Sports

Can Wheeler End Walton's Dominance?

The Raiders have won five in a row against their East Cobb rivals and 10 of their last 11 meetings.

The scorelines have been as one-sided in favor of Walton as they've been forgettable for Wheeler.

The two East Cobb schools once enjoyed a healthy, competitive rivalry on the football field. That started to change in the late 1990s, as the Raiders began building one of the top prep programs in metro Atlanta, and as the Wildcats fell into sharp decline.

Over the last decade, the gap has become vast. A year ago, Walton rolled all over Wheeler in a sweet Homecoming result on its way to the state championship game.

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Through the first half of this season, Wheeler has shown it's more competitive than in recent years.

The Wildcats will play host to Walton at 7:30 tonight in a game that has more than East Cobb bragging rights on the line. There's a lot riding on tonight's result in Region 5-AAAAAA standings, and for both teams' post-season hopes.

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Walton has won the last five games it has played against Wheeler, and 10 of the last 11, and most of the scores haven't been close: 45-7, 37-12, 49-6, 35-0 and 42-7 since 2007.

Wheeler's only win, in 2006, was by a 22-13 score in its last winning season, when the Wildcats finished 7-4.

Both teams are coming off a bye week, and they bring identical overall records into the contest.

Walton (4-2, 2-0), which lost to Lassiter two weeks ago, has been banged up all season, especially on offense. Quarterback Parker McLeod missed the Lassiter game and Tyren Jones played despite an injured wrist.

Wheeler (4-2, 1-2), which has equalled its 2011 win total, held on for a last-second win over Roswell in its last game to earn its first region victory.


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