GAME PREVIEWS: Centennial Aims to Roll West Creek; GCA Seeks First Win

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By JOSH VARDAMAN

West Creek (0-5, 0-2) at Centennial (4-1, 2-0), 7 p.m. Friday*

First-year Centennial coach Matt Kriesky has stepped in this season and kept the Cougars’ rolling through Region 7-5A.

After the Cougars went 7-0 in the region last year, they are out to a fast 2-0 start this season ahead of Friday’s matchup against winless West Creek on homecoming.

Centennial should have a very good chance at making it 10-0 in the region since the TSSAA reclassification before last season. The Coyotes have struggled mightily this season, losing every game by an average of 28 points per contest.

The Cougars should have no problem exploiting a West Creek defense that is giving up 36 points per game. Running backs Zyon Lee and Jariel Wilson have an opportunity to tack on another big game to their resumes. Wilson rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 21-3 win against Clarksville Northeast.

Defensively, Centennial should feast on what has been a bad Coyote offense so far this season. They have scored just 37 points in five games, good for a 7.4 points-per-game average.

The Cougars are coming off possibly their best defensive game of the season a week ago against Clarksville Northeast. They let the Eagles gain just 244 total yards of offense, nine of which were passing.

The game has a kickoff time of 7 p.m. at Centennial, and guests should expect to see some homecoming festivities.

Richland (1-3, 0-2) at Grace Christian Academy (0-4, 0-3), 7 p.m. Friday*

The Grace Christian Academy Lions have made a habit out of losing close games.

In every contest this season, the winless Lions have lost by seven points or less. Their average margin of loss so far is just 3.75 points.

Fresh off its second one-point loss of the season last week against Moore County, GCA welcomes Richland in Week 6. The Raiders come in 1-3 and are winless in Region 4-1A.

Richland goes into Friday with an offense that has proved potent at times (30 points-per-game average), but its defense has struggled. Teams have scored over 50 points against the Raiders twice and they are giving up 36 points per contest.

Led by quarterback Austin Amor, the Lions are averaging 29 points per game. They’ll look to exploit Richland’s poor defense.