Gordon Central and Sonoraville have arrived at their bye week in two completely different situations.

The Warriors are enjoying their best start in school history at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the region.

The Phoenix, on the other hand, are limping into the bye week, both literally and figuratively, at 1-5, 0-3 while dealing with a long list of injuries.

In both situations, Gordon Central and Sonoraville will use the bye week to get ready for the final four games of their seasons.

Both coaches gave their teams Monday off, before returning to the practice field on Tuesday. For the Warriors, head coach Chad Fisher said there are several things to do this week.

“We want to get some rest and get some guys who’ve been banged up healthy,” said Fisher. “But we want to get some work done on the field too. We have to get better in our pass protection and catching passes. That’s just a couple of the big things we’re going to work on.”

Over at Sonoraville, the biggest emphasis will definitely be trying to get some of their several injured players back in the arsenal before heading to play Adairsville next Friday according to head coach Roger Gentry.

“We’ve got four or five guys trying to get back on the field, and we had two more get hurt on Friday (at Ringgold),” said Gentry. “It’s a situation where we’re checking daily with doctors so we’re not going to do a lot of hitting and probably give the guys Friday off to get them rest and try to get healed up.

“We’ve been trying to put things together like a puzzle all year because of the injuries. I’m not saying anything about the guys that are out there because they are playing extremely hard, but when you lose four, five and six starters on one side of the ball, it’s extremely tough.”

For Gordon Central, who are coming off a 46-0 win over Coahulla Creek last Friday, even Fisher is surprised at where his team stands at this point in mid-October, and he said he is hoping his team can continue the momentum despite the week off.

“I expected us to have a winning record, but we are extremely fortunate right now to be in the situation we’re in,” said Fisher. “Our defense has played well, and our offense has been great at times so hopefully we can keep it going.

“I’m thinking the situation we’re in being in position to go to the playoffs and tied with Cartersville at the top of the region is motivation enough for our guys not to lose our focus and intensity during the bye week.”

The Warriors will get their biggest test in the region next Friday when they visit the team their tied with at the top of 5-AAA, Cartersville.

“This bye week comes at a great time because it gives us extra opportunity to get prepared for Cartersville and all they do,” said Fisher. “They will be the best team we’ve played all season so we have to play and prepare extremely well. The extra week will definitely help, but it’s a double-edged sword because they have two weeks to prepare for us also.”

Sonoraville has had its share of tough losses, including last Friday’s 41-7 defeat at Ringgold. The schedule doesn’t get any easier either, starting with Adairsville next Friday. After that, they play at rival Gordon Central, host Cartersville and visit LFO.

“We’ve got four tough games coming up,” said Gentry. “We would’ve wanted to have more success on the front end of the schedule, but these kids haven’t quit. They’re still playing and practicing hard.

“We are going to evaluate things as coaches this week and maybe move some kids around, but the biggest thing we have to do this week is get better and figure things out.”