Game of the Week: Westlake host Langston Hughes In Big Region and Rivalry Match Up

1. A big one goes down in South Fulton as Westlake and Langston Hughes open up region play facing off against each other. Both teams are 4-1 overall with Langston winners of their last four games and Westlake coming off back to back wins. For Langston Hughes head coach, Daniel Williams, despite all the hype around Friday’s match up and the storied history between the Panthers and Westlake, the goal for his team is to “go 1-0” regardless who the opponent is.

“Westlake is a rivalry of course. On the outside of the program it’s “Langston verses Westlake, ‘oh it’s a big time game’ but in our games eyes, it’s just the next man up,” Williams said of his guys mindset adding, “it’s just the next game on the schedule. For those who follow the two teams closely, many feel the winner of Friday’s game will be the eventual winner of the region to which Williams says, that with the guys focused on going 1-0 for the week, the outside chatter does not impact them and have them looking too far ahead.

“I always try to keep my guys humble. Lose with class, win with class, that’s the kind of program I want to try to create and it doesn’t matter our opponent, we don’t think lightly of anybody and we don’t take anybody for granted and we’re not going to be afraid to play anybody either,” Williams said.

2. Riverwood looks to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they take on region rival River Ridge who remains unbeaten. Last season, River Ridge defeated Riverwood 21-14 and would eventually go 6-0 in region play to claim the region title.

3. Columbia looks to remain unbeaten in region play as they take on rival Washington who looks to stay in the top four in the standings if they can pick up the win. Last season, Washington blanked the Eagles for a 31-0 win and would settle for third in the final region standings and Columbia fifth, missing out on the playoffs.

4. Jonesboro and Woodward Academy will face off in a region battle as both teams are currently unbeaten in region play. Woodward Academy is 5-0 overall. When these two met in 2020, the War Eagles held on for a 18-13 win and would eventually finish second in the region standings and Jonesboro would settle for third.

5. Both Woodland and Stockbidge will head into their match up at 1-1 in region play with Stockbridge currently in fourth and Woodland in fifth. So a win for Woodland would allow them to leap in front of Stockbridge in the standings. Last season, Woodland held on for a 34-28 overtime win and would finish ahead of the Tigers in the standings in the fifth position as both teams missed out on post-season play.