Get your brackets ready! The high school football regular season is over, and it’s time for the second season to begin (or half a season anyways, if your team is so lucky to play five postseason games). Let’s take a look at what went down last week.
No. 7 Peachtree Ridge hosted No. 4 North Gwinnett with the Region 7-AAAAA title on the line. The Lions dispatched the visiting Bulldogs by a score of 19-7, thanks in large part to a killer defense headlined by linebacker Kevin Minter and cornerback Connor Norman. North was putting up more than 40 points a game, on average. And it took a kickoff return for a touchdown to get them on the board. Despite appearing in the state championship game last year, North has yet to win a region title in its 51-year history.
MORE MAKE-OR-BREAK GAMES
In our Score Atlanta/790 The Zone Game of the Week, Etowah pummeled Harrison 44-21 on the strength of 229 rushing yards from Ryan Boykin. The win gave Etowah the Region 5-AAAAA title and a No. 1 seed. Harrison takes the No. 2 seed, East Paulding takes No. 3, and Woodstock (which upset East Paulding last Friday, 27-16) gets the No. 4 seed. … There was a switch in seeding in Region 1-AAAAA, as Tift County defeated Coffee, 30-27. Tift was in the fourth position before the win, but takes the No. 3 seed and bumps Coffee to No. 4. Lowndes and Northside-Warner Robins are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. … Roswell has missed the playoffs after a string of five straight postseason appearances. Lassiter defeated the Hornets 21-7 last Friday to seal the team’s postseason fate; Walton, Milton, Kell and Lassiter are, in order from 1-4, the representatives from Region 6-AAAAA. … Newnan locked up its third straight Region 4-AAAAA title with a 12-0 win over archrival East Coweta last Friday. … Speaking of rivalry games, the Brookwood-Parkview series has lacked a bit of luster in recent years, but it usually has playoff implications and this year was no different. Parkview edged its hated rival 7-0 to earn Region 8-AAAAA’s No. 2 seed, while Brookwood drops to No. 3.
OTHER CLASSES
It was a do-or-die game for Chamblee and Miller Grove in Region 6-AAAA, as each team was vying for the fourth and final playoff spot. Chamblee prevailed 14-0 to deny the Wolverines their first playoff berth in school history. Chamblee quarterback Garrett Williams rushed for both of the game’s only scores. … In the Region 5-AAA championship game, Dunwoody defeated St. Pius X 20-14 to win the league and complete the program’s second undefeated regular season in its history (the 1993 team went 15-0 to win the Class 4A state championship). … After losing 14-10 at Westminster last Friday, Blessed Trinity was the odd team out in the Region 6-AA playoff picture. Though the Titans and Greater Atlanta Christian each had an identical 4-3 region record, GAC held the tiebreaker by virtue of a 31-28 win back on Oct. 3. … McIntosh County Academy fell to Charlton County, as the Indians won the Region 2-AA title. … It came down to the final game of the regular season for Whitefield Academy and Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in Region 5-A. Whitefield took the league title with the 20-17 road win.
FIRST-ROUND GAMES TO WATCH
Etowah (1) will host Lassiter (4) in what should be one of the best 1-4 matchups. … Coffee (4) will take the long trip north to the metro area, as it will take on Stephenson (1) in another intriguing high-low matchup. … In Class 4A, Thomas County Central (2) will take on Ware County (3) in a game of 2007 semifinal participants. … Flowery Branch (3) of Class 3A will be looking for revenge against Stephens County (2) for a season-opening loss. … In Class 2A, for the first time in what seems like forever, Buford and Charlton County aren’t poised to meet in the quarterfinals. Given they each win three, the two No. 1 seeds will meet in the semifinals. … And in Class A, Emanuel County Institute will be looking for a repeat state title, but might have to deal with teams such as Bremen, Athens Academy, Washington-Wilkes, Clinch County and Twiggs County, all of which are or were ranked at one point in the season.
XC DYNASTY
The Collins Hill girls won an amazing seventh straight Class 5A state cross country title last Saturday at Carrollton. Amanda Winslow defended her individual state championship as well, finishing ahead of Chattahoochee’s Sydney Marshall. Peachtree Ridge won for the boys in 5A. Other winners: 4A – Marist (boys and girls); 3A – Flowery Branch (boys), and Columbus (girls); 2A – Westminster (boys), and Lovett (girls); A – Our Lady of Mercy (boys and girls).
Ewalt can be reached at aewalt@scoreatl.com.
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