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Writer's pictureArthur Mosley

Wheeler looking to put the breaks on Cherokee's high octane offense



Scouting the Wildcats


The Wheeler Wildcats picked up their first win of the season two weeks ago as they defeated Marietta their last time out. Now the Wildcats will look to force their way into a tie for second place as they host Cherokee. Wheeler is averaging 20.2 points per game and has done almost all of their damage on the ground offensively. The Wildcats are averaging 222.2 yards per game on the ground and 86.5 yards per game through the air. Josiah Allen has picked up where he left off last season and leads the ground game with 855 yards rushing and 7-TDs. Meanwhile, quarterback Marcus Romain has added 412 yards and 4-TDs on the ground to compliment Allen. Wheeler averages a little over 11 pass attempts per game. Romain has thrown for 519 yards and 2-TDs. His primary target is JaVon Broussard, with 12 receptions for 205 yards and 2-TDs. Defensively, Wheeler is allowing 27.2 points per game. Elijah Muhammad leads the team with 53 total tackles while Shamar Yarber leads the team with 6 sacks. Overall, the Wildcats have sacked opposing QBs 13 times.



Scouting the Warriors


The Cherokee Warriors had another impressive outing last week as they pulled away from their county and region rival in the 4th quarter to go to 2-0 in region play. Cherokee is averaging 41.3 points per game as they are churning out an average of 452 yards of offense per game. Senior quarterback Tanner Savasir, (the Class 6A passing leader), has thrown for 1689 yards and 17-TDs while completing 64.5% of his passes. Savasir also leads the team in rushing with 300 yards and has added 4 rushing TDs. Cherokee has six receivers who have caught at least 10 passes. The unit is led by seniors Malakiah Echols (23 receptions, 358 yards, 8-TDs) and Wyatt Tash, (22 receptions, 447 yards, 4-TDs). On the ground, it has been running back by committee and aside from Savasir, bruising running back Christian Irwin (272 yards, 7-TDs) and speedy Brandon Hamilton, (207 yards, 1-TD) provide a great change of pace for the Warriors. Defensively, linebackers Braden Nuckolls and Jayce Carson lead the team with 56 and 55 total tackles respectively, while Jayce Jones leads the team with 3 interceptions.



Pundit's Pick


This game will feature two teams with contrasting styles. The biggest question is which defense will be able to impose their will on the other. Wheeler’s defensive front has shown the ability to make life difficult for opposing quarterbacks, so Savsisr will need to be decisive early, as this is an aggressive attacking front four for the Wildcats. Meanwhile, Cherokee will have to guard against Wheeler’s zone read as both Allen and Romain are legitimate running threats. If this game is low scoring, we believe that Wheeler would have dominated time of possession and kept the explosive Cherokee offense on the sideline. If it’s a shootout, we believe that Wheeler could not get pressure on Savasir and the Warriors would have made it a shoot out. This game will be somewhere in the middle. Wheeler’s defense will keep Cherokee under their average offensive production, but we like the Warriors by 5.







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