Knights get defensive in Region 7-AAA

OAKWOOD - Chestatee High football coach Matt Fligg said his program got a lot of converts two weeks ago despite a 13-9 loss to East Hall.

They could get even more if his young War Eagles are able to knock off Johnson Friday night in a Region 7-AAA showdown at The Dungeon.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be aired on MAJIC 1029-FM with The Tailgate Show beginning at 7 p.m.

Fligg, whose War Eagles (0-1, 0-1) had the Vikings down late in the game but couldn't finish it, said he was pleased, but not satisfied.

"I was pleased with the effort, pleased with the enthusiasm, pleased with how we swarmed to the ball on defense. But we made about six mistakes that just flat out got us beat. We have to improve on those," Fligg said.

He said the showing served notice to those involved that they are headed in the right direction.

"I'm not a big moral victory guy, but I think the kids, if they were non-believers before, I think they believe now that they can compete," he said. "The fans, the coaches. I think they are starting to believe as well. We just need to beat a good team to prove it."

Getting that win won't be easy against the powerful Knights (2-0, 2-0) who have been downright dominating on defense, allowing just 6 total points in the first two games.

"Like any thing, you have a base scheme and then kind of base that around the talent you have and their strengths," Johnson coach Blair Armstrong said. "We've just sort of adjusted ours now that we know the personnel a little better and then fine tune things each week. But we feel like we're playing pretty well right now."

Johnson completely shut down Pickens last week in a 26-0 win.

Quarterback Jeremy Casper has done a solid job of leading the Knights' offense. And the offense, which struggled against a tough West Hall defense in their first game, got going last week behind Cardy McKensey and B.J. Jackson, who each had around 100 yards against Pickens.

Fligg said the one-two punch of McKensey and Jackson makes Johnson doubly tough to prepare for.

"They're very talented. Those two guys are great and can just kill you every time they touch it," Fligg said. "You can't just key on one, which makes it very tough defensively. We'll have out work cut out for us."

Armstrong said he's just glad he's catching Chestatee early.

"Coach Fligg have done an excellent job in putting a program together. They're going to win some games this year, we just hope it's after we play them," he said.

The War Eagles are led by Quarterback Chad Sage and receiver Alex Conti. Defensively, they are led Rett Webb, Jake Burke and the brother tandem of Kevin and Kyle Henggeler.