GAME OF THE WEEK: McIntosh at Sandy Creek

by Alex Ewalt

On Oct. 9, Score Atlanta/Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Football Fridays in Georgia series takes a trip to the south side of town for a big Region 5-AAAA clash between ranked No. 6-ranked Sandy Creek and McIntosh. The two teams will meet at The Battlefield at Sandy Creek for a game in sub-region A; Sandy Creek took the contest 34-7 last season at McIntosh.

Sandy Creek enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history last year, going 10-0 in the regular season and reaching the second round of the playoffs. Though the team lost a good bit of talent from last year’s region champion, plenty of playmakers remain. The Patriots had a bye week in Week 4, but easily dispatched Osborne in the third week of the season 34-7; RB Rajion Neal, who is committed to Mississippi State, ran for a touchdown in the win and S Isaiah Johnson, who is committed to Georgia Tech, intercepted two passes and lateralled one to teammate Bruce Dukes, who then scored. McIntosh has made tremendous strides in just a season and a half under new head coach Glenn Griffin, a longtime assistant who came to McIntosh from nearby Starr’s Mill in 2008. The Chiefs were 3-2 at press time, an amazing turnaround for a program that has had only four winning seasons since its inception in 1982.

Online streaming coverage of the Score Atlanta/GPB game of the week will begin at 7:15 p.m. at GPB.org/football, and the archived video can be watched on demand at GHSA.tv anytime after the completion of the event.