There's a first time for everything, right?
North Forsyth is checking off the "first-time" box left and right this season, beginning with their first Corky Kell Classic appearance on Thursday at West Forsyth High School.
It'll also be the first-ever contest against a veteran North Atlanta squad that narrowly missed the Class 6A playoffs last season.
North Forsyth head coach Robert Craft is well aware of all the hype surrounding the game, which will be televised on Peachtree TV, with kickoff at 5:30 p.m.
"I told the team after practice yesterday that we're going to be the third game in the whole state," he said. "I think sometimes we lose sight of the experience -- high school football is such an experience. I want them to recognize what they are a part of and embrace it."
The Raiders, who also barely missed the Class 7A playoffs last season, head into the season opener with several new pieces in place.
Last week, Craft and his staff had the opportunity to determine the areas of improvement in scrimmage action against Dawson County.
Craft pinpointed tackling better and being disciplined.
"We came out of the scrimmage feeling we needed to tackle better, so a lot of focus on that," Craft said. "We had six pre and post-snap penalties. We are trying to clean up those areas that you may not get in a practice situation as much. So, we've focused on taking better angles, working on the fundamentals of tackling, and then we want to be a very disciplined football team when it comes to pre and post-snap penalties."
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ...
It could turn into a quarterback battle when these two teams tee it up on Thursday. The Raiders have senior West Roberts stepping into the role of starter after having played in six games last season. The Warriors return quarterback Lorenza Lennon (80-178, 1,163 passing yards, 12 TD, 7 INT). He also led the team in rushing yards with 482 and four touchdowns.
"He's a very dangerous player both running and throwing the football," Craft said about Lennon. "It will be very important for us to contain their quarterback because he is a threat every time he drops back. He also likes to pull it down and go, and they like to involve him in the quarterback run game."
The Warriors have all three leading rushers returning -- junior Demeitrus Barnes (63-236, 3 TDs), junior Kaden Hambrick (60-177, 5 TDs) and junior Hunter Davis (25-140, 3 TDs).
The Raiders, however, have a pretty good stable back as well, although leading rusher Patrick Corrigan graduated, seniors Mason Lawson (41-192), Lake Heffington (56-272, 2 TDs), Caleb Bowen (21-71) and sophomore Carson McBrayer have gotten stronger in the offseason.
Both teams are returning their top receivers. North Forsyth returns seniors Aiden Ruckh (22-302, 1 TD), Logan Curry (24-342, 3 TD), and the Warriors have seniors Randolph Smith (16-259, 4 TDs), Deshawn Merritt (25-293, 2 TDs) and Jamie O'Kelley (13-227, 2 TDs).
"They have a better football team, for sure," Craft said. Which for them, I think would be a big advantage, especially early in the season, to have such a veteran team."
Defensively, North Forsyth is trending upward but will be tested against North Atlanta's potential explosiveness.
"Our linebackers and secondary are going to have to be very disciplined with their eyes, and our defensive line is going to have to stay in their lanes and contain him as much as we can," Craft said.
Senior defensive tackle and Navy commit Chris Herock returns to lead the Raiders upfront. He recorded 47 tackles, five for a loss, and 6 1/2 sacks last season. Junior Braden O'Shields is back at nose guard (22 tackles, 3 for a loss). At linebacker, All-AccessWDUN first-teamer and Air Force commit Collin Miller, who led the team with 87 tackles and 10 sacks last season, is back to direct the box for the Raiders.
The Warriors have several key players back on defense, including leading tackler linebacker Davis back (51 tackles) and second leading linebacker Connor Hughes (46 tackles, 3 sacks), as well as most of the secondary, including pick-off specialist Xaden Benson (3 INTs).
"We're just kind of going through our week and preparing for what we think we may see in the different phases of the game," Craft said. "We need just to go out and play our game. We've got to line up well on defense and contain their formations."
