A look at the local high school football schedule for week four

Sep. 10—North Murray opens region play with Ringgold

North Murray (1-0) only had one game to prepare for Region 6-3A action. The Mountaineers opened their season last week with a 31-30 escape at Northwest Whitfield as they started the season two weeks later than most due to scheduled bye weeks.

North Murray hosts Ringgold (2-0) tonight at 7:30 to kick off its region schedule.

Quarterback Seth Griffin kept things rolling after a standout season for the Mountaineers in 2020, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the shootout against the Bruins last Friday. He'll lead the potent Mountaineer offense against a Ringgold team that comes in with two victories by at least 20 points already. The Tigers defeated Gilmer 35-15 and Ridgeland 44-0.

Ringgold is a program on the rise after the team finished winless two seasons ago. The Tigers finished 5-5 a year ago and played a wild game against the Mountaineers, which North Murray won 62-49.

Coahulla Creek puts historic start to the test in road region opener at Rockmart

The Coahulla Creek Colts (2-0) have never won more than two games in a season in program history, but they already have a chance to set a new mark in just the third game of the season.

It'll be a tough test to begin region play for the Colts, coming off a bye week after the first 2-0 start by the team. They'll travel to play Rockmart (1-1), the defending Region 6-3A champions, tonight at 7:30.

Rockmart opened the season with a loss to Class 6A Rome, but responded with a victory over Villa Rica two weeks ago. The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a bye week as well.

Rockmart won the matchup 42-6 a year ago, but lost several key pieces such as all-region quarterback Javin Whatley. The Colts have also shown much improvement in year two under head coach Danny Wilson, defeating Northwest Whitfield for the first time in program history.

Northwest Whitfield looks to bounce back after another narrow loss

Northwest Whitfield is 1-2 through three games, but the Bruins are just a few plays and points from an undefeated record.

Coahulla Creek needed a game-tying play in the games final seconds to force overtime in an eventual victory over Northwest in week one. Last week, North Murray edged past the Bruins 31-30.

The good news for the Bruins? They still have another game to regroup before opening Region 7-4A action.

Northwest will play its fourth straight home game to begin the season tonight at 7:30 against Chattooga (0-1).

Chattooga opened the season Aug. 20 with a 35-14 loss to Adairsville, then was forced to cancel two games scheduled for the last two weeks due to COVID-19. Northwest defeated Chattooga, a Class 2A program, 38-14 in a game last season.

Christian Heritage plays at Heritage after getting first win in shootout

Christian Heritage (1-2) secured its first win of the season last week against King's Ridge Christian after the Lions' first 0-2 start in four years.

The Region 7-A Private defending champs will try to keep the good momentum going tonight at 7:30 at Ringgold's Heritage (1-0), a Class 4A program, in the Lions' first road contest of the season.

Heritage played its first game, a 34-14 win over King's Academy, last week after the scheduled opening for the Generals' season was derailed because of COVID-19 issues in the program.

The Lions have leaned on quarterback Christian Thomas, running back Solomon Locke and wide receiver Wyatt Brumlow for offense through three weeks, and Locke's made noise as a linebacker on defense as well along with lineman Daniel Geil. Christian Heritage dominated Heritage 39-7 last season in Dalton.

After the Heritage game, Christian Heritage still has two more games to straighten out early-season issues in time for the four-game Region 7-A Private schedule to close out the regular season.

Southeast travels to Fannin County after historic rushing performance in week three win

Southeast Whitfield (1-2) romped over Gordon Central 48-28 with 460 rushing yards, a school-record 281 of those coming from Brady Ensley, last week, and the Raiders will try to keep running on the road tonight at 7:30 at Blue Ridge against Fannin County (1-1).

Southeast fell 48-0 to Fannin, which finished 10-1 and as a state quarterfinalist in Class 2A last season; Fannin lost 32-0 to Sonoraville last week.

The win last week was Southeast's earliest win in a season since 2018. The Raiders finished with just one win in 2019 and 2020 combined.

The Raiders have shown an improved rushing offense, led by Ensley and fellow running back Jordan Trevino, this season, and nearly pulled off a win week one over Murray County in a 35-34 loss. Southeast has a chance to get consecutive victories for the first time since that 2018 season.

Murray opens region play against Adairsville

After a win over Southeast Whitfield to open the season followed by an off week, Murray County's offense sputtered early in a 34-21 loss to Gilmer last week.

The Indians (1-1) will need to regroup tonight if they want to get Region 6-3A play started off with a win. Murray hosts Adairsville (2-0) at 7:30.

Adairsville scored a decisive win against Chattooga in the opening week, then eeked out a 29-28 overtime win over Cass two weeks ago. The Tigers were off last Friday.

Murray showed some life after falling into a 28-0 hole against Gilmer — quarterback Justice Knotts gunned three touchdown passes in a comeback effort — but the Indians will need a better start to contend with Adairsville. The Tigers, a playoff team in the region a year ago, defeated Murray 38-7 in last year's game.

Dalton gets bye before kicking off region action

Dalton (1-2) couldn't keep up with the rushing attack of Class 7A North Forsyth last week, falling 42-10. The Catamounts get a week to recover before first-year coach Kit Carpenter leads Dalton into its region schedule, starting with a game next Friday against Carrollton.