COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — As the calendar turns to September, high school football is officially in full swing as fall is now just weeks away.
Two top-10 teams will clash in Week 3 Friday night in Atlanta when No. 9 ranked Westlake (1-1) hosts No. 1 Cedar Grove (1-0) at Westlake High School Stadium.
Westlake should have its hands full with Cedar Grove, as the defending 3A state-champion Saints have been the cream of the crop over the past seven years. With four state championships in the classification and five region titles inside Region 5, Cedar Grove has compiled a 79-16 record during that span and has never been eliminated before the quarterfinals in those seven seasons, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association.
They are riding a 12-season consecutive playoff streak they hope to keep alive in 2022.
For Westlake, their coaching carousel over the past decade has led them to first-year man Rico Zackery. The Lions are coming off of their two highest GHSA playoff finishes the past two seasons since 2015 and 2016.
Westlake made the jump from 6A to 7A this year, although they are no stranger to the competition, having been in 7A from 2016 through 2019 before being bumped back down. Westlake is coming off of a 10-3 season where they scored a program-tying high 503 points.
John Adams, not to be confused with the second U.S. president, touched down with immediate success in his introductory season as Cedar Grove's head coach in 2021, going 12-3 and routing Carver 56-26 in the state title game. They opened the 2022 campaign with a 30-14 win over Bainbridge on Aug. 19.
The Lions won their first game of the young season Aug. 26 when they beat Crisp County 47-7. Westlake had a hard-fought loss in the season opener, when North Cobb, the current No. 4 in 7A, edged them out 21-17.
Be sure to check out #Team11 football show every Friday night at 11:15 for an in-depth breakdown of all of the high school football action in metro-Atlanta.
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