GHSA Football Week 7 Top 5 Preview - Game of the Week Gainesville vs Lanier

Gainesville-Lanier

At 5-0, Gainesville has been rolling under new head coach, Josh Nesbit, with dominating performances on both sides of the ball as they have averaged 37 ppg while holding opponents to an average of 13.8 ppg. Gainesville opened up region play two weeks ago with a 55-6 win over Apalachee before heading into their bye week. Lanier has had a bit of a rock start to their season dropping their first two games before defeating Johns Creek 19-14 for their first win of the season. Since then Lanier has split their last two games with a 25-21 win over Habersham Central last week to open up region play. As Lanier gets set for Gainesville, they’ll look to get it going offensively and defensively as they have yet to find consistency on either side of the ball.

Creekside-Mays

After an 0-2 start to the season, Creekside has been rolling as they are winners of three straight, including back to back region wins. Offensively, Creekside appears to have hit their stride as they have score 35 or more in their last two wins and defensively, they had their most dominating performance last week as they held Chapel Hill scoreless. After opening the season with a dominating win over the Douglas Astros, Mays suffered back to back losses including a loss to Langston Hughes in which their off had their struggled, only producing 12 points. Mays bounced back last week as they opened region play with a 35-23 win over Chapel Hill as their offense appears to be back on track.

Lovejoy-Woodward Academy

Lovejoy hit the ground running as they got the their season started with back to back wins, including region win over Mundy’s Mill in their season opener. However, Lovejoy’s momentum came to a halt when they dropped two in a row losing to Crisp County and South Atlanta. But Lovejoy had their most dominating performance two weeks ago as they rolled to a 55-0 win over Rockdale County in a region game heading into their bye week. On the other side, Woodward Academy has had an impressive start to the season as they sit at 4-1 overall and also 2-0 in the region. Averaging 34.4 ppg, Woodward dominated their last two opponents defeating Morrow 52-0 and Alcovy 42-0.

Hapeville-Stephenson

Do not let the records fool you. While Hapeville Charter may be coming into this one with no wins under their belt, that does not mean they will not be one of the top teams in their region. Hapeville faced some of Georgia’s top programs in Newton, Lee County, Pebblebrook, Dougherty and Carver-Columbus and that was by design as head coach, Winston Gordon purposely loads the schedule with stiff competition in preparations for region play. And while it has be an up and down start to the season, without a doubt, Stephenson will be ready to step up to the task as they are coming off of a 28-3 win over Tucker and will look to keep the momentum going.

Villa Rica-Lithia Springs

After claiming the region tile last season, Villas Rica’s start to region play has them on track to potentially head that direction once again as they are 2-0 in the region standings. In both region wins, Villa Rica has scored 42 points or more over their opponents, Tri-Cities and Banneker, and defensively only allowed a combined 36 points in the two wins. Up next though for Villa Rica is Lithia Springs, who comes in to the game at 1-1 in the region standings. After falling to Creekside 35-14 in their region opener, Lithia Springs bounced back last week defeating Maynard-Jackson 49-26 as the win was Lithia Springs most productive game offensively.