It helps to read a calendar sometimes, because those who are used to Friday Night Lights need to shift their thinking and head to Cedartown or Rome (depending on whether you’re supporting the Bulldogs or Yellow Jackets.)

Both Cedartown and Rockmart are in action for Thursday night scrimmage football, with the Bulldogs hosting the Cass Colonels and the Jackets traveling to play the Rome Wolves for one more round of games that don’t count.

The second and final week of the preseason play is happening tonight for both teams. Let’s take a look at the matchups for each squad for the 2023 pre-season:

Rockmart at Rome

The Rockmart Yellow Jackets in this one have a good reason to seek out some revenge. In years past, Rockmart and Rome have opened the season against one another in matchups during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Those two rounds against one another (maybe not quite on paper) were close games with the 2020 edition up at Barron Stadium a 28-21 loss going Rome’s way. The Wolves came to Rockmart to open the season in 2021 and beat the Jackets 23-7 (ok, that one was LESS close, but still a fantastic game. We’ve got footage from both here and here.)

Rockmart in this scrimmage game does have some reason to try and get one back on the Wolves in the two times they have played one another as the Wolves. Especially with JD Davis under center for the last go-round wanting to show he’s more than up to the task of tackling one of the consistently top teams in the state over the past decade.

Rome comes into the contest after a 2022 12-2 campaign where they went deep into the playoffs and only had a regular season loss to Carrollton, the state runner-up in Class 7-A football. Rome in Class 6-A made it to the semifinals but fell to state champion Hughes, who had a perfect season as the top team to beat in the state overall.

The Jackets had the opportunity to get on the field in pads on the road at Bremen last week, where Rockmart took a 34-6 victory in a game where scoreboard and records don’t count for the regular season anyhow.

Look for Davis to connect with Tristan Anderson in deep routes one again based on a first half touchdown pass between the two against the Blue Devil defense. A lot of guys are going to get touches on offense as Rockmart has the chance to turn up the heat against a big name team heading into the season opener at Cedartown.

And Brent Washington – General Washington is a nickname I think should stick – will get at least 50+ yards tonight. At least I think that’s a reasonable prediction.

Cass at Cedartown

Last year, the Colonels defense got the best of Cedartown during the first half and stymied what became one of the best offenses in the state during a magical season for the Bulldogs.

All the way to the title game they ran toward glory, but fell short against a Benedictine squad who held tough with seconds to go right at the goal line and kept Cedartown from ending a decades-long drought of state titles. Maybe this year will be the opportunity the Bulldogs get?

Opportunity is knocking, but not before the Colonels have a chance to return and make trouble in the Bulldogs’ yard before the season can get underway in earnest.

The group of seniors on offense who drove Cedartown to the title game have graduated and since found places to play college ball. Now the squad is relying on Drew Ledbetter under center for his final year as a Bulldog to lead the guys at quarterback, with runners like Sam Smith and Tae Harris to handle the rock in the backfield and drive toward the end zone.

Demarcus Gardner (getting love of his own from schools) playing on both side of the ball has a chance to shine as well, along with guys like Jakoby Diamond and Juelz Davis will also get a chance to shine.

The 5-A Colonels shouldn’t be ignored. Despite finishing fourth in the region, they came up with big wins over Hiram and Woodland, plus a close loss to Dalton to get into the playoff mix to finish the 2022 campaign with a 5-7 record and a second round appearance after a surprise road victory over Jefferson.

Cass under Coach Steve Gates has seen improvements, but remain a team struggling to stay over .500 at season’s end since they ended up in a tough region due to school size with Calhoun, Cartersville, and Dalton. Don’t overlook Cass tonight. They have an opportunity to show off if they can beat Cedartown on defense.

Still got the home team by at least 20 points. We’ll have film from this one, with batteries juiced up and the camera ready to go.

Forecast matters

Rain might have washed out practices and games for other sports, but wet weather aren’t conditions that bother football players at all.

Good news: the forecast calls for the rain around the area that dumped on Polk County and the surrounding area this morning is going to be gone by kickoff. Temperatures are expected to be 79 and a light wind should provide great football weather. The turf will likely be a bit slick in both Cedartown and Rome, so that will have an impact on both sides of the ball.

Keys to tonight’s game: keep your footing, you have a chance to win.

Next week

Rockmart at Cedartown will be a big first week matchup for our local teams, but the squads in the region and around the area have some season openers for the ages.

The one that might set to the tone for the year: Hughes at Carrollton. The state title winner versus the team that fell short last season have a chance to show who is the biggest and baddest of them all. I’m interested in what’s happening with Woodland-Carterville, coached by former Yellow Jacket Brandon Haywood now his second season. They went 1-9 in his opening year, and though they open against East Paulding, it’ll be interesting to see how they’ve developed.

Paulding County vs. Hiram was a big game for the Patriots last year, and this year the Hornets host. Bremen at Heard could get interesting, but after the scrimmage last week I’m putting my pick with the Braves. The Blue Devils have work to do.

Rome opens their season against the Colonels on August 18 as well.

A matchup from times past returns: Calhoun at Blessed Trinity. The Yellow Jackets up in Gordon County need a bounce back year after the losses they took in the teeth (including against Cedartown.) This year, the first week matchup at Blessed Trinity is ambitious and standard-setting. Let’s see how they do.

Also we have Ringgold at Heritage in a battle of Catoosa County, two teams who need wins: Coosa at Southeast Whitfield, Pepperell at Northwest Whitfield (Thursday game), Central Carroll at Redan and Sonoraville at Pickens on tap for some of the 7-4A region foes for Cedartown.

Some of the 7-AA foes will be in action too. Gordon Central hosts Armuchee on opening night, Haralson travels to Rabun County, Model is across the state line at Cherokee County, Alabama, North Murray is hosting Dalton, Coahulla Creek is at Murray County and Fannin hosts Union County in non-region play next week. I like Armuchee, Cherokee, Dalton, Coahulla Creek and Fannin in those games next week for my picks.

Check back for additional coverage from the Cass at Cedartown scrimmage with highlight video and more coming up on Friday for Monthly+ subscribers.