Clarke County (5-0) visits Central (1-4) for a Monday night edition of the High School Football Game of the Week on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, theriver953.com and The River 95.3 app with coverage starting at 6:30 pm for the 7 pm kick-off.
Clarke County enters the contest flying high with an undefeated start through non-district play including some tight contests against perennial playoff contenders and a few blowouts in typical Eagles fashion, tough defense and a strong running game.
Wyatt Palmer has taken over the role as the lead back totaling 667 yards this season for 9 touchdowns while averaging 9.4 yards per carry and is coming off his best game yet.
Palmer dominated Catoctin with 213 yards on the ground and two bookend touchdowns to secure the 21-13 victory.
Eagles linebacker Carson Chinn regularly stacks up defensive stats as one of the areas leading tacklers (63 total) and added Homecoming King to his accolades off the field during last week’s win.
Chinn, Palmer, and the rest of the Eagles will need to bring their A game to Woodstock to knock off a Central team that will be playing with a chip on their shoulder the rest of the season.
After three of the Falcons opening wins were forfeited due to an ineligible player, Central earned their first official victory of season last week against a tough King William team, 19-10.
While losing your starting quarterback is never an ideal situation, Central is fortunate to fall back on Nick Barahona.
The senior started at quarterback for two seasons including the Falcons run to the VHSL Class 2 State Championship game his sophomore season.
Central has lost a lot of production over the past few years due to graduation including Tyler Forbes, Nathan Lopez, Luc Retrosi and more, but like the Eagles, boast a strong rushing attack and tough defense.
The Falcons defense has not allowed more than 10 points in a game this season and is spearheaded by leading tacklers Brady Hecker (47 total) and Chris Brown (39 total, 2 INTs) along with one of the areas leaders in sacks Matthew Folk (5 sacks, 23 total tackles).
While Central has dominated the series lately, winning 5 of the last 6, the two teams have split the last 16 contests dating back to 2005.
On top of the change at quarterback and a recent tragedy in Woodstock that forced the game to be moved to Monday, Clarke County may be able to focus more on what lies between the chalk lines.
That clarity under longtime head coach Casey Childs will be an advantage over a Central team facing a lot of adversity with a first year head coach in Rowdy Hoover and help the Eagles to a tight victory, 20-16.
To listen to my interview with Clarke County Head Coach Casey Childs, click here.Â