For the first six weeks of the football season, the county has faced teams outside of the region. South Forsyth played in big games like the Corky Kell Classic, West Forsyth challenged themselves with one of the most difficult out-of-region schedules in recent memory and Lambert managed to find themselves somewhere in the middle.

Lambert sits with a 2-3 record heading into Friday night’s game against rival South Forsyth. The record shows more losses than wins, but reading into the results tells a slightly different story.

The Longhorns have lost their three games by a combined 25 points, two of the losses occurring on the road. The road loss against Lanier High School ended with a 35-28 score, but Lambert held a lead late in the fourth quarter. A similar situation happened against Cherokee. Lambert trailed most of the game, but they put together a comeback that put them in position to steal the game.

The other two heads of the three-headed Forsyth County monster both have winning records. West Forsyth sits at number ten in the state in Class 7-AAAAAAA with a 4-1 record, their only blemish coming in a game against defending Class 3-AAA state Pace Academy. In that game, West Forsyth trailed at halftime, and it had to be called due to weather.

West is led by quarterback Kiernan Hamilton on offense and Kansas State commit Eli Huggins on defense. Huggins missed their last game due to a back injury, but he expects to play against Milton on Friday night.

With more Division-I talent than any other region program, the Wolverines appear to be the favorite to win the region.

South Forsyth, the reigning region champion, was recently ranked as high as 8^th in the state. They entered their last game against Lassiter with a 3-1 record and had the potential to be placed in the top five with a win. The first half was a disaster for the War Eagles, trailing 35-7 after the second quarter. They eventually lost 35-14, dropping to 3-2.

The War Eagles rely heavily on Western Kentucky commit Davis Shanley. Shanley is the most dynamic offensive player in the region, as proven by his offensive player of the year award in 2015. His ability to create something out of nothing is what has given South the third highest scoring offense in Class 7-AAAAAAA.

For a more in-depth preview of Lambert vs South game on Friday, check out Nick Schwarzmann’s preview.

Forsyth Central has been the biggest surprise of the year. It is their first season in Class 7-AAAAAAA after being in Class 5-AAAAA for a few seasons. The Bulldogs hold a 3-1 record and have the 5^th ranked offense in the class. Star running back Sabrian Howard has 708 rushing yards in just four games, leading all region rushers.

The biggest knock is their lack of strength of schedule. The Bulldogs have only played two Class 7-AAAAAAA teams, and they lost one of those games. They face North Forsyth on Friday night.

The Raiders have thrived under new head coach Robert Craft. They are 3-2 and have one of the leading receivers in the state in Simon Holcomb. Their two losses have come against Class-7AAAAAAA teams, but there are still big question marks about the validity of the threat they pose to make the playoffs.