RINGGOLD, Ga. — Peek at the football series history between Coahulla Creek and Ringgold, and one has to question what all the excitement is about surrounding Friday night’s GHSA Region 6-AAA game at Don Patterson Field.
After all, Ringgold has won nine of the 10 meetings to date, blistering the Colts by an average score of 46-5 in those nine wins.
But remind Robert Akins of that, and the Tigers’ veteran coach cringes before quickly responding, “Well, this is a different year and THAT’S a different Coahulla Creek team.”
Just how different? The Colts (5-1, 3-0) are coming off a 37-16 victory over Gordon Lee that set a program high for wins in a season. A win Friday at Ringgold would all but lock up a playoff berth and put them in great shape for a home postseason game.
Danny Wilson is 0-2 against Ringgold (3-3, 2-1) as Coahulla Creek’s coach, losing 42-7 last year and 55-14 in 2020, but when reminded about the lopsided series history, his response was similar to the one from Akins.
“Each year is different,” Wilson said. “Honestly, if you look at the history of everybody we’ve played, you’re going to see that kind of domination pretty much across the board.
“This team doesn’t worry about any of that, and they’ve worked extremely hard to get in this situation. It’s a big step for our program to be playing in games that have an impact on the region at this point of the season. That’s something we haven’t done before.”
Both teams have shown offensive balance, with Ringgold (per-game averages of 181 yards rushing, 161 passing) leaning heavily on quarterback Ross Norman (932 passing yards), who is coming off his best game with three touchdown passes against Bremen, giving him eight this season. His receivers include Peyton Williams (276 yards), Ty Gilbert (384 yards, seven touchdowns) and Kishaun Taylor, with the ground game getting a boost from youngster Haddon Fries.
“They are coached well; that’s the first thing you know about Ringgold,” Wilson said. “The next thing is speed. They have it all over the field. They have guys who can go to the house, and that scares you. We have to tackle well. The Williams kid was my pick as the best athlete in the region.”
Coahulla Creek has averaged 164 yards on the ground and a region-best 220 through the air. Quarterback Kace Kinnamon has completed nearly 70% of his passes and has 1,246 yards and 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He has two of the region’s top receivers in Manny Dominguez (28 catches for 463 yards) and Aiden Patterson (32 for 274).
“The thing that stands out when you watch them is their quarterback,” Akins said. “What a great leader he is. Kinnamon is a star in our region. He can run and throw, and he has so many weapons this year. The Patterson and Dominguez kids are two kids who can match up with anybody.
“It’s going to be a great game, and I hope we can hold up on our end.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.