Thursday March 28th, 2024 4:31AM

(VIDEO) Game of the Week: Branch-West Hall ready to bounce back -- against each other

OAKWOOD — After two gut-churning weeks, Flowery Branch football could easily sit back and look at what might have been.

For that matter, so could West Hall.

Instead, the Falcons and Spartans say they're solely focused on the present and not some of the big games that recently got away as the two Region 7-4A foes chase their playoff hopes.

On Friday, that focus includes putting a big dent in the other's postseason goals.

"We just know how big this game is, especially since our two losses it’s become bigger for both teams, with playoff seeding and everything," Flowery Branch junior defensive back/receiver Grant Lackey said. "Who we play in the first round really depends on this game."

Just under two weeks ago, the ninth-ranked Falcons were on track for one of the biggest wins in program history, taking Class 4A defending state champion and current No. 1 Blessed Trinity down to the wire in a thrilling, though gut-wrenching, 21-20 loss in overtime in Flowery Branch. But that, followed by a 20-0 slugfest setback at 2017 state runner-up Marist the next week, not only left the Branch with its first two defeats of the season but with bruises to prove it, as a number of starters were knocked from the line-up with injuries.

"We suffered some injuries in the Blessed Trinity game, and I was proud of the way our kids competed against Marist. It was just one of those games where we couldn’t get over the hump. You drive the ball and get in scoring position and miss a field goal, and then Marist chipped away and were able to put 10 points on the board each half, and we just couldn’t catch them," Falcons coach Ben Hall said. "But I was proud of the way our kids battled through, and I’m proud of that effort, and it makes me feel good about this group heading into the last two games of the regular season."

With players like junior quarterback Elijah Gainey and sophomore running back Jaizen Ellingham missing significant time in recent games, the Falcons (6-2, 2-2 Region 7-4A) have adopted a "next man up" attitude and also are turning to standouts like senior receiver/defensive back Jalin Strown to help pick up the slack as they look to cement, at worst, a No. 3 playoff seed.

"We have to have some young players step up," Hall said. "And we’re just practicing rhythm more than anything right now. If they step in and they play like they’re capable of playing we should be able to put together a solid game, and it’ll be great experience for everybody involved."

Meanwhile, West Hall has gone through its own injury situation this season. Yet after a bye week, the Spartans enter tonight's game as healthy as they have been in some time. They are coming off their own tough loss, however, a 48-34 setback against White County on Oct. 12 that would have allowed for a margin of error during West Hall's final two regular season contests.

Now the Spartans (2-6, 1-3) know that they are in a must-win situation -- and though there is a chance they could still get some help along the way, they do not want to leave anything to chance as they chase their sixth straight state berth as a program.

"This is a very important game. We’re going to control what we can control, give it everything we’ve got," West Hall senior outside linebacker/receiver John Stoecker said. "It’s our last two games [as] seniors; we're guaranteed two more. So we’re playing for each other’s back, and when we play for each other no one can stop us."

The Spartans want to get back to playing the explosive style of offense and defense that helped them knock off Denmark 48-27 on the road on Sept. 28. Do that over the next two weeks and everything is still well within West Hall's grasp.

"We’ve got to play four consistent quarters, 48 minutes, where we can play Spartan football for 48 minutes. If we can do that I feel like it can be one of those games. But we haven’t shown that we’ve been able to do that at home yet," West Hall coach Krofton Montgomery said. "And we’re putting it on the seniors, and we’ve put a lot of pressure on them these last two weeks. We’ve had a bye week, we’re healthy, and we want to see if those guys can answer what we’re asking them to do."

For West Hall that means flying to the football on defense and, on offense, getting standouts such as junior running back Michael Thompson and senior receiver Devon Williams into position to make plays.

"We’ve got to get 11 men to the football in pursuit to the ball and just do our jobs," West Hall senior receiver/defensive back Jeremiah Prather said.

Doing a job on Friday would go a long way for both programs.

GAME of the WEEK: 
FLOWERY BRANCH at WEST HALL

  • WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
  • WHERE: West Hall Stadium, Oakwood
  • RADIO: WDUN AM 550
  • BRANCH (6-2, 2-2 Region 7-4A): Lost to Marist 20-0 last week. The Falcons are ranked No. 8 in Class 4A
  • WEST HALL (2-6, 1-3 Region 7-4A): Bye last week. Lost to White County 48-34 on Oct. 12
  • NOTABLE: Flowery Branch leads series 6-2. The two teams have not met since 2009. The Falcons won 62-14 in 2009 and have won five straight over the Spartans. The last West Hall victory came in 2004, 24-10. ... Just two weeks ago the Falcons were just a 2-point conversion from playing for a region title. Now, after two straight losses and a slew of untimely injuries, they find themselves fighting for a playoff spot. They sit in third place but a loss to the Spartans would drop them into a tie for fourth place with Denmark and throwing them into a must-win scenario next week against the Danes. However, they can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Spartans. ... The Spartans are very much alive for the playoffs. If they can win out (they have Chestatee next week) and get a Denmark loss to the Falcons next week they will clinch a spot. ... The Falcons offense (280 points, 35.0 ppg) has been potent all season but is battling injuries to several key people this week. The Branch defense has been stout all season (100, 12.5 ppg) but is also fighting some injury issues as well. ... West Hall has struggled on defense all season allowing 307 points (38.1 ppg). The offense, however, has picked things up over the past month. After scoring just 83 points in their first five games (16.6 ppg) they have averaged 32.0 ppg over their past three games. 
  • Associated Categories: Sports, High School Sports, Friday Game Night
  • Associated Tags: High school football, Flowery Branch football, West Hall football, Game of the Week
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