Creekside An 8-Point Favorite to Beat Tucker for Football Championship?

What you might not know about the Tucker-Creekside matchup in the Georgia High School Association Class 5A football final (8:30 p.m., Friday, Georgia Dome):

(Source: Georgia High School Football Daily)

1. Creekside is favored? The Maxwell Ratings, featured by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia High School Football Daily, has Creekside listed as 8-point favorites.

2. Coaching Alma Mater: Tucker's Bryan Lamar played for the Tigers 1996-98 under Keith Maloof, currently the head coach at Norcross, which plays for the 6A title Saturday.

3. Three's the charm: If Tucker wins Friday, it will become the third DeKalb County Schools team to win three state football titles (joining Avondale and Lakeside).

4. Maybe a little revenge? Tucker and Creekside have played only once before — in 1998 in the Class 3A playoffs, a 27-22 Creekside win. That was Coach Lamar's final game as a Tucker High player.

5. Rushing tactics: The Georgia High School Football Daily points out that while both Tucker and Creekside are run-oriented teams, they go about their businesses a bit differently. Creekside has two 1,000-yard rushers in Dexter Knox and Bricen Terry. Quarterback Joseph Farrar has around 700 yards to lead a Tucker rushing attack that features six players with more than 40 carries, three of whom have more than 400 yards.