and settled for an Owen Hannah field goal bringing the score to 3-0 Mountaineers. The Rockmart offense would capitalize later in the opening quarter when Keyshaun McCollough broke free for a 21 yard touchdown run putting the YellowJackets out front 7-3.

The Yellowjacket offense would find the end zone again early in the second quarter when Rockmart Quarterback JD Davis scrambled for a 9-yard rushing touchdown bringing the score to 14-3 in favor of Rockmart. The 9-yard Davis touchdown run was set up by a 35-yard Davis to Jakari Clark pass down to the North Murray 9-yard line.

Both teams would fail to produce anymore in the half and the two teams headed to the locker room with the Yellowjackets in front 14-3.

North Murray opened the second half with the ball and moved quickly downfield on passes from Seth Griffin to Judson Petty. The Mountaineers would find their way inside the Rockmart 20, but the drive would stall inside the red zone and North Murray would again walk away with an Owen Hannah field goal bringing the score to 14-6 Rockmart.

Rockmart wasted no time moving downfield on their next drive and capped it with a Davis to Dennis Sims 13-yard touchdown. The point after failed leaving the score at 20-6 in favor of Rockmart. Later in the quarter, Keyshaun McCollough would add his second rushing touchdown of the game bringing the score to 27-6 Rockmart.

The two teams would both add rushing touchdowns in the final stanza as McCollough found his way to pay dirt for a third time on the night, and Devin Hunte added a late 15-yard touchdown run for The Mountaineers to close out the scoring at 34-13 in favor of the Yellowjackets.

North Murray falls to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in Region Play. North Murray will host Southeast Whitfield next Friday night in a non-region matchup. Rockmart moves to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Region play. Rockmart will be on the road next week at LFO.

North Murray grinds out 27-20 win against region rival Sonoraville on Senior Night

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CHATSWORTH- North Murray’s defense set the tone early in their Region 6-AAA match up against Sonoraville. A first play interception by North Murray’s Shawn Myers gave the large Mountaineer crowd a small taste of what to expect this evening. A stingy North Murray defense and an effective passing attack would lead the Mountaineers to their third win of the season.

After the Myers interception on Sonoraville’s first possession, Seth Griffin led the Mountaineer offense down the field quickly and a Judson Petty 2-yard rushing Touchdown gave North Murray the early lead. Sonoraville blocked the extra point so the lead stood at 6-0 Mountaineers. Griffin and the potent Mountaineer offense would continue on their next possession when they had another pass heavy drive that was capped by a short pass to Jadyn Rice who broke several tackles and evaded Phoenix defenders to find the pylon in the front corner of the endzone for the Touchdown. An Owen Hannah extra point would give North Murray a 13-0 lead to end the first quarter.

The next Sonoraville drive would feature long plays by Sonoraville’s Brant Bryant and rushes by Wyatt Springfield, but would end with a Petty interception in the endzone for North Murray. The Phoenix would get on the board later in the quarter when QB Jaxon Pate hit Springfield on a screen pass and he went untouched through the Mountaineer secondary for the score making it 13-7.

The teams traded punts, and with less than 2-minutes in the half the Mountaineer offense would drive the field again culminating in an 8-yard TD pass from Griffin to Michael McDade. Sonoraville would come up with their second blocked PAT of the game leaving the score at 19-7 in favor of North Murray at the half.

The defenses would own the third quarter as both offenses would struggle to gain much traction. Seth Griffin would get in on the defense play-making in the third quarter when he came up with North Murray’s third interception of the game as he picked off a Pate pass close to the endzone.

The North Murray offense began the fourth quarter on a drive that started at their own 12-yard line. The Mountaineer offense would once again drive the length of the field to pay dirt. The pass heavy drive led them down to the Sonoraville 4-yard line where Petty would carry it in for his second rushing TD of the game bringing the score to 25-7 North Murray. Griffin would hit Michael McDade on the 2-point conversion giving North Murray a 27-7 lead with just 7:11 left to play.

The Phoenix went to work quickly and made the remaining time on the clock very interesting. A quick drive downfield led to a Wyatt Springfield 6-yard rushing TD. Sonoraville would miss the extra point leaving the score at 27-13 in favor of North Murray with just 5:30 left to play. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Sonoraville giving them the ball at midfield. After a few plays that included a long Pate run down to the Mountaineer 38-yard line, Pate would hit Tanner Hicks on a TD strike from 33-yards out bringing the score to 27-20 North Murray with just 3:40 to play.

The next onside kick wouldn’t be as successful for the Phoenix. The kick rolled out of bounds giving North Murray the ball at the Sonoraville 49-yard line with just 3:40 to play. Rushes by Petty and Devin Hunte would run the clock out and seal the deal for the Mountaineers.

Both teams will continue Region 6-AAA play next Friday night. North Murray moves to 3-1 (1-1) and will travel to Rockmart (3-1) next week. Sonoraville falls to 2-2 (0-2) and will host LFO (0-4) next week.

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