We Speak High School Football
Collins Hill Won’t Back Down: Eagles’ Region Run Meets the State’s No. 1 Team
For one full quarter on Friday night, Collins Hill did what almost nobody in Georgia has done this season: the Eagles shut out Buford.
Collins Hill intercepted the Wolves’ first possession and held the state’s No. 1 team to 69 yards on 19 first-quarter snaps, keeping the Homecoming crowd at Philip Beard Stadium quiet through a scoreless opening quarter. Buford’s depth eventually took over in a 43-0 win, but the Eagles’ fight against the nation’s elite said plenty about where this program is headed.
Collins Hill arrived at Buford with real momentum. The Eagles were 2-0 in Region 8-7A play after back-to-back wins — a 39-15 victory over Central Gwinnett and a 42-13 win at Seckinger — scoring 81 points across those two games. That two-game surge turned the trip to Buford into a matchup of the region’s unbeaten teams in league play, a stage this young Eagles group earned.
The schedule does not hand out breaks in Gwinnett County, and Collins Hill’s next test is another big one, with a trip to a Mill Creek team that has won three straight. But a program that can win region road games, put up 42 points away from home, and hold the No. 1 team in Georgia scoreless for a quarter is a program building something real in Suwanee.
The Eagles’ season is not defined by one Friday against a powerhouse. It is defined by the region wins already in hand and the fight still ahead. Collins Hill won’t back down — the rest of the region has been put on notice.
We Speak High School Football
Miller Grove Wolverines Hunting a Strong Finish After a Season of Fights
The Miller Grove Wolverines opened their season with a statement, and they have been fighting ever since. A 31-0 shutout of Chamblee in the opener showed what this Lithonia team can be, and the Wolverines have spent the fall proving that night was no fluke.
Miller Grove owns a 35-6 road win at McNair and a 20-8 win at Carver in Atlanta, victories built on defense and toughness. Look at those three wins together and a pattern emerges: Chamblee scored zero, McNair scored six and Carver scored eight. When the Wolverines win, they win with a defense that gives up almost nothing, and that identity travels anywhere. At 3-4, with 131 points scored and 135 allowed, nearly every Wolverines game this season has been a genuine fight, decided by which team made the plays late.
That includes the tough nights. The Wolverines fell 42-10 to a strong Columbia team on October 16 and dropped a 28-21 heartbreaker at M.L. King in an all-DeKalb battle earlier this season. Those are the kinds of games a program learns from.
That defensive identity is worth repeating, because it is rare: across their three wins, the Wolverines have allowed a total of 14 points. Fourteen. In an era of spread offenses and video-game scores, Miller Grove wins the old-fashioned way, with tackling, discipline and a defense that takes points personally. That travels in November, and it gives the Wolverines a real chance in every game left on the schedule.
The closing stretch gives Miller Grove every chance to finish the right way. South Atlanta visits on Friday, October 23, then the Wolverines travel to Cedar Grove on October 30 before closing at home against Redan.
Three games, three chances to turn a season of fights into a winning finish. In Lithonia, the Wolverines and their families have every reason to believe that is exactly what happens next.
-
We Speak Dining & Drinks2 days agoOff The Rails Opens in Boston, Bringing Nashville-Inspired Dining, Live Music and High-Energy Entertainment Downtown
-
We Speak Music1 week agoFox De La Rose Refuses To Be Defined On ‘Nothing Is Written In Stone’
-
We Speak Music1 week agoDidn’t get tickets to Oasis? Buying for the dad who still talks about that gig in 1996
-
We Speak Music1 week agoDesire Machines Pair Literary Inspiration With Psychedelic Art-Rock On New Single