Last week we brought you our 2015 preview section that included 30 area teams -- and a handful of contests during Friday's Week Zero kickoff... this week we bring you the whole thing.
The 2015 high school football season gets fully underway with Week 1 of the campaign set for this Friday night. This week's slate features a number of intriguing showdowns, and we here at AccessWDUN and Friday Game Night will have all the angles covered.
Friday will see three games hit our airwaves live, while the 17 others involving northeast Georgia squads will be tracked by the Friday Game Night live scoreboard. We will also provide postgame stories, video highlights and updates from throughout the area and state both on the website and on our Twitter feed: @FridayGameNight.
Anticipation is at fever pitch around a number of area programs, and after five northeast Georgia-based teams got their seasons off to a winning start, plenty more are ready to join the chase, including two in-county rivalries set for Friday.
The "Battle of Oakwood" will see Johnson and West Hall renew their feud for the 22nd straight time in a contest broadcast live on 102.9 FM from the Hot Gates at Spartan Field. The Knights will be champing at the bit to get back on the field after opening the season with a 17-0 victory over Madison County last week. The Spartans, meanwhile, are itching to get going and rinse away the memories of last season's first round playoff upset loss to Oconee County -- which followed the team's best regular season in over a decade.
West Hall leads the series 13-7-1, including two straight shutouts -- results that bucked a trend of extraordinarily close battles from 2006-12. In fact all but two of those contests were decided by a touchdown or less.
Meanwhile, just across the south end of the county, Flowery Branch will play host to Chestatee in a game that will be broadcast live on AM 550.
The Falcons and War Eagles have been almost inexorably linked since both schools were opened in 2002, playing nine times. The Falcons own a 7-2 advantage in the series, but neither side will be thinking much about that come Friday. Rather, both programs will be thinking more about bouncing back from disappointing 2014 campaigns.
Chestatee came off the back of its best ever two seasons in 2012-13, going 1-9 in 2014. Yet coach Bill Forman believes his squad is in a much better place as it approaches year two of his reign, returning several key starters and a couple of talented newcomers.
Flowery Branch, meanwhile, ended a nine-year run of state playoff berths in 2014, going 5-5, and the Falcons are determined to get back to their winning ways. They also approach 2015 with more veterans in key places, including at quarterback, and know that a winning start could be crucial to a bounce back.
Fellow Region 8-AAAAA team Gainesville will not have a veteran returning at quarterback -- well, not really. The Red Elephants will begin their 2015 campaign with Messiah Dorsey as their new signal caller. Dorsey was the team's leading receiver in 2014 and is a talented athlete. Yet he has also shown to be a promising gunslinger, and Gainesville is excited about him leading the Red Elephants into battle against Grayson on Friday in a game broadcast live 1240 AM ESPN Radio.
Gainesville will need its absolute best against a Rams team that features as many as 10 high-level collegiate prospects.
There are several other big contests set to kick off on Friday, including Commerce at Banks County, Franklin County at Stephens County and Rabun County at Habersham Central. Dawson County will also begin life under new head coach Sid Maxwell when it hosts Forsyth Central in a game that will air live on northgeorgiasportslink.com, while White County travels to Pickens in a game that will air on www.wrwh.com
Get ready for a big night.
AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE, WEEK 1 (AUG. 28)
Berkmar at Buford
Cherokee at North Forsyth
Chestatee at Flowery Branch -- Radio: AM 550
Commerce at Banks County
East Jackson at Lakeview Academy
Fellowship Christian at Riverside Military
Forsyth Central at Dawson County -- Radio: northgeorgiasportslink.com
Franklin County at Stephens County
Gilmer at Fannin County
Grayson at Gainesville -- Radio: 1240 AM
Jackson County at Madison County
Johnson at West Hall -- Radio: 102.9 FM
North Gwinnett at North Cobb
Rabun County at Habersham Central
Towns County at Union County
West Forsyth at Mill Creek
Wesleyan at East Hall
Winder-Barrow at Jefferson
White County at Pickens -- Radio: www.wrwh.com
Woodland, Stockbridge at Apalachee
