The following is an excerpt from the September 1 edition of the Georgia High School Football Daily, an e-mail newsletter compiled by longtime Georgia high school football writers Todd Holcomb and Chip Saye:
Weekend Wrapup
Five big surprises
North Gwinnett 14, Prattville (Ala.) 11: Prattville was 43-1 while winning Alabama Class 6A championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and was ranked in almost every national poll. But North Gwinnett was dominant on defense. “This is a marquee win nationally,” North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire told GHSF Daily. “People will take notice now. People in the state recognize us as a program really competing at a high level, beating some good teams, but also knocking on the door of potential greatness. As far as national significance, this is a game that now all of a sudden the green light goes on when you think of North Gwinnett. We want a nationally respected program.”
South Gwinnett 49, Norcross 28: Norcross coach Keith Maloof returned only four starters on defense but expected little drop-off from a team that held five of 10 regular-season opponents without a touchdown last year. “We should be the same as we’ve been the last few years, hard-nosed and get-after-it,” he said. But so far, Norcross has struggled in a big way on defense, losing 28-27 to Walton in the opener and then to South Gwinnett, which got 223 yards rushing from Aaron Wimberly and 142 from Trevon Walker. South Gwinnett was 4-6 last season but will contend for a playoff spot in Region 8-AAAAA this season.
St. Pius 28, Marist 3: Marist returned most of its starters (which is unusual for a program that’s typically senior-dominated) and was coming off a state runner-up finish in 2008. This also was Marist’s first game on its new artificial turf field at Hughes Spalding Stadium. St. Pius beat Marist last season, but few saw this upset coming, especially by such a score. It was St. Pius’ first win at Marist in 35 years.
Roswell 42, Tift County 7: Roswell lost at Tift County 32-21 last season and finished 5-5, its first .500-or-below record in nine years. Most saw Roswell bouncing back this year, and Tift returned only one starter on defense. And Tift was no stranger to blowout losses last season (35-7 to Brooks County and 42-0 to Newnan). Still, this score jumped out at anyone seeing it.
Charlton County 38, Clinch County 0: Charlton won 28-7 last season, its sixth straight win in the series (and 10th in 11 meetings), but these games typically are close. Clinch was ranked No. 3 in preseason, and Charlton was left unranked after a 9-2 finish in 2008. This is Clinch County’s worst loss ever against Charlton County and worst overall since 1977 (lost 63-0 to Jeff Davis).
It wasn’t planned, but it worked
Commerce coach Steve Savage could’ve looked like a genius if he’d just kept quiet on this one. On the first possession of the game against Jefferson, Commerce had a fourth-and-inches at its 25-yard line, and Savage decided to go for it. The ball wound up on the ground, and Deon Brock picked it up and ran 75 yards for a touchdown. Fumble-rooskie? “No, we just fumbled the blooming ball,” Savage told Jeff Cochran of the Athens Banner-Herald. “I thought maybe we were going to be lucky in this game.” Commerce wasn’t lucky from that point on. Jefferson won 30-13 and has a three-game winning streak in the series for the first time since 1969-71.
Flag on the play
Clarke Central and Loganville, playing in a rematch of the game that decided the Region 8-AAAA title last season, committed 32 penalties for 232 yards. … North Oconee was penalized for 150 yards in its 28-7 victory against Prince Avenue Christian. … Athens Academy had five turnovers in its 37-14 victory against Southwest Atlanta Christian. … Jefferson County was flagged 14 times in its 28-20 victory against Laney. … Peach County committed 12 penalties in the first half against Macon County – including six times on a touchdown drive – and won 41-20.
Lights would be good
Thomasville led Thomas County Central 13-3 with 2:03 left, but with Central on the Thomasville 1-yard line, the lights went out Friday night. After waiting 20 minutes, play resumed, and Central scored on the next play to make it 13-9. Central later recovered an on-side kick, but Thomasville held on for the victory. … In Talbotton, the lights went out right after Mount Zion of Carroll County tied its game with Central 20-20 on a 7-yard pass from Christian to Drew Norton. Twenty minutes went by, and play resumed. Mount Zion lined up for a two-point conversion. Christian hit Norton again for a 22-20 lead that held.
Columnist critiques Rogers
Calhoun wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers had 204 all-purpose yards in Calhoun’s 31-28 victory against Dalton but also was flagged for 45 yards in unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Adam Krohn of The Daily Citizen in Dalton looks at the good and bad from Rogers’ performance in this column. “It appears the only thing that could stop Rogers from reaching higher levels in the game of football is himself,” Krohn writes.
Injuries
A.G. Middlebrooks, a preseason GHSF Daily all-state running back from Lincoln County, suffered a stress fracture in his left leg this summer and was supposed to be out until perhaps midseason. Or perhaps he was just resting up for Greene County, because he had two touchdowns and runs of 51 and 53 yards in Lincoln County’s 14-7 victory. Greene County outgained Lincoln County 282-197 and held Lincoln County to six first downs.
Coaches’ Corner
Five new hires reversed fortunes in first games
There have been 29 newly hired coaches who got their first victories at their new schools in the first two weeks (See GHSF Daily List). But only five won a game that their school lost the year before.
Here is a look at each:
Jamie Baldwin, Johnson (Savannah): Johnson beat Long County 39-14 after losing to Long 41-26 last season. Johnson has an excellent shot at its first winning season since 2000. Baldwin was offensive coordinator at Beach last season. Harry Miles, now at North Cobb Christian, had turned an 0-10 program into a 5-6 playoff team last season.
Thomas Cox, Lakeside (Atlanta): Lakeside broke a 14-game losing streak with a 21-7 victory against Columbia — a team that beat winless Lakeside 70-7 last season. Cox was an assistant at Meadowcreek last season.
Dante Ferguson, Stone Mountain: Ferguson, formerly the head coach of Stone Mountain Middle School, was hired too late to conduct spring practice, but not too late to win his first game. Stone Mountain won 20-19 against Cedar Grove after losing to the Saints 19-7 last season.
Ed Dudley, Ware County: Ware beat Coffee 17-13 after losing to the Trojans 24-0 last season in a game that cost Ware its No. 1 ranking in Class AAAA. Some might say the reversal should get the Gators at least a Top 10 ranking. Dudley came from Walton in Marietta, where he put the Raiders in a couple of Georgia Dome semifinals.
Mark Pemberton, West Laurens: West Laurens turned a 21-0 loss to South Effingham into a 12-6 victory. Pemberton won a state title in Tennessee for Knoxville Catholic and was named in preseason as the top new coaching hire in the state by Georgia High School Football Daily.
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