In a week that saw teams in the county go a combined 3-3, Woodstock became the final county team to register its first win of the season with a 28-0 shutout of Cherokee.

The Wolverines’ point total was a season high, just as the Warriors’ scoreless effort was a season low.

Junior quarterback Alex Motsinger was the driving force behind Woodstock’s offense. He threw for 75 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 64 and a touchdown.

It was the second week in a row that Motsinger started for the Wolverines, as he began the season behind sophomore Justin Agner, following an injury in a preseason scrimmage against River Ridge.

“He was very impressive (Friday),” Woodstock coach Brent Budde said of Motsinger. “Last year, he showed us glimpses of what he could really do, and now he’s playing very well. He has a bright future.”

Last week, Budde had said the key to stopping Cherokee’s offense was to confuse the Warriors’ young quarterback, Spencer Ashley, and their offensive line with different pressures and schemes.

Woodstock did exactly that, and managed to hold Cherokee to 183 total yards, which was the Warriors’ second-lowest total of the season.

Creekview and River Ridge opened up their respective subregion schedules with wins. The Grizzlies beat Sequoyah 21-6, and the Knights scored a 35-27 upset over Cedartown.

Faced with the task of slowing down the state’s leading rusher, Nick Chubb, River Ridge still allowed Chubb to gain 254 yards, but that was more than 24 yards below his season average.

The Knights put up 267 rushing yards of their own, with 234 of those coming from running backs Vince Njoku and E.J. Ellis.

Ellis played his first game of the season last week after being sidelined with a knee injury.

With Ellis as more of a downhill runner, and Njoku more of a threat on the outside, River Ridge coach Robert Braucht felt that the return of Ellis has forced opposing defenses to spread out, which has helped the Knights’ offense to move the ball more effectively.

“It’s tough to defend one good running back, let alone two,” Braucht said. “It causes a defense to be a little bit more balanced and to spread themselves a little bit thin.”

Despite their 2-4 record, the Knights are off to a 1-0 start where it matters the most, in Region 7AAAA (A).

One of the most notable stats from the past week of games came from the Creekview-Sequoyah game, in which the teams punted the ball a combined 17 times.

Sequoyah punted nine times for an average of 35.1 yards per punt, while Creekview punted eight times for an average of 34.8.

“I’m not sure if we’ve ever punted the ball that many times or not. I’m not really a stat guy,” Creekview coach Al Morrell said. “The number seems a little high, but the game was a defensive battle.”