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GAC will be toughest opponent Tigers have seen
The Spartans, like the Tigers, are 10-1 on the season but their competition has included some pretty stout stuff. Their only loss came at the hands of second-ranked Buford and they have themselves been ranked at No. 6 for most of the season. Based on recent wins, the Tigers have climbed to the spot just behind at No. 7 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ranking. GaSports.com's coaches poll also has GAC at No. 6 but the Tigers are a slot lower at No. 8. Greene County is sill hanging in at No. 10. The game this week will be attended by a massive crowd of supporters from the Atlanta area as is traditional for the Spartans. Tigers fans are going to have to really turn out for the game in order to balance the stadium. Unlike the sparse scattering of Callaway fans that sat across the way last Friday, the GAC crowd is likely to overflow the visitors' stands. Tiger Head Coach Russell Morgan expressed his appreciation for the continued good turnout of Washington Wilkes supporters and urged more of the same for round two. "We are going to need every one of our fans this week," he said. "I'm expecting just a nip-tuck ball game down to the wire," he continued. "For us to have a chance to win, we definitely cannot make any mistakes. We can't afford to miss blocks or put the ball on the ground. If we do that kind of stuff we will be in for a long night." The good news is that GAC will be playing without their top running back, the highly-recruited super-athlete Caleb King, who is sidelined with an injury. However, Morgan reports that the Tigers may not even know King is missing. "Even without him, they have a great running back behind him and they are overall the best team we will have faced this year. We just can't afford to make any mistakes," he reiterated. The Spartans' quarterback, Chris Chapple (No. 14), is an outstanding passer and may be the best passer the Tigers have seen this year, even including Greene County's Josh Nesbitt. But Morgan says the most impressive thing about GAC's passing game is that "if their receivers get a hand on the ball, they catch it. Overall GAC is probably about a 60% passing team but that depends on who they play. Some games they depend heavily on the run while in others, "it seems like they pass nearly every play," Morgan observed. "My guess would be that they will come here and try to establish a running game. And then if we do a good job of shutting it down, they will go strictly to a passing game," he said. "And they are very good at it." Part of the problem with Callaway last week was an overconfidence going into the game and then being faced with a team that was much better than expected. "It was a scare," Morgan admitted. "I think everybody underestimated them a little bit and I did too. They were a much better team than they appeared on film and we were just glad to get out of there alive." But the coach continued, "There is no problem with our overlooking this one. They are legitimately a very good football team without a whole lot of weaknesses." On defense, GAC is expected to run a 5-2 most of the game. "They are extremely solid," Morgan said. "They beat Greene 31-8 and played their B-team most of the fourth quarter in that game. So they're pretty darn good."
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. Tickets will be on sale at the W-WCHS office from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, November 24. The price, as set by the Georgia High School Association, is $10.00 per seat. "We would never charge that much," Morgan said.
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