Football: A handful of games could prove to be interesting matchups

Week 2 of the high school football season will kick off on Friday night and if you're looking for a game to follow, we've found a few that might hold your attention.

 Of course, we have to admit there aren't many games that jump off the page, but we tried to find some interesting twists in a handful of contests across the area. 

Here is a list of games of interest in the Friday Game Night coverage area: 

HART COUNTY AT WHITE COUNTY

The first-ever meeting went from blowout to an instant classic last season. With the Warriors up 21-7 in the first half, the Bulldogs scored 34 straight points to lead, 41-21, in the third quarter. In an insane turn of events over the next quarter-plus, White County, behind J Ben Haynes, Silas Mulligan and Darius Cannon roared back to take the lead 42-41 on a two-point try. Moments later, however, the Bulldogs answered to go back up, 47-42, after the missed two-point try. Then Haynes led the Warriors on the eventual game-winning drive to upset the then eighth-ranked Bulldogs, 50-47.

This season, the Warriors are coming off a 34-20 loss to Stephens County and Haynes graduated. The question this week will be the play of the offense for the Warriors. Will they find an efficient passing game? The rushing game was solid with Silas Mulligan, he rushed for 126 yards on 20 carries last week. 

The Bulldogs rolled past Elbert County Week 1, 54-21, behind a massive offensive performance. JL Lackey led the Bulldogs with 210 yards on 18 carries as Hart churned out 619 total yards of offense. The Bulldogs defense also shutdown Elbert, holding them to just 235 yards. This one is interesting because of what happened last season. It'll come down to White County's ability to cross the endzone, and how well they slow down Hart County's explosive offense. You can hear the game live on WRWH 93.9 FM.

STEPHENS COUNTY AT NORTH HALL

North Hall is in a different place than it was this time last year. For starters, the Trojans are 1-0, going on the road to Paulding County last week and returning to The Brickyard with a 23-14 win behind a powerful rushing attack from Kevin Rochester and the offense. Rochester finished with 248 yards rushing. 

And the defense, a year older, faster and stronger, held the Patriots under 20 rushing yards. Paulding did most of its damage through the air -- 239 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Still, though, some may believe the Trojans don't have the firepower to knock off the Indians, who rallied past White County, 34-20. They shut out the Warriors in the second half as well. Last year, North Hall's offense sputtered, and the defense wasn't much better, losing, for the 20th time to Stephens County, 34-0. 

Stephens County was balanced against the Warriors. TJ Everett led the way out of the backfield with 126 rushing yards, most of which came in the second half, and quarterback Ben Stowe was efficient in the passing game -- 8-of-12 for 99 yards. He also added another 69 rushing. This game is interesting because it has the potential to be a shootout or an old-fashioned defensive battle. You can hear the game live on FM 102.9 WDUN.

WEST HALL AT EAST HALL

Both programs had a mediocre season in 2020 but did show some improvement.

In the offseason, Michael Perry left East Hall for Blairsville, leading to the hiring of East Hall alum and former assistant coach Matt Turner.

Meanwhile, Krofton Montgomery had his best season at the helm of the Spartans in 2020, 4-6, but one of those losses was to the Vikings. East Hall pulled off the win at the Hot Gates, 30-22, behind the arm of top-five Class 4A passing leader Clete Cooper. He's back to guide the Viking offense. 

But, so far, all we've seen from the Vikings is a blowout scrimmage win over Riverside Military Academy a couple of weeks ago. West Hall, on the other hand, held on to beat East Jackson, 14-7, behind a team rushing effort. So, why is this game interesting? Because of the unknowns.

Sure, we've seen West Hall play in Week 1. Sure, we've watched Cooper pass for several thousand yards over his career. But what we don't know is how much have the Vikings improved under first-year head coach Matt Turner this summer, and we don't know when it could possibly start to click for the Spartans. What we do think, though, is this game will give us, and the fans, a good gauge of what to expect this season. You can hear the game live on AM 550 WDUN.

PACE ACADEMY AT RABUN COUNTY

ESPN was quick to pick this game up over the summer, and why not? At the time, Pace Academy still had the No. 6 dual-threat quarterback MJ Morris on its roster, and Rabun County's Gunner Stockton, the nation's No. 1 quarterback in the Class of 2022, had committed to Georgia. Makes for good TV, right?

Well, Morris transferred back to Carrollton -- perhaps the hiring of Joey King lured him back to the Trojans. This game doesn't have the luster it once had when the Worldwide Leader in Sports swooped in to slate it for primetime. Regardless, the Wildcats are coming off a loss to Class 4A No. 1-ranked Jefferson. In a game everyone expected to be an offensive shootout turned into a defensive battle, although Sammy Brown rushed for 157 yards in his debut for the Dragons.

Pace Academy, on the other hand, will begin its season on ESPN. It'll be the first meeting between Class 2A programs. This one is interesting because of ESPN, and with the Wildcats coming off a disappointing loss to Jefferson last week, how many touchdowns will Stockton (Last week: 10-of-19 passing for 136 yards and rushed for 59 yards on 10 carries.) toss against Pace Academy on national television -- most likely, five.