Stratford not looking ahead to region title game

Stratford already has clinched the right to host the GHSA Region 7-A region championship Nov. 6, but the Eagles still have plenty to play for Friday.

Stratford travels to Wilkinson County, looking to remain perfect in sub-region play and hoping to move up in the crucial GHSA Class A private school power ratings.

"The game is very meaningful for a lot of different reasons," Stratford head coach Mark Farriba said. "Hopefully our guys understand that every time you go out and compete, you put your best game on the field. It doesn't matter who you're playing, you're trying to (not) beat yourself every time you play."

At No. 10, Stratford is the only Middle Georgia team in the top 15 of the ratings.

For the better part of the past five weeks, Stratford has been trying to avoid turnovers, and that is the focus against Wilkinson County.

But what the Eagles have been extremely successful in during the five-game winning streak is forcing turnovers, especially the past two weeks with five interceptions in each game.

Five different players recorded an interception in last week's rout of Mount de Sales, including senior Carter Canady, who feels the defense is starting to hold its own as the offense has shown it can do in the past.

"This game is huge for us, especially to try and stay undefeated in the sub-region," Canady said. "Our offense over the past few years has always been consistent putting points on the board, but our defense has really stepped up this year and not allowed a lot of points, so I'm really proud of our effort on that side of the ball."

Wilkinson County has lost two of its past three games, including a 31-9 thrashing at the hands of FPD last week. In the two losses, the Warriors have produced just 21 points. The Warriors also allowed 325 rushing yards on 53 carries last week.

Although Wilkinson County has had its share of troubles lately, Farriba still feels the Warriors can still pose a threat.

"Wilkinson is a scary-looking team," Farriba said. "Their quarterback is a very good player, and they have a lot of threats all over the place. For whatever reason, it hasn't materialized for them, but I still think they're a very good football team. But we want to try and keep our momentum going here. There are many things you have to consider with power rankings and confidence levels, but we just want to keep the momentum going."

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Stratford not looking ahead to region title game ."