The undefeated Cherokee Warriors will enter Friday night's road matchup with the Douglas County Tigers riding high as they look to tighten their grasp on Region 5AAAA.

Fourth-ranked Cherokee (6-0, 5-0) is coming off a tight, 17-6 home win over upstart Lithia Springs in a game in which the Lions led 6-3 at halftime. The Warriors pulled away late, but struggled to get their rush-happy offense in gear early on.

"Lithia Springs is a good football team and they came in with a good gameplan," said Cherokee head coach Brian Dameron. "We hadn't trailed in a ballgame since our first game (against Starr's Mill), so I think it was good for us to have that adversity and to get refocused like we did."

Cherokee had been averaging well over 35 points per game in their previous five games before last week. For the Warriors' offense to be successful against a tenacious Douglas County front seven, senior quarterback Chris Priutt and senior running back John Valentine will have to establish themselves early and often.

Also helping out for the Warriors will be senior running back Jonathan Davis, who was unavailable last week due to an injury, and senior running back Matt Blaylock, who has carried the ball well when he has played.

Douglas County (4-2, 4-1) is playing solid football, having ripped off four straight wins after dropping their first two games of the season. The Tigers have beaten their opponents by more than 21 points per contest during their current streak and they are looking to keep things rolling against Cherokee.

"Cherokee is probably playing the best ball of anyone in the region," said Douglas County head coach John Oglesby. "They have a lot of depth and they are very big and physical."

The Tigers' defense has been almost impenetrable, having given up only 26 points over the last four games. Douglas County has several playmakers on the defensive side of the ball including senior linebacker and leading tackler Henry Mitchell and big-play defensive back Jamarion Robinson.

On offense, the Tigers will look to share the ball on the ground with senior running back Carl Robinson and junior Lavante Page getting most of the carries. Junior quarterback Anthony Caldwell will be behind center, as the Tigers will look to challenge the Cherokee defense early and often.

"Obviously, this game has huge playoff implications attached to it," said Oglesby. "So, we have to be able to be as physical as they are and we have to play inspired football."

Although the Warriors may have not been fully focused on their game last week, don't look for that to happen again as they enter the toughest stretch of their schedule. After Friday night's game with Douglas County, the Warriors will host undefeated No. 5 East Paulding at Tommy Baker Field.

"Hopefully the team will understand that this is the meat of our schedule and that Douglas County is a very good football team with a lot of big time players," said Dameron. "They play great football and we have got to be ready to play."

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